Three tight ends and almost zero production
Ho-hum. The New England Patriots once again have three tight ends on their roster after having gone through most of the season with only two, Benjamin Watson and David Thomas. The newcomer is Tyson DeVree, an undrafted free agent out of Colorado. DeVree is said to be primarily a receiving tight end, which probably means, more than anything, that he is just as bad a run blocker as Watson.
As you may recall, I clamored for the Patriots to carry three tight ends on their roster this year so that they wouldn’t have to bring in offensive linemen to fill the spot in short yardage situations. Now, I almost don’t care one way or the other. The Patriots’ tight ends have been so mediocre this year the only reason the team is sticking with three-wide formations so often is that the team barely has three wide receivers, let alone four.
Through ten games, Watson is fifth on the team in receptions and yards, behind the top three wide receivers (Wes Welker, Randy Moss and, ugh, Jagar Gaffney) and, of course, superback Kevin Faulk. Had Watson been a marginally better player he would have been ahead of the thoroughly average Gaffney, but he isn’t, so he isn’t.
Watson is what he is, another early-round bust of a draft pick for the Patriots, along with runningback Laurence Maroney, wide receiver Chad Jackson (who was cut before the start of this season) and former tight end Daniel Graham (who robbed the Denver Broncos in a free agency deal).
Patriots’ tight ends aren’t really all that good at anything. Yes, Watson is a better run blocker now than he was in 2005, but he’s still not a good one and maybe not even an average one. He sure isn’t much oif a receiving tight end, either. He had a legitimate shot at super stardom in 2006 when the Patriots had a collection of JAGs (including, eventually, Gaffney) and an aging Troy Brown at wide receiver, but did nothing with the opportunity (WEEI.com’s football writer Mike Felger, who at the time was with the Boston Herald, accurately predicted the Watson’s nothingness heading into 2006). Watson had another shot at shining last year when Tom Brady, Moss and Welker put on their incredible aerial assault, but again, he just never quite happened. This year, he had a shot at making back-up quarterback Matt Cassel look good, but, again, it’s not happening.
Thomas is a disappointment, too. He’s finally been able to stay on the field for several games in a row, but there’s not much statistical evidence of his presence: A paltry nine catches for 93 yards. Worse, he got flagged for a killer penalty against the Indianapolis Colts that effectively killed New England’s chances of winning that game. His run-blocking is OK, I guess. OK for a receiving tight end.
So now we have this DeVree kid, the third tight end. Hallelujah.
Letting last year’s third wide receiver Donte Stallworth go was a mistake that will haunt New England’s offense for the rest of the 2008 season.
