NE Patriots Position-by-Position Analysis of QBs and WRs

As the dust of the NFL draft and free agency settles, it seems a perfect time to take a look at the Patriots roster and figure out exactly what we’ll be looking at as New England fans on Week One of the 2009-2010 season.  I’ll group similar positions together, starting off with QB/WR.

Quarterback

First let’s take a look at the QB spot, a position which garners a lot of interest from  journalists and opposing coaches alike, as superstar Tom Brady returns to the active roster after suffering a season-ending knee injury in the first game last year.

Throughout Brady’s rehab process there have been rumors as to whether or not he’ll be ready to return for the beginning of this season.

Also, throughout that time, we saw Matt Cassell rise onto the national stage, leading us to an 11-5 record, and nearly into the playoffs.

Also currently on the Pats roster at the QB spot are Kevin O’Connell, Matt Guttierez, and Brian Hoyer.  Last season throughout the preseason the battle that turned out to be significant was between O’Connell and Cassell for the backup QB role.

The loser, it was assumed, would be the third string QB and designated clipboard holder—seemingy for a long time, as there was no doubt in our minds Brady would be taking the lion’s share of the snaps in New England for the foreseeable future. 

Oh, how things change! 

As we all know, Cassell ended up starting, with O’Connell right behind him, learning as quickly as possible just in case, well, who knows what could happen? 

After the dust settled from this offseason, O’Connell remained the backup QB, as he watched Cassell being traded to Kansas City, following VP Scott Pioli and packaged with veteran LB Mike Vrabel. 

Now with Matt Gutierrez cut last season, then signed back to third string status when Brady went down, and the invitation to former Michigan QB Brian Hoyer to compete for a roster spot, this third string spot is truly the spot that interests me at this position.

It seems pretty easy to assume Brady will be the starter and barring the addition of any other QB’s (Mike Vick’s name is circulating out there in connection with a few teams, the Pats being one of them) O’Connell will be the backup. 

The third spot seems to be the one up for grabs, as we have Guttierez (a guy the Pats cut to the practice squad last season) and Brian Hoyer, who was brought in immediately following the draft this offseason. 

You have to believe that the coaches didn’t like Guttierez too much last year but were forced to bring him back, and that they thought they’d bring in another guy this offseason to replace him with.  I mean, they know they like him enough that if they’re stuck with him they can live with it (much like Redskins owner Daniel Snyder’s attitude regarding his starting QB Jason Campbell), but if someone else can beat him out for the job, they’d be pretty happy to give it to someone else as well.

Look for Brady to skip most of the preseason again and a heated battle to ensue between Hoyer (a QB that reminds me in some ways of Brady himself) and Guttierez for the third string spot this preseason.

One interesting note here: Brady only needs 3,211 yards to overtake Drew Bledsoe as the all-time passing yards leader in Patriots history.  He is already the leader in passing touchdowns, and third in passing yards behind 80’s legend Steve Grogan and 90’s QB Drew Bledsoe.

Wide Receiver

At wide receiver, beyond the returning stars of Wes Welker and Randy Moss (because if you don’t know about them, let’s be honest, what do you know?) we have many interesting options, from grizzled old veterans to fresh-faced rookies. 

With the departure of Jabar Gaffney, I have to be honest, I was a little concerned about who might step in to fill the void there, as Brady had obviously developed quite a relationship with Gaffney over the course of their time together, going to him and feeling comfortable doing so when Welker and Moss were covered, or just to mix things up. 

Gaffney’s ability to make plays when they counted forced you to pay attention to him if you were the defensive coordinator, and I’ll certainly miss watching him fill that role. 

However, the Patriots have brought in 38-year-old speedster Joey Galloway, and drafted rookie Brandon Tate in the third round of this year’s draft.

Now, most of you probably recognize the name Joey Galloway, since he’s been floating around the league since 1995, first in Seattle, then Dallas, followed by Tampa Bay, and finally New England, where I expect he’ll ultimately end his career. 

He’s been known for his speed throughout his career, and has produced over all that time, with 77 career touchdown receptions, which is good enough for 21st on the all-time list. 

He’ll be a solid third option for Brady for at least one or two seasons.  A receiver that we should be seeing a lot of this upcoming season that many of you may not have heard of is Brandon Tate, so let me tell you a little bit about him.

Tate is a 6’0", 183 pound former UNC receiver, who missed the last seven games of last season with the exact same injury that caused Brady to miss the 2008-2009 season (kinda solidifies exactly how confident they are in the recovery of Brady that they’d draft someone with the exact same injury; I guess it must heal well). 

Of course, Tate missed a great deal of the season before that with a head injury as well, so injuries are a serious concern for me here. 

However, if he can successfully stay healthy, Tate could be a huge difference maker for the Patriots for many years to come. 

In college, he set collegiate records when returning the ball on kicks and punts, and was nearly the 11th player in history to rack up 1,000 return yards on both kicks and punts (2,000 total, 1,000 of each) before being sidelined by the injury with seven games to go. 

He’s a highly talented receiver with great hands, as well as ideal quickness, speed, and elusiveness.

There are many other receivers listed on the Patriots’ official roster right now; however, Galloway and Tate are the two newcomers I really expect to have an impact this upcoming season, and going into the depths of the practice squad isn’t doing anyone any favors.

Another interesting note: both Moss and Welker are less than 1,000 yards from breaking into the Patriots all-time top 10 in receiving yards. Assuming Moss has a 1,000 yard/10 touchdown season, which seems like it would be a safe assumption, he would rank in the top eight in receiving yards and third in receiving touchdowns in Patriots history.

There you have it, a preview of the QB and WR positions for the 2009-2010 Patriots. 

Stay tuned in the next few days for my look at the RB and TE spots, which I’ll follow with a look at the offensive line and an in-depth look at some of the exciting acquisitions made at all of those positions.