I personally think Welker could be the #2 WR in quite a few games. I am not convinced that both Stallworth and Moss will be our fulltime starters. Their strengths don't play into Brady's. Welker is more of a fit for Brady's surgical strike style. Although Brady doesn't have poor arm strength, it isn't his strength. I still wonder if Moss, in particular, and Stallowrth can fit into a surgical strike offense.
I think we will stretch the field more this year (if we did it in 2005 with Andre Davis, why wouldn't we with Moss and Stallworth), but I don't see us going to a vertical offense unless the defense we are facing dictates it. I think that means that Welker (and Gaffney, Caldwell, and potential Brown) will see the field a lot more than a lot of people are expecting and Moss and/or Stallworth may be taken off the field more than people are expecting.
Either 1000 yards, or 10 TDs, is truly, truly a standout year for any given receiver. So in that sense, no, we won't see jaw-dropping numbers from Moss or Stallworth.
The "surgical strike" you mentioned here a couple of times means very little. You don't go deep too often when you don't have deep threats, in most years. A fast guy, by the way, is not necessarily a deep threat, not a truly dangerous one. Witness Bethel Johnson and Andre Davis. Think about those guys' hands and instincts versus Moss' or Stallworth's.
But I do know what you mean: the Pats will more likely burn you for 10, 12, 15 yards than for 30 or 40. Brady is not a "gunslinger."
I agree. He will burn you once or twice a game via that deep threat -- and from then on, you have to respect the deep threat, if indeed you did not begin the game that way. The Welkers, Maroneys, and Watsons will benefit greatly from the performance of the Mosses and Stallworths.
Ask me whether Moss will be here next year and I have to say I don't know. Ditto Stallworth. Ask me if Welker will be, and I have say odds on he will be. This is pretty much telegraphed to us by the nature of the respective deals they have signed.
Jackson's on a rookie deal, and will be again next year. They have the luxury of not rushing him back, but they will want a peek at what they've got in him. If he produces we will see him again. But he will not star.
All the 1-year attention for other receivers suggests that this year handsomely fills the gap between the past -- Branch, Givens, Patten -- and the future -- Chad Jackson? Stallworth and/or Moss? Welker. This year is sort of like "what we shoulda done last year," rather than the "New Look Patriots" or the "look of the future." Though I think we get to see half of the future -- the golden years of Moss, or the rising star of Stalloworth -- combined with the Slot of the Future, Welker, and if we're lucky, a "#2" [sic] of the future in CJackson.
This year we're pretty much throwing a bunch of guys at the wall to see who/what sticks. And don't be surprised if a Kelly Washington, Reche Caldwell, or Jabar Gaffney snakes in there. Past production does not guarantee future performance.
PFnV
