Is It September Yet?
https://www.patspropaganda.com/bostonsportsthenandnow-is-it-september-yet/
An Independent Patriots Blog
Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots
https://www.patspropaganda.com/designingsport-rob-gronkowski-new-england-6/
So along comes Brady and tells us precisely what we want him to say. That he’s as obsessed as ever with one thing and one thing only: Winning. That he’s getting up mornings in February and March to go work out when nobody is looking. That he’s driving himself like a madman and his team to find the competitive edge that will make the difference next season. Because that’s the Patriots Way. All this speech needed was a Kenny Loggins song and it could’ve been the workout montage from an 80′s movie. That’s how you get to have the highest winning percentage (.775) of all time. That’s how you get to be the only QB in history with more than 100 wins over .500 (166-51, so 115 and counting) in a league where only 12 QBs have won 100 games, period.
» Tom Brady Delivers the Interview We Needed to Hear Barstool Sports: Boston
Jerry Thornton’s posts will henceforth be dubbed “Slow Clap Alert!”…
Kevin Williams discusses visit with New England Patriots – ESPN Boston
Though he broke the first rule of taking a meeting with the Patriots (You don’t talk about taking a meeting with the Patriots), I’d still love to see Williams in the mix. Goes back to my philosophy of maximizing the talent in the front seven. I’ll take anyone who can reinforce the rotation and help mitigate injury risk.
Checking in on Injured New England Patriots Stars Rob Gronkowski, Vince Wilfork | Bleacher Report
Good recap of where we’re at with two of the most important players on the Pats’ roster. So many unknowns this year with all the young guys and those returning from injury. Fully expect there to be plenty of players to start training camp on the PUP list.
As long as he gets healthy I’d expect Dobson and LaFell to go at it in training camp. Plenty of outlets are predicting Dobson breaks out this year. I’m not quite going that far and am even leaning a bit toward LaFell being the favorite in that competition.
Now, as I wrote previously, it’s hard to get a true sense of the kind of player a rookie will be and Dobson was just getting his feet wet last year, but here are my reasons to lean LaFell.
Physicality, size and versatility. LaFell has all three of those. What did we see out of Dobson last year that really made him stand out? I wasn’t blown away by any individual trait. He has the numbers as far as speed and size, and they certainly took some shots downfield to him, but I was missing that one thing Dobson could hang his hat on. Even as a rookie I’d expect you’d see a little flash of what he’s best at.
I hope that Dobson really takes off this year, he really SHOULD beat out LaFell but I’m not convinced and I think in a tie BB goes with the guy who’s the better blocker and can play more spots in the offense.
As for Boyce and Thompkins, I think they’ll be in the mix. Both have drawn praise in OTAs for looking bigger and more confident this year. But neither have the size that Dobson and LaFell do, ideal size for the X-receiver spot.
This will be one of the best positional battles of camp, and I don’t want to give the impression I’m down or rooting against any of these guys. I’m just going off what I saw last year and what I think is going to happen.
But players always surprise us, that’s the best part of training camp and I’m sure these players will have their moments in the preseason. It’s just a matter of who can do it consistently and not get hurt.
designingsport: Danny Amendola, New England Patriots