Patriots: Wide Outs Going All Out
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Somewhat lost in the summertime camp shuffle of players coming in, and going out around Gillette Stadium may be the fact that the deepest and perhaps most talented spot on the team - isn’t even being noticed.
Much.
Sure, you know who Chad Ochocinco is. But have you stopped to consider the rest of the wide receiving corps with the Patriots?
Tyree Barnes
Deion Branch
Julian Edelman
Buddy Farnham
Darnell Jenkins
Chad Ochocinco
Taylor Price
Jeremy Ross
Matthew Slater
Brandon Tate
Wes Welker
Farnham is the local kid from Andover, MA who played at Brown – and has been getting some two-way looks at defensive back as well. Slater has previously excelled in special teams’ play. Jenkins, Tate and Price have youth and verifiable athletic ability to bank on, as does Edelman, as receivers and kick returners. In fact, none other than Bill Parcells himself said this about Price on ESPN – “He has good speed, he has real good toughness. He was a little green coming out of school but he's a good cold-weather player. I think you're going to see this guy do a lot of big things for the Patriots.”
And then of course, there are the veterans Branch and Welker, to go along with Ochocinco. As much as they may be capable – all of them – 11 receivers are not going to stick with the Patriots when the final roster decisions are made. Some of these players may make it purely through special teams…but even then, some tough decisions are coming down the road. Especially when you include Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski in the mix as receivers, rather than just as tight ends.
It’s quite the traffic jam for playing time, and attention from Tom Brady. Just don’t take guys like Branch and Welker for granted.
They’re certainly not in any danger of being cut. In fact, they both could be primed for great seasons – and both are in the final year of existing contracts. In Welker’s case, he said this week that he’s never felt better. “This is the best I've felt in my career,” he said. “I think my knowledge of the game and being able to be healthy, I think it's really helped. As long as you're working hard and getting better on a daily basis, there is no telling where the curve is as far as the backside of your career. For me, I feel like I'm still in my prime.”
Patriots Director of Player Personnel Nick Caserio added this about Welker – “He always competes, he always works hard, and it looks like his quickness level, he's regained some of that relative to where it was,” Caserio said. “He looks confident. He sort of catches your eye a little bit.” Great news for the Patriots, and perhaps not such great news for opponents. After all, Welker reached the Pro Bowl in 2010, and led the team in receptions and yardage – after recovering from major knee surgery. He also leads the entire NFL in receptions over the past four seasons with 432.
Branch contributed with more than 700 yards receiving last year after returning to New England, so with a full training camp under his belt, he certainly feels confident. “I feel good, glad to have a full training camp with the team, instead of coming in in October.” Branch said. “I'm excited for the opportunity and what we have going this year. There's a couple things I'm looking at now in the playbook, like, 'Man.' Stuff that we didn't go over because I came in during the season (last year). I get an opportunity to do that now.”
And the guy that will get them the ball?
“With Deion and Wes, I’ve played with them for so long, they know exactly what I’m thinking and why I’m thinking that,” Brady said this week during his interview on WEEI. “(Camp) been great for Deion and Wes, and for Julian (Edelman), that whole receiver group, it’s very competitive out there.”
And while we’re at it, let’s also throw Ochocinco into the discussion. Simply put, going by the numbers, he has been the best receiver in the league for most of the past decade. The 10-year veteran caught 67 passes for 831 yards and four touchdowns last season, which was a drop-off from 2009, the last of his six Pro Bowl years. Ochocinco had 72 receptions for 1,047 yards and nine TDs in ’09…and has seven 1,000-yard receiving seasons overall, leading the league with 1,369 in 2006.
“He’s doing as good as you could hope,” Brady said. “It’s an entirely new language. He’s a hard worker. He wants to do it. He’s very competitive. It’s really fun to be out there with him, because he wants the ball, he wants to practice, he wants to be out there and do it right, because he really wants us to be able to rely on him.”
If the Patriots can rely on Ochocinco, have Welker and Branch provide similar seasons to last year, and have young receivers become a consistent option…there won’t be any problem noticing this group. But there might be a problem finding enough footballs to throw their way…
Training Camp Notes
Welker and Ochocinco had the chance to break up the monotony that camp practices sometimes bring, by each attempting 34-yard field goals at the end of Tuesday’s nearly-three-hour session. Both have kicked in game-replacement situations in the past, but Tuesday, both missed to the left. Apparently, there were no player bonuses riding on the outcome of either kick…missing practice on Tuesday were Taylor Price, Jermaine Cunningham, Albert Haynesworth, Mike Wright and Brandon Spikes. Not seen on the field were Eric Kettani, Malcolm Williams, Christian Cox, Jeff Tarpinian, Ryan Wendell and Marcus Cannon. T-shirt and shorts brigade – Kevin Faulk, Shane Vereen, Brandon Tate, Julian Edelman, Ron Brace, Shaun Ellis, Brandon Deaderick, Josh Barrett, Ras-I Dowling, James Sanders and Kyle Hix (injured reserve)…
Running back Stevan Ridley did return to the practice field, and while tackle Matt Light took part in drills, he was still held out of 11-on-11 scrimmage situations…QB Ryan Mallett looked good on a couple of deep throws, one to Matthew Slater and another to Jeremy Ross…defensive backs picked off QB Brian Hoyer four times, two by safety Patrick Chung…
Bill Belichick mentioned Tuesday that due to the rule changes in kickoffs (moving to the 35-yard line and limiting returns) it will be a consideration for what players will make the final roster. “I think you have to think about it. If instead of covering 60 kickoffs in a year, you think you're only going to be covering 30, is that coverage player as important?” the coach questioned. “On the flip side, in the return game, you're going to be returning 30 instead of 60. If you think you're going to be returning more punts than kickoffs -- usually it's the other way around -- then maybe you put more of a priority on your punt returner than your kickoff returner, just as an example. I think it affects it to some degree.”
Training Camp Schedule
Wednesday
12:00 pm – 3:00 pm Patriots Experience
1:00 pm – 1:45 pm Team walkthrough open to the public, before departure
Thursday
7:30 pm Pre-season game #2 @ Tampa Bay
Friday Players’ Day Off
Saturday
12:00 pm – 4:00 pm Final Day for Patriots Experience
1:30 pm – 2:30 pm Final Training Camp practice open to the public
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