Pneumonic

Yes, that's correct. It is the same. And teams are doing it more and more. TE's are becoming less (traditional) TE's and more specialized WR's who spend more time split out wide than they do inline. Like the Jimmy Graham's and Julius Thomas' of the world. These guys can't bock for the life of them yet they still spend time inline in formation. Despite the opposition knowing full well that they are in formation not to block but to run pass route. I used Graham and Thomas as examples because both of these guys ranked worse than did Wright as a blocker last year. Even still, both are nightmare matchup problems and are very valuable weapons for they tax the opposition in many ways. Ways in which Wright did last year in TB. Wright's addition is unique however for he is coming into a situation where he'll be paired with arguably the best (true) TE in the game. Because there won';t be a reliance to have him block, Wright will be like the Queen in chess ...... someone that can be moved around endlessly and without limitation, in an attempt to create the best possible matchup strategy. You can bet a seasoned vet like Brady will take full advantage of such a situation when he walks up to the line.

Think along the lines of the Jimmy "I am a WR not a TE" Graham situation that is en vogue in the league these days.

Clayton's stating the obvious. The sal cap has evened the playing field such that what separates the best teams from the alsorans are coaching and QB play. The Pats happen to have the best at both spots .... thus they have been dominant during this time.

Perhaps what he meant to say was that well run teams recognize when their expensive players are declining and then trade them, for some draft pick compensation, before it's too late.

None of us are enough of a scout to assess how badly Mankins was dropping off last year but, objectively, Mankins allowed 11 sacks in 2014 (with 9 of them coming from Week 9 on). This number represents 28% of the 40 sack total relinquished by the OL. League wide, only Brian Winters allowed more. One of the things going for Wright in terms of learning the Pats offense is he doesn’t have to learn a whole new system. He’s been schooled and played in the Erhardt-Perkins offensive system the Pats run. Wright should already be broadly familiar with what is expected of him except perhaps the specific terminology that the Pats use which may be different. Re: Wright. Some factoids that I have found which are interesting: On just 74 targets he caught 54 balls for 571 yards and five TD’s. This means Tim Wright had the 12th most receiving yards and 12th most TD's for a rookie TE since 1970 And according to http://www.pro-football-reference.c...pos_is_db=Y&draft_pos_is_k=Y&draft_pos_is_p=Y t-5th all-time in most receptions by a rookie TE t-12th all-time in most receiving yards by a rookie TE t-9th all-time in TDs by a rookie TE And now he has Brady tossing him the rock.

Mankins srtruggled mightily at times for the Pats last year. Especially down the stretch It's possible the Pats figured his best days were behind him. As for Wright. Last year, as a rookie and while transitioning from WR to TE in which he didnt see a single target in weeks 1 and weeks 2, he posted 54 receptions for 571 yards and 5 TD's. What isn;t widely known is that only 5 other rookie TE's, in the history of the NFL, have done what Wright did which is catch at least 50 balls, for 500 yards, and 5 TD's. It remains to be seen how he works out in NE but he's obviously very talented and highly productive. And now he has arguably the GOAT QB tossing him balls.

Some highlight's of the Wright kid.

Mankins was still one of the better run blocking OG's in the league so the Pats run game should decline with him gone. Pass pro probably doesn't get hit much, if at all, as Mankins struggled in this department, especially the last couple years and in particular the last 1/2 of last season. The Pats seemingly prepared for such a departure having used 3 of their first 6 picks in this years draft on OL. This Wright kid could be a major matchup nightmare with Brady tossing him the ball. He and Gronk could be a devastating duo if Gronk can stay healthy.

What a bunch of wussies

Awesome news.

There is no correct, or more useful, answer here obviously. To your bolded point above. Let's suppose it turns out that Revis can single handedly remove Watkins from significance in the 2 games played this year. No scheme adjustment on the Pats part is required to contain him ... they just man up Revis on Watkins at all times effectively taking him out of the play and causing the Bills OC to call plays to other options. Does this eliminate Watkins from consideration as a #1 per your defn? By contrast. Let's suppose that Watkins is unleashed upon the Jets secondary which has no one in place to effectively contain him without having to resort to double covering and scheme adjustments. Does this then mean Watkins is a #1 per your defn?

To win more games than you lose (which may be Rex's mindset at the moment) this might be the case (if enough pressure is generated up front to make coverage less of an issue) But, to win come playoff time, you best have great coverage in the backfield.

I guess it depends on the defn of #1 WR. If it means one of the best 32 WR's in the league then I'd say the answer is none pending Watkin's (likely) ascention up the WR ranks.

If Sammy draws Revis in coverage he'll be tested at the highest level ...... by all accounts Revis is fully healed, says he's in the best shape of his career, and has been dominant in Pats camp.

Not much screams great about Rex. He is 46-40 in his HC career and his team has missed the playoffs the last 3 years running going 22-26 during that span.

I ended up flipping a coin between Phily and GB. I thought about one of Seattle, SF or even the Rams but I think they end up beating the crap out of each other simply to get into the show and are too tired come the playoffs. It'll be Pats or Denver in the AFC. Not sure about Phily's D but that offense will be spectacular. Don't forget that, after a slow start, Phily finished the season going 9-2.

AFC wrong direction - KC NFC wrong direction - Panthers AFC leap - Browns NFC leap - Rams O POY - Andrew Luck D POY - Darelle Revis O ROY - Johnny Manziel D ROY - Jadeveon Clowney AFC East - New England North - Cincinnati South - Indianapolis West - Denver NFC East - Philadelphia North - GB Packers South - New Orleans West - Seattle Super Bowl - Philadelphia over New England

It's a very simple defense much like going to bat for the 10 rioters who get caught out of a crowd of 1,000. The 10 caught are no more guilty than the the others are.

The league brought to the fore the issues of videotaping, which ended up in the spygate fiasco, by issuing a memo to all teams warning them to stop videotaping. There are countless accounts fo teams videotaping all the way to the dawn of video tape including a reference to some things that Jimmy Jonson made on the subject which I posted on page 3 of this thread.

Just so I'm clear .... you only feel as you do because Belicheat was the only one to have been caught cheating (videotaping)? What of the others who also cheated by videotaping but who didn't get caught?

Not all cheaters are caught and fined and/or incarcerated though. Yet, they are still cheaters. And once a cheater, always a cheater. Doesn't matter how many more times the cheater, cheats. I understand your dislike for the C word. Just know that it's usage isn't only limited to the military nor was it my intent for it to be construed as such in my post. Apologies if it offended.

Is cheating not cheating? All cheating more does is make me a multiple times cheater. In the end, the person who cheated once and the person who cheated twice are still both cheaters. Perhaps, we need clarification on the defn of cheat.

I am not naive enough to believe that not a single coach didn't cheat to gain and advantage at least once in their ascension to be a NFL HC. Even Bud Grant.

Sure, in an ideal world, there would be no cheating. But, in real life, there is cheating. Especially so at the epitome levels of business, such as the NFL, where the combatants are all competing for just 1 of only 32 jobs in existence. It's good that you are not posting your Patriots asterisk due to jealousy.

Sometimes it takes a flying reindeer reference to make a point. FWIW, I actually don't have a problem with asterisking so long as the asterisk rule is applied consistently, to all teams that have been shown to cheat, and is not just done in a manner specific to a certain team that has owned the Bills like a rented mule for the better part of 15 years straight. As I said previous, such action screams of jealousy.