New England Patriots thread (MOD WARNING - #4503)

Son Of A Vidic

Update on the will he won't he Browner saga.

Jeff Howe reporting that the Pats are Browner's priority and he has no plans to leave NE. He is believed to be currently negotiating a deal with the Pats.

Rapport reporting from a Redskins source, that Browner did not arrive at the Redskins today.

So hopefully this deal with be officially tied up pretty soon.

Son Of A Vidic

Delighted, deal confirmed with Browner - 3 years @ $17 million.

me89

Yess. Not a bad secondary now :-D

Son Of A Vidic

His full comment below....

Today, I am proud to announce that I am a New England Patriot. I am honored that the Patriots are making me part of their legendary organization, and am grateful for the opportunity Mr. Kraft, Coach Belichick, Nick Caserio and the entire team have given me. I intend to diligently work with the same passion and dedication that I have displayed since coming into the NFL to uphold the great traditions and qualities that are embodied by the Patriots.

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the Seattle Seahawks for giving a CFL player the once in-a-lifetime opportunity to return to the NFL, making a young boy's dream come true. To Coach Pete Carroll, GM John Schneider, John Idzik, Coach Richard, Rocky Seto, the LOB, my teammates, the training staff, the equipment guys the Seahawks organization as a whole and most importantly the 12th Man, I say thank you for everything you have done for myself and my family. I am a truly blessed person.

very classy, I love the guy already.

j8wk2feszrnpao

me89 wrote: »

Yess. Not a bad secondary now :-D

It's now an area of strength, which should help out the pass rush.
If possible, get Allen, hopefully resign Edelman, replace Vince, and trade up for a TE.

Hazys

Hopefully one stipulation of the contract is that Browner cannot be within 100ft of GNC

Hazys

Do you think he may play safety?

Son Of A Vidic

munstermagic11 wrote: »

..If possible, get Allen..

And if we were to add Allen to our team, it would be a serious case of...

Hazys wrote: »

Do you think he may play safety?

A big hard hitting SS was a priority for us. Now I'm not sure if Browner has ever played inside, but I wouldn't be surprised if Bill has him earmarked for the role. And he might very well move him from CB to SS according to our needs.

Son Of A Vidic

We all know what Revis can do, but if anyone is unfamiliar with Browner, here's a highlight reel. @ 6 min 2 secs in he lays Welker flat, probably because he knew he was going to jump ship.:pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjR7UhbTZkE

dh1985

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

We all know what Revis can do, but if anyone is unfamiliar with Browner, here's a highlight reel. @ 6 min 2 secs in he lays Welker flat, probably because he knew he was going to jump ship.:pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjR7UhbTZkE

Some big hits at 5.20 and 7.20 too

me89

Edelman is back. Delighted!!

Son Of A Vidic

Yessss!!!!

Reiss, Yates and Schefter reporting that the Pats have reached an agreement with Edelman. He stays a Patriot.

Son Of A Vidic

keeping Edelman and Talib were priorities at the end of the season. We've kept Edelman & lost Talib, but got way stronger in the process. :cool:

Son Of A Vidic

Utopia Parkway

Sensible from Edelman. The Pats know how to use him. No guarantees anywhere else.

BaronVon

I think it's very important that we resigned Edelman, the last thing we needed was a repeat of last season, when Brady had a completely new receiving corps.

What's left? 174 days 'til football? I'm getting excited......

Son Of A Vidic

Posted this in the wrong thread by mistake earlier....

Revis, Brady and Belichick make their first public appearance together and they look pretty pumped......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt9sKBffJp8

kryogen

kryogen wrote: »

It would really suck balls to lose Edelmen now

I hope he just takes a look, sees whats out there, rejects them all and then comes home on a fair deal

Utopia Parkway

Pats apparently also looking for another veteran WR even after signing Edelman.

Utopia Parkway

Pats sign Brandon LaFell to a 3 year deal. Very meh IMO.

He's a big WR but probably better known for his blocking ability than his pass catching skills.

Son Of A Vidic

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

Pats sign Brandon LaFell to a 3 year deal. Very meh IMO.

Why very meh? No matter what WR we are bringing in, even if it was Megatron, it all boils down to one man - Brady. Get on the same page as him, build chemistry and get your routes & timing down and all will go well. Fail to do that? And you will travel the Ocho route. @ 6' 2" and 210 Lbs he's a big strong physical & athletic WR with a similar size profile to Dobson. He can play inside and outside and he is also a fantastic blocker. Only missing 4 games in 4 seasons brings some nice durability to the table.

He had solid production last year with 49 receptions, 627 Yards and 5 TD's and he seems to hover consistently in or around these numbers every year. He did a lot of damage against us when the Panthers beat us last season and obviously caught Bills eye. So if he puts the head down and builds that bond with Brady, there's no reason why he can't maintain or even build on that. After all, he will have the GOAT throwing to him and that's an upgrade for any WR.

davyjose

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

Why very meh? No matter what WR we are bringing in, even if it was Megatron, it all boils down to one man - Brady. Get on the same page as him, build chemistry and get your routes & timing down and all will go well. Fail to do that? And you will travel the Ocho route.

That's a little bit reductive. Running good routes is a lot more than just being where you should be at a given time. It's a very difficult skill to master. Physicality is a big thing too. I'm not taking your point about Megatron literally, but one on one, you'd back him against almost any DB 99% of the time, regardless of who's at QB.
Brady needs help too. Look at the difference guys like him and Peyton make when surrounded by quality, than average guys. Last season, if anything, proved that quality receivers are a huge advantage.

eagle eye

It really is almost impossible for us to know how any receiver will do with the Patriots. Being able to learn the playbook is so important to being a Patriot and then being able to do whats required in it after that. You see so many WRs with talent come to the Patriots and run wrong routes too often which suggests that having the capacity to learn the playbook inside out is probably the most important thing. LaFell has looked decent at times and then at other times has looked like he is not so good. With the Patriots though the amount of different targets on the team means he gets more space so he could turn into a special player in New England.

CJC86

I'd suggest that it's not about knowing the playbook as much as being able to read the defense the same way Brady does. I read an interview with Edelman after the Saints win where he was explaining his reading of the play. He explained that as he ran the route he spotted they were in Tampa 2, so he could sit down and expect a pass from Brady. It seems this was the issue with Ocho and others. Tough to know how well a player will fit in until they're in the system.

helimachoptor

Britt visiting you guys today, I think he would work out well, however I think he may have an over inflated sense of worth which could cause an issue, there's been no teams taking an interest in him really and the pats are only his second visit

Son Of A Vidic

davyjose wrote: »

Running good routes is a lot more than just being where you should be at a given time. It's a very difficult skill to master.

You are stating the obvious there, but just to be clear, I wasn't attempting to give a definition on route running in my last post. But in order to run a good route, you have to do what I previously said - get on the same page as Brady and that takes learning the playbook and building a chemistry & trust.

davyjose wrote: »

Physicality is a big thing too. I'm not taking your point about Megatron literally, but one on one, you'd back him against almost any DB 99% of the time, regardless of who's at QB.

You should take it literally. It's Tom Brady's offense, not Calvin Johnson's. To repeat what I said earlier, if Megatron or any WR can't get on the same page as Brady and build trust and chemistry then he is doomed. Yes he is a gifted WR but he is after all playing for the Lions. And WR's there don't have Tom Brady's playbook to try and master. Now put him in a Pats uniform and first thing he has to do is absorb and learn a 14 year Tom Brady playbook. It's probably the most complex playbook in the league for any WR to digest. Brady controls the offense and if Megatron struggled with it the way Ocho did, then he'd be gone. God given talent guarantees no WR a roster spot for the Patriots, if they haven't the brain to adsorb and master their own role within the offense they're out.

davyjose

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

You are stating the obvious there, but just to be clear, I wasn't attempting to give a definition on route running in my last post. But in order to run a good route, you have to do what I previously said - get on the same page as Brady and that takes learning the playbook and building a chemistry & trust.



You should take it literally. It's Tom Brady's offense, not Calvin Johnson's. To repeat what I said earlier, if Megatron or any WR can't get on the same page as Brady and build trust and chemistry then he is doomed. Yes he is a gifted WR but he is after all playing for the Lions. And WR's there don't have Tom Brady's playbook to try and master. Now put him in a Pats uniform and first thing he has to do is absorb and learn a 14 year Tom Brady playbook. It's probably the most complex playbook in the league for any WR to digest. Brady controls the offense and if Megatron struggled with it the way Ocho did, then he'd be gone. God given talent guarantees no WR a roster spot for the Patriots, if they haven't the brain to adsorb and master their own role within the offense they're out.

That's the same for any veteran QB. But my point is that you ccan't just plug a guy in and expect him to succeed just because he's on the same page as his QB.
I'm assuming that's what the 'very meh' comment was about.

Son Of A Vidic

CJC86 wrote: »

I'd suggest that it's not about knowing the playbook as much as being able to read the defense the same way Brady does.

The starting point is for a WR to know his playbook and I agree with what you're saying. Every successful WR here needs to able to see what Brady is seeing and that can be difficult thing for any WR to learn. Nobody knows it better that Edelman and he was able to make that adjustment during his route you spoke off. And that's because he's on the same page with Brady and he can see what he sees.

FOXBORO -- Aaron Dobson, Kenbrell Thompkins and Josh Boyce are done with school, but there’s still plenty of classwork to worry about. They’re enrolled in NFL Offense 101, taught by Professor Tom Brady. Classes meet every Tuesday at Gillette Stadium.

As Albert Breer of the NFL Network first reported on Sunday, Brady has been spending his Tuesdays -- the one day a week that players are supposed to have off -- at Gillette Stadium this season, working with the young receivers and watching film in hopes of accelerating the learning process. The quarterback will sit with the youngsters and watch a variety of film throughout their weekly get-togethers that can sometimes last for hours at a time. That includes going all the way back to OTAs, training camp, preseason and regular season.

Brady has the rest of the week with the rest of the offense, but those Tuesday sessions are small gatherings devoted exclusively to the young receivers. According to Dobson, they are encouraged to speak freely with the quarterback, voicing any concerns they have about the state of the offense or voicing any other concerns they may have about what’s going on. It’s a chance for them to find out in an intimate setting just what the quarterback is looking for.

“It helps us in all kinds of ways,” said Thompkins. “It just gives us his point of view, in terms of how he wants things down and helps us offensively. Help us individually. He gives us an edge.”

While the quarterback has always taken time out of his schedule to work with the skill position players, this is singularly unique in that Brady is more of a teacher or a coach than a contemporary, and it’s clear the youngsters see him as such.

“I feel like it’s helped a lot. I feel like just being in the film room with Tom, you know, he’s basically like a coach on the field. Just being in there with him, you get to see what he sees. We just try and get on the same page, communication-wise,” Dobson said. “I feel like that helps. I feel like we can speak freely. Me and KT and Josh, I feel like we can be open and talk about what we need to talk about.

“Just us being in the same room like that, we can talk,” he added. “I see this, he sees that. It’s real good when to comes to communication.”

Entire article here....
http://www.weei.com/sports/boston/football/patriots/christopher-price/2013/10/14/tuesdays-brady-rookie-receivers-reaping

Son Of A Vidic

davyjose wrote: »

That's the same for any veteran QB. But my point is that you ccan't just plug a guy in and expect him to succeed just because he's on the same page as his QB.

You can't plug and play any WR into a Tom Brady offense and I certainly wasn't suggesting you could. But I thought I took great pains to point out that beside learning the playbook, building chemistry and trust is the key to success. Assuming of course that the WR in question, already has the required physical and mental skillsets to help him in his task.

davyjose wrote: »

I'm assuming that's what the 'very meh' comment was about.

I interpreted the 'meh' comment as the guy being completely written off. Personally, I don't have those god like skills to know if a guy will or will not succeed as a Pat. Only time can do that imo.

Son Of A Vidic

Below is a scouting report after film study from over the weekend on LaFell.

Alignment: Though 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, LaFell often worked from the slot while with Carolina. The team ran a sufficient dose of “21” personnel, meaning there was just two wide receivers on the field. LaFell and veteran Steve Smith worked well in harmony on two-man route combinations. LaFell was not limited exclusively to the slot, though he presented a Marques Colston-like feel in the slot due to their similar size.

Strengths: LaFell has excellent size for the position and very good body control. He can torque his body to bend and make difficult catches, and has very good field awareness. He ran what looked like reliable routes in Carolina and is a pluck-and-snatch catcher, not allowing the ball to come to his body. His unique length allows him to be an effective blocker on the edge and down the field. He has enough suddenness to break off his routes against off-man coverage.

Limitations: LaFell has the size to be physically dominant, but does not play a powerful game. There were instances in the game against New England last season that he was knocked off his spot against Alfonzo Dennard, a player who is close to four inches shorter than he is. He has sufficient speed for the position, but is not a burner.

Patriots thoughts: From a pure build standpoint, LaFell has some Aaron Dobson in him. But while Dobson holds the speed and upside edge, LaFell is more sturdily built and played a different role in Carolina. Given the presence of Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola and even Josh Boyce, LaFell may wind up playing more of a perimeter receiving role. His size, field awareness on the sideline, and ability to use his reach to out leverage defenders make him a possibility to start at the “X” or split end position.

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4760334/scouts-view-brandon-lafell?

We were short of effective red zone targets last season and a guy with LaFells size and ability should certainly add a critical red zone option for Tom.