The Welker Referendum

Do we ever grow up? Life is like sixty years of high school. In the SI article on the Broncos being the Greatest Team Ever because Peyton Manning is the Bestest Quarterback Since God Created the Heavens and Earth, Wes Welker let his inner child out to pout. Bill Belichick was mean to Wes Welker. Apparently, he’s mean to just about everyone but I guess in Welker’s case it was personal or something. Anyway, the local media has gone berserker. It picks the Lawyer Malloy scab, the Ty Law scab, the Willie McGinest scab, the Asante Samuel scab, the Richard Seymour scab; it reminds the Pigskin Pundits and Bobbleheads that Belichick is mean to them, too.

  

So, just a few thoughts…

There’s no reason to boo Wes Welker when the Broncos come to The Razor. So, he dropped that pass (or it wasn’t that good a pass to begin with). One play does not win a Super Bowl, after all. Smallest of data samples, really.

There’s been a reprise of the chatter that Welker wasn’t clutch because of that one Super Bowl pass Welker couldn’t come up with. This one is easy for me because I don’t believe in “clutch” because of the small data sample flaw and because I wouldn’t call sucking for three quarters only to play well in the fourth quarter “clutch.” I’d call it “Jay Cutler.”   

As with the, “Which came first, the Brady or the Belichick?” riddle, there’s been some discussion as to how much of Welker’s success was a result of Belichick’s pigskin genius. In my own small data sample, it seems that it was Welker’s indomitable grit that deserves all the credit. I do agree that Welker is a great football player, a heart and soul kind of guy. But that would give no credit to what Belichick assembled in 2007. As I recall, Citizens of Patriots Nation took up their torches and pitchforks over giving a division rival 2^nd and 7^th round draft picks for a guy who projected to be a #3 WR, at best.

Now that looks like an absolute steal.  

As with Brady and Belichick, the answer with Welker and Belichick is complicated, of course. Would Welker have had the opportunity to roll up the numbers he posted if he’d played for any other head coach? With that opportunity, would he have caught as many or more passes playing with another quarterback besides Belichick’s pigskin Frankenstein, Tom Brady?

There’s really no way to know.

Welker may post Welkerian numbers in Denver this year. I think his numbers will be good and certainly better than Brandon Stokely but whatever the over/under is for catches and yards for Welker in 2013, I’ll take the under. I think Manning wants to throw the deep ball to Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker. I think he likes TE Jacob Tamme, too. The Broncos will throw a lot but I still think it will be hard for Welker to match his 2012 numbers with Thomas and Decker established as #1 and #2 options.

Danny Amendola may play 16 games in 2013 and put up a 100/1,200/8 line catching passes from Tom Brady. That’s the insanely best case scenario, admittedly. An 80/950/6 line in 15 games played (healthy heading into the playoffs) would be good with me because I’d like to see 35 of Wes’ catches go to Josh Boyce (35/550/6).

I have to digress here for a moment and give a shout out to Reche Caldwell, Doug Gabriel, Jabar Gaffney, Chad Jackson and Troy Brown. I’ve started feeling badly for them with all the references to the 2006 wide receiving corps as an example of how terrible things have been at the WR position during the Belichick years except of course during the Wes Welker years which are now over because Bill Belichick is so mean. It’s got to suck any time your name is mentioned in the same sentence as “…worst of…”  

The 2013 Patriots WR corps may wind up reminding us of 2006 but I don’t think so. I’m looking forward to Friday night but really I’m looking forward to Week 1 because I think the kids are alright. I’m looking for the deep ball to return to the Patriots offense in 2013 with rookie Aaron Dobson quickly developing into a threat deep and outside the numbers. I like Boyce and Kenbrell Thompkins and TE Zach Sudfeld, too.

Another thing about 2006.

Brady has gotten better, since then.