They've also potentially lost Super Bowls when important offensive weapons have been hurt..so having some depth isn't a bad thing either.
2019 Pats: WR "Bust a Move" Sanu Watch
- Thread starter DJnVa
- Start date
And if you believe those numbers, I have a bridge to sell you.
Years ago I played in a charity B-ball game with Edelman (he was a rookie at the time and just a throw in—Laurence Maroney was the marquee attraction). He barely looked me in the eye. I’m 5’8”.
I definitely enjoyed Sanu's time in Atlanta. Nice to see him move on to a better place. Even nicer to get a late 2nd round pick for him. Win-win.
Having some depth maybe allows them ease back on usage of guys playing through injuries.
I'll take the L on this one. I didn't agree with that at all. Flash is too easy to root for.
/sobs
This is an itch BB has been scratching all season. First AB, then report after report of the team checking out this guy and that, now Sanu — and Gordon. It is a position sometimes filled with immense talent and promise (Harry and Meyers). But it has been unstable as hell, and this is one of the relatively few times when the team angst was greater than fan and SOSH angst.
Seems pretty clear that Sanu was going to be a Niner unless Pats went to a 2, which they did. Given the Gordon news, pretty understandable to see why they were willing to slightly “overpay”.
Control of Sanu for the rest of this season and all of next season at fairly cheap salary is well worth a low second. He's low risk to be a guy who can't digest the offense. Speculating about whether Bill should have paid a lower pick seems like a waste of time.
I’m fine with people discussing it but seems to me there wasn’t much wiggle room here given Niners interest. Either Pats paid a 2nd or they don’t have him. I don’t even consider it an overpay. We get 1.5 years of a productive #2/3 WR for essentially a low 3. Sign me up.
I’m quite pleased with where the WR group is currently. The volatile guys are gone and now we’re left with a bunch of dependable options with a an unproven high upside guy left in Harry. Defenses really won’t be able to key on any one guy, even Edelman.
Now, if we can just get that TE upgrade...
The last time that I remember the Pats trading a 2nd round pick for a WR worked out pretty damn well (one Super Bowl drop aside).
At least Watson makes the receiving part of TE competent. I'd guess that finding a primarily-blocking TE is easier (Tomlinson didn't impress me; but whaddoIknow). My worry is that at 217 years old, Watson's batteries could expire at any time, again making TE a passing-game void.
It's humorous to me - one note of humor in an otherwise bleak season - that the Falcons were likely to make Sanu a cap casualty after the season, yet managed to extract a 2nd round pick for him. Which isn't to disparage your Pats-centric viewpoint of the trade at all, of course; both viewpoints can be equally valid in this situation. But really, keep your damn hands off and eyes away from Hooper...
Yup. Classic "good for both teams" deal. Falcons still have a good QB and talent throughout the roster. A quality 2020 draft and they could be right back in the thick of things. But you could really use some more 2020 draft assets and Hooper is about to cost A LOT of money...
Players can't change numbers in-season, so Brady could've accepted and then the change would've been blocked by the league.
I think the number thing is only enforced if a bunch of jerseys are for sale with the players and number.
I remember Chad Johnson wanted to put OchoCinco on his jersey but the league would have required him to buy millions of dollars of jerseys that had been produced. I’m guessing Hill didn’t have a ton of jerseys in stores
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/id/26610696Added story from Ocho cinco trying to change
I remember Chad Johnson wanted to put OchoCinco on his jersey but the league would have required him to buy millions of dollars of jerseys that had been produced. I’m guessing Hill didn’t have a ton of jerseys in stores
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/id/26610696Added story from Ocho cinco trying to change
That doesn’t make a lot of sense. Obviously, that logic doesn’t prevent in season trades. Who’s going to buy all those Sanu Falcons jerseys now? Looks like Nike is going to have to eat that cost.
Ha. My first thought as well. Who’s the first mediot to take what was almost certainly a light hearted gesture and turn it into a smoking hot take that Brady wants out.
Bumping this.
Wasn't a fan of this trade when it happened -- Sanu has been a career #3. I get it -- you need help, you need to pay a price, Sanu might be one of the only guys available.
But as it stands, we're 4 1/2 games in and he has 135 yards. He's going to finish this season with maybe 600 yards combined between two teams.
This is going to go down as one of the worst trades of the Belichick era, maybe the worst, unless he can figure his stuff out soon. He just doesn't seem to ever get open. I get he is a good blocker, and maybe he's really good in the locker room, and yada yada yada -- point is, he doesn't provide what the Pats needed, and is a stretch to even be a #2 on the team. Even when he had AJ Green or Julio Jones as an outside threat to help him out, he was still a 700 yard a year guy. Watching him play now, when there is no outside threat, I have no idea how this guy ever does anything.
Wasn't a fan of this trade when it happened -- Sanu has been a career #3. I get it -- you need help, you need to pay a price, Sanu might be one of the only guys available.
But as it stands, we're 4 1/2 games in and he has 135 yards. He's going to finish this season with maybe 600 yards combined between two teams.
This is going to go down as one of the worst trades of the Belichick era, maybe the worst, unless he can figure his stuff out soon. He just doesn't seem to ever get open. I get he is a good blocker, and maybe he's really good in the locker room, and yada yada yada -- point is, he doesn't provide what the Pats needed, and is a stretch to even be a #2 on the team. Even when he had AJ Green or Julio Jones as an outside threat to help him out, he was still a 700 yard a year guy. Watching him play now, when there is no outside threat, I have no idea how this guy ever does anything.
how can you write that much about him but make no mention whatsoever of him playing hurt the last few weeks?
I thought it was a bad trade the day it was made. A 2nd round pick for a season and a half of a 3rd wide out is stupid.
You want to excuse him for being hurt? Fine. But the fact is that he has 135 yards across almost 5 games. I don't think he sucks, but I think he's a #3 when the team needed something more. He's a very redundant player on this team -- even if he were better he fulfills the same exact role that Harry or Myers do, and has the same weaknesses they do.
I'd rather them have given up actual draft capital for an actual player than give up a second for whatever Sanu was supposed to provide.
The trade looks pretty damn bad at this point. He had one good game and has been a complete nonfactor otherwise. Sanders hadn’t done much for a few weeks, some of which is probably related to SF’s offense, but today showed why he was a better fit than Sanu. I was very wrong on this one. Really thought Sanu would give us consistent 50-60 yard move-the-chains production. The ankle injury has certainly hampered him but I’m just not seeing it. He’d be perfectly fine in the Meyers role. He sucks as a #2.
I was a Sanders over Sanu guy, but I am giving Sanu a pass until he is off of the injury report. High ankle sprains are very tough to play through. Hopefully he is back to full speed for the first playoff game when it really matters.
lol, at the late analysis in this thread. C'mon guys you aren't acknowledging the facts at the time. One of which is that #11 was playing with cracked ribs and/or a dinged shoulder. He's playing with alligator arms, dropping balls he'd never drop, not getting his arms up to try to bring down balls. His timing with Brady is way off - he's coming out of routes a tick late. All of which points to his injuries/dings being more significant than they've let on. At the moment they picked up Sanu, they probably figured that Edelman wasn't long for the year - and given everything that was going wrong on the receiving side - figured they had to ensure Brady had at least one slot receiver.
Additionally, no matter how good you are - you don't just recover from a high ankle sprain in the time Sanu seems to have. He is playing dinged as well. Asking a slot/possession receiver to play with a balky ankle is asking for no separation.
The relatively high number of trick plays this year indicates to me how concerned they are with the offense right now. The White throw? damn, years ago BB wouldn't let Edelman throw the ball, never mind the 3rd string trick play QB. They are trying to survive any way they can. In that environment, 50 different roster decisions could be 2nd guessed, I'm just not sure that Sanu is one of them in the context of the 'moment' of the trade. That's not including what the team knows that we don't, both on injuries, practice performance, and the tenor in the locker room (perhaps near the TB#12 locker).
Finally, the trick plays they save for the playoffs? It would shock me if Edelman and Sanu (and maybe Meyers) haven't been designed into some "double/triple half-calf mocha with a twist" plays to be unveiled in the playoffs. Pressure the league with a speed/power twin towers approach at TE when no one else is doing it? Check. Going with a power running game in the playoffs last year when the league is passing everything but kidney stones? Check. Going with 2 (or 3 if you count Meyers) slot receiver sets to screw with a secondary (or counter a blitzing package) and protect an OL which qualifies as a Swiss Cheese OL even by the strict French frommage standards? Those plays are waiting there beckoning the team forward like the 9 2-point conversion plays in the Falcons Super Bowl game.
Additionally, no matter how good you are - you don't just recover from a high ankle sprain in the time Sanu seems to have. He is playing dinged as well. Asking a slot/possession receiver to play with a balky ankle is asking for no separation.
The relatively high number of trick plays this year indicates to me how concerned they are with the offense right now. The White throw? damn, years ago BB wouldn't let Edelman throw the ball, never mind the 3rd string trick play QB. They are trying to survive any way they can. In that environment, 50 different roster decisions could be 2nd guessed, I'm just not sure that Sanu is one of them in the context of the 'moment' of the trade. That's not including what the team knows that we don't, both on injuries, practice performance, and the tenor in the locker room (perhaps near the TB#12 locker).
Finally, the trick plays they save for the playoffs? It would shock me if Edelman and Sanu (and maybe Meyers) haven't been designed into some "double/triple half-calf mocha with a twist" plays to be unveiled in the playoffs. Pressure the league with a speed/power twin towers approach at TE when no one else is doing it? Check. Going with a power running game in the playoffs last year when the league is passing everything but kidney stones? Check. Going with 2 (or 3 if you count Meyers) slot receiver sets to screw with a secondary (or counter a blitzing package) and protect an OL which qualifies as a Swiss Cheese OL even by the strict French frommage standards? Those plays are waiting there beckoning the team forward like the 9 2-point conversion plays in the Falcons Super Bowl game.
FWIW, I think Patriots fans are still going to love Sanu once he's healthy - hopefully this year, for your sake. But I'd love to know whether Belichick was bidding against himself in trying to acquire him, or if not, who else was in the market and what draft pick(s) had been offered. Because a 2nd round pick always looked like a lot to give up, particularly with the Falcons in cap hell and almost certain to release him at the end of the season.
It was reportedly the receiver-starved Seahawks, who were at the least mulling over dealing a 3rd. They dropped out when BB offered up the 2nd rounder.
I haven't charted the game, but it looked like he got a lot more reps at X than he had in previous weeks, and he wasn't any more effective than Dorsett.
The offense has five WR and I would argue all of them should be slot receivers and not outside guys. They don't need an AJ Green but a 2014 Brandon LaFell would be huge.