October 26th, 2014
Dakota Antelman
Patriots tight end Tim Wright has quietly become one of Tom Brady’s favorite targets in the red zone.
The second year Rutgers alumni came to New England in August in the then controversial Logan Mankins trade. He came after playing an impressive rookie season in Tampa in which he caught five touchdown passes and 571 yards worth of catches.
Though Patriots fans were largely disappointed with the loss of their all-star offensive linemen, they could have seen the bright side of the trade right off the bat; that bright side being that Wright already had a decent reputation in Tampa. His skill was there and yet very few looked at how much better he could be catching passes from Tom Brady.
Now however, he seems to have played his way into a place where he must be recognized.
He has caught 14 of 15 passes thrown to him for a total of 142 yards receiving. Though those numbers are not stunning compared to those of say Julian Edelman or Rob Gronkowski, the few statistics that measure a player’s clutch play are.
7 of Wright’s 14 receptions have gone for first downs. He has averaged over 12 yards per play and has twice caught passes that went for 20 yards or more. Furthermore, in the red zone, Wright has been surprisingly impressive.
Standing at 6 foot 4 inches, Wright towers over many corners who are assigned to cover him. Furthermore, though he weighs 220 pounds, Wright has a towering vertical leap ability that allows him to get even higher above his defenders.
As a result it is Wright that currently stands in a tie for second place on the Patriots touchdown reception chart with three scores caught in the first eight games of this season.
Tim Wright, as a very young player may not be getting the recognition he deserves quite yet. But if the Patriots can hold onto him in the coming years he could become a force to be reckoned with as the second best tight end on the team.
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