Tom Brady needs a top ten wide receiver. The last time the Patriots had a top ten wide receiver was in 2011 when Wes Welker finished second among all wide receivers in yardage with 1,569. It’s now time for New England to have a top end wide out for Tom Brady to throw to.
Yes, Julian Edelman is great and he did lead the team in receptions in 2013 but he didn’t finish in the top twenty for most yardage by a receiver in the league. Rob Gronkowski reached that plateau with 1,124 but he’s a tight end and we are talking strictly wide receivers here.
As we all know it the NFL has become more of a quarterback driven league which means these flame throwers are looking to throw the ball more down field than handing it off to a running back. This can be proven looking at the two tables below. You will see that the number of 1,000 yard rushers has slightly decreased over the last five seasons. On the other side you will see that the number of 1,000 yard receivers has increased.
RUNNING BACKS
Year Number of 1,000 yard rushers
2010 17
2011 15
2012 16
2013 13
2014 14
WIDE RECEIVERS
Year Number of 1,000 yard receivers
2010 17
2011 19
2012 20
2013 24
2014 23
This is why the Patriots need to get with the times and get a top ten caliber wide receiver. It’s tough to say that after the success they’ve had over the last five years with a combined record of 63-17, but only only two of those season’s featured a wide receiver in the top 20 rankings. Welker finished second in 2011 and eighth back in 2012. The other three years no Patriots wide receivers finished in the top 20.
You might ask why should they change anything fresh off a Super Bowl victory when the Pats had no wide receiver eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark. New England over the last five seasons has been very successful offensively with the bare minimum number of weapons around Brady. So why change something if it’s not broke? Let’s answer those questions.
Like almost anything, it’s always nice to add something a little bit more to make it better. For example, a stud wide receiver for Brady to throw to. This is not to discredit how Edelman has excelled since the departure of Wes Welker. Edelman over the last two seasons has had a combined 2,028 yards and has been a versatile wide out for Brady. Still, he isn’t a top ten caliber wide receiver.
I’m talking a guy who’s 6-foot-5, who has a 45-inch vertical jump, and a 6-foot-10 wingspan. Okay, finding another Calvin Johnson might be a little hard, but here are a few options as solid wide outs for the Patriots to look into.
In this year’s draft I like a few wide receivers. It would be tough to land a guy like Amari Cooper who is ranked at the top of the wide outs entering the draft. Cooper showed off his talents at Alabama where the 6-3 junior scored 16 touchdowns and had over 1,700 receiving yards.
Another guy I like is number two on the WR rankings board and that’s Kevin White out of West Virginia. White has great hands and tremendous leaping ability going after the catch. In order for the Pats to secure one of these guys they likely would have to move up in the draft.
Here’s a guy who I think may fall later in the first round and maybe even farther is WR Dorial Green-Beckham out of Missouri. This kid is 6-foot-5 and could potentially be one of the best players to come out of the draft. The one problem with him is the off the field issues that happened in college. If Green-Beckham falls to the Pats at the end of the first round then this could be a steal with the kind of upside he has.
Another avenue to obtaining a top ten caliber WR is in 2016 free agency. Now you never want to look ahead to next season’s free agency class when this one isn’t even over, but its hard not to when names like Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas, Julio Jones, A.J. Green, T.Y Hilton, and Alshon Jeffery may become available. Most will probably re-sign, but one may consider leaving and joining Brady in the last few years he has left to try to win a Super Bowl.
I’ve always wondered what kind of numbers Brady could put up if he played with the targets that Peyton Manning who had Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders and Julius Thomas (who’s now a Jaguar). Or even the targets Jay Cutler had to work with in Alshon Jeffery, Martellus Bennett, Brandon Marshall (now a Jet) and Matt Forte in the backfield.
Teams are beginning to focus more on the defensive side of the ball. They are getting guys that can stop the run and get after the quarterback. If you have a weapon on the outside that make defenses think twice about loading up on the box then that would open things up for the Pats offense. It would also create better match-ups for any of the running backs Bill Belichick decides to play that week.
Just picture Gronk lining up as tight end, some random running back in the back field, Edelman in the slot, Brandon LaFell on one side and Julio Jones on the other. Good luck defenses trying to stop that with Brady under center. Lucky for you we will probably only see that in a video game if the current trend continues.
Tom Brady won’t be able to play forever and a top ten wide receiver would help the Patriots offensively while giving Brady a better chance for a longer career. A top ten wide receiver should be on the Patriots wish list as well.
