On March 13th, longtime patriots wide receiver and offensive stud Wes Welker was lost to the Broncos after a final few years in New England that literally fell through his fingertips (talking about the '12 Super Bowl where Welker dropped what would have been a game sealing catch)
3 months later on the 18th of June and after yet another complication with his noncompliant back that forced surgery, the Patriots were informed that tight end Rob Gronkowski would be out until at least week one of the season. (Yet in all likely hood, without any sort of training camp or preseason conditioning for "Gronk", the Pro Bowl tight end might very well have to spend several additional weeks making up the workouts he missed, therefore pushing his estimated time of return to as late as weeks Six or Seven.)
Nevertheless after knowing that they would be without Welker and Gronkoski, the Patriots organization was delivered a metaphorical punch to the face when just after 8 oclock on June 26th a crucial development in a then 9 day old murder investigation surrounding Aaron Hernandez was born. On that late June morning, Aaron Hernandez, long member of "the greatest tight end tandem in NFL history" was arrested before, just a few hours later, being charged with murder and 6 counts of gun possession charges.
Now with his Patriots team frantically trying to distance themselves from a man basically dubbed to be a psychopath, Hernandez was dropped by the team who over the next few days would continue to fight to free themselves of the mega 40 million dollar contract that bound them to Hernandez who will, in all likelihood, spend the rest of his life sitting in a jail cell.
At the conclusion of the 2012- 2013 NFL season, the Patriots were in a reasonably comfortable place: Brady had been signed to spend basically the rest of his career with New England, Wes Welker had played great in the regular season and had guided his Patriots to a 6th straight division championship despite dropping yet another crucial pass in the AFC championship game against the Ravens. And last but not least, with Gronkowski coming back from injury and Aaron Hernandez still a prime target of Tom Brady, the 2 man tandem was poised for yet another heroic run. Nevertheless, as profiled in the 4 paragraphs above, in the blink of an eye, that wonderful array of assets and offensive talent fell apart meaning that with Week One now just 70 days away Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are trapped between a rock and a hard place all poised with one huge question: how to maintain the offensive talent that they need to win games?
Well, the Pats have an answer for that question yet for many Patriots fans, it’s not a good one. In the immediate wake of the Welker signing with Denver, St Louis wide receiver Danny Amendola was immediately acquired as a replacement. The only problem with that plan is that Amendola is NOTHING compared to Welker.
After joining the league 4 years ago, a now 27 year old Amendola has never ran for a touchdown, while receiving just 7 through the air. It is obvious, Amendola is not the guy who can tag team with Brady to win games yet the problem here is that should the Pats continue to rely heavily on their passing game he will be at least until Gronkowski returns towards the middle of the year.
"The Patriots need to turn away from their passing game and hand the ball to Shane Vereen and Stephan Ridley"
With all that in mind, it seems that the only escape for the Patriots, is to basically forget about Brady and make guys like Steven Ridley and Shane Vereen the centerpieces of their attack.
Both boating young talent and intriguing promise, it isn't even like neither of these guys have proved themselves before. In last season alone the two combined for 6 100+ yard games and a total 20 touchdowns (17 rushing and 3 receiving (Vereen caught all 3 receiving touchdowns between the two)). In addition to that, neither man is making more than a million dollars a year so should they become intricate parts of this offence retaining them would not be a Herculean task of money manipulations and careful contract negotiations.
Welker is gone, Hernandez is gone, Rob Gronkowski is hurt and with his luck could very well get injured again in the next few years, Amendola is well Danny Amendola, and with the days of Tom Brady's career numbered, switching your offence from one with a focus on immaculate passing, to one of grit and rushing power, might not be a be a bad approach for New England.
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