Never fun when real work and fake work (i.e. blogging) collide because the one that pays me is going to win out every time, and that ain’t blogging. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t have one eyeball on all things Patriots mini-camp related today.
Some points of interest to pass along:
It seems like a pretty safe bet that Wes Welker will be back sooner than later in 2010, but as we saw last year, a lack of 3rd and 4th receiving threats killed the Patriots offense. So this year all eyes are on Brandon Tate and Taylor Price, two young wide receivers who could make an impact this year. One quote I found particularly interesting from Andy Hart:
My early read on the young WR competition between Taylor Price and Brandon Tate is this – Price is the more fluid route runner with softer hands. Tate probably has better speed.
Nice to know they’re not the exact same player, and I hear more than one mention of Price looking a lot like David Givens.
The two areas on the defense that will be watched closest in training camp will be at OLB and RDE. Right now it sounds like former Raider Gerard Warren is getting a look at RDE, though it’s hard to read too much into a run stopper when they’re practicing without pads.
Meanwhile it sounds like everyone is getting a chance to show what they got at OLB, but early on it seems like TBC, Gary Guyton, Jerod Mayo and Derrick Burgess are the starting foursome. This is how an old coach of mine used to handle things when there were a lot of talented younger players… the vets got the early nod, putting the onus on the young guys to unseat them. So don’t rule Spikes, Cunningham, Crable or McKenzie out of the equation just yet.
The other player I’m expecting big things out of this year is Patrick Chung. Check out what Breer had to say about him:
Patrick Chung seems to be evolving into the type of “Swiss Army Knife” defensive back he was at Oregon, lining up all over the field. At times, he’d stay on the field when the first and second groups were switching, so it’s clear the coaches are trying to throw as much at him as possible. It’ll be interesting seeing how he’s employed in the fall.
It’s hard to read too much into these practices because you the coaches are rotating players thru all the positions, throwing a lot at them, and seeing what sticks.
Today’s recaps: