Archives for July 13, 2013
The Best of PatsPropaganda This Week
It’s the second-to-last weekend before training camp starts, and like Patriots fans everywhere, I can’t wait to put this offseason behind us. No need to recap but let’s just say the positive news (Brady extension, signings/draft picks) have been far outweighed by the negative news or new that was spun negatively (Welker departure, Gronk surgeries, Hernandez, Dennard, and all the rest).
Here’s some of the best stuff from the week, and it’s limited because most of the pundits are off on vacation before the NFL season kicks into high gear.
On the Patriots receiver re-build and defensive continuity
The Shutdown Corner AFC East Draft Review Podcast with Greg Cosell | Shutdown Corner – Yahoo! Sports
Key Patriots Entering Contract Years – Frenz
Patriots WRs are a unit to watch in training camp – Kyed
Make your own Pats 53-man roster with PatsPicker!
Finally don’t forget to stop by The Prop Shop to pick up one of our tees. We’ll have another addition sometime in the next 10 days that we’re really excited about!
Do you have much concern about the stalwart veterans Mankins and Wilfork dropping off significantly in their performance level? We’ve seen the Pats get rid of long-tenured players rather unceremoniously before, which makes one wonder whether the same thing could happen again, especially in the case of Mankins.
No on Mankins, he’s still young enough that he should be in his prime, and now that he’s a full year recovered from ACL surgery I’m expecting his best year since 2010. The Pats value their offensive lineman, so I don’t really see them jettisoning him regardless.
As for Wilfork they can’t keep running him into the ground, and if they keep relying on him so heavily it’s just a matter of time before he starts getting dinged. That’s why I think the Tommy Kelly signing was a good one. Kelly can take some heat off of Wilfork and has been injury-free for the last few seasons. Armond Armstead should help as well on passing downs.
With a better supporting cast I think Vince will have an even more consistent impact, but there’s no question has he gets up there in years the Pats will have to protect him a bit.
There’s been talk about using vareen the way we used Hernandez, Iike moving him around the formation to make mismatch problems. But vareen isn’t what Hernandez is, he’s not the size and I feel like wont garner the same priorities Hernandez did. What do you think?
Yeah I don’t really buy it either. Vereen will have his hands full enough taking over for Woodhead, it seems a little much to suddenly make him into a wide receiver as well. And I’m not even sure who was making these observations because it could’ve just been that he motioned out of the backfield out wide, which is a staple of the Patriots offense, and just because he’s out on the perimeter doesn’t mean he’s a wide receiver. Usually it’s because they’re checking to see if the defense is in man coverage and if they are the result will be a big middle linebacker having to go cover on the perimeter.