A Ben Volin tweet today:
- He doesn't play all that much.
- When he does play, he does not catch passes. Seven games is still a smallish sample but it's big enough to not be the blip that we saw with Cooks in the first few games, for example.
- Brady and he failed to connect a few times when it appeared that the throw was slightly off and that Allen could have adjusted to make the catch. This happened on the very first play from scrimmage this year, oddly enough.
- It appears as if Brady is reluctant to look in Allen's direction or Josh is reluctant to call plays for the same.
- If Allen is blocking well, it is not getting a lot of attention and is instead operating below the radar.
- the player he backs up, Gronk, tends to miss time most every season, sometimes in big chunks.
- the player behind him, Holllister, appears to be a pass catching TE and has had limited reps. Again, the sample is small but that's how it looks thus far.
The sum total of this seems worrisome to me. I fully appreciate that the Pats cannot have redundancy at every position. Salary cap. And that having a guy like Martellus Bennett behind Gronk last year was extraordinary.
On the flip side, a frequent debate is between the relative value of Gronk and Edelman. Fans and media types seem to be divided on the question. My view is that Gronk is more valuable in the context of this team precisely because Edelman has several very competent guys who also play WR. None of them are a "Mini Julian" but between Cooks, Hogan and Amendola, a lot of what Julian gives them can be replicated or at least covered. The players behind Gronk are obviously quite different.
So what is Bill thinking? Is it that he believes that if Gronk goes out, that the Real Dwayne Allen will emerge? Next Man Up? Johnson Bademosi Redux? Or maybe he thinks that between the receivers and backs, and possibly Hollister, that they will have enough?
That's all plausible but it still seems to be a bit odd to me. This offense is built around the TE position being key. The Pats won without Gronk being that TE last year but, while he dropped off somewhat in the second half, Bennett was pretty damned effective.
Make no mistake, I well appreciate that BB is who he is. I am not suggesting that he's lost his mind here. At the same time, I am surprised that he has seemingly left the team so exposed in the event of a Gronk injury and has not tried to adjust. Maybe the trade deadline will net a TE. But unless and until that happens, thoughts on this topic are welcomed.
Here's what we know about Dwayne Allen:
- He doesn't play all that much.
- When he does play, he does not catch passes. Seven games is still a smallish sample but it's big enough to not be the blip that we saw with Cooks in the first few games, for example.
- Brady and he failed to connect a few times when it appeared that the throw was slightly off and that Allen could have adjusted to make the catch. This happened on the very first play from scrimmage this year, oddly enough.
- It appears as if Brady is reluctant to look in Allen's direction or Josh is reluctant to call plays for the same.
- If Allen is blocking well, it is not getting a lot of attention and is instead operating below the radar.
- the player he backs up, Gronk, tends to miss time most every season, sometimes in big chunks.
- the player behind him, Holllister, appears to be a pass catching TE and has had limited reps. Again, the sample is small but that's how it looks thus far.
The sum total of this seems worrisome to me. I fully appreciate that the Pats cannot have redundancy at every position. Salary cap. And that having a guy like Martellus Bennett behind Gronk last year was extraordinary.
On the flip side, a frequent debate is between the relative value of Gronk and Edelman. Fans and media types seem to be divided on the question. My view is that Gronk is more valuable in the context of this team precisely because Edelman has several very competent guys who also play WR. None of them are a "Mini Julian" but between Cooks, Hogan and Amendola, a lot of what Julian gives them can be replicated or at least covered. The players behind Gronk are obviously quite different.
So what is Bill thinking? Is it that he believes that if Gronk goes out, that the Real Dwayne Allen will emerge? Next Man Up? Johnson Bademosi Redux? Or maybe he thinks that between the receivers and backs, and possibly Hollister, that they will have enough?
That's all plausible but it still seems to be a bit odd to me. This offense is built around the TE position being key. The Pats won without Gronk being that TE last year but, while he dropped off somewhat in the second half, Bennett was pretty damned effective.
Make no mistake, I well appreciate that BB is who he is. I am not suggesting that he's lost his mind here. At the same time, I am surprised that he has seemingly left the team so exposed in the event of a Gronk injury and has not tried to adjust. Maybe the trade deadline will net a TE. But unless and until that happens, thoughts on this topic are welcomed.
