January J

your right about that.

Tough to differentiate between who I would LIKE to have a breakout season and who I think WILL have one. Well obviously id like all of them to have a breakout year but that's not realistic lol. Honestly I could see 2 or 3 of them having a huge year though. One guy id really like to see have a big year would be Crockett - but it's so hard to tell how much he will be utilized with the other tight ends and the new OC.

I see what you mean- that makes sense.

Who knows Maybe he changes his mind and just sits out the whole year and then call it quits next year. Like it was previously said- it would be stupid for him to retire now bc his money for this year is guarenteed and that would be the equivalent of throwing away a winning lottery ticket. he's gonna need that few million for life after football. I support him regardless but ofcourse I want to see him beat the odds and return to his pro form

I wouldn't have eliminated a few of them as options - like jimmy smith for example simply bc he was injured most of last year and though debateable still hasn't had that "breakout year" - I guess it's all in how you view the term "breakout "... Could look at it like breaking out to the top tier in their position in the league , or just breakout in a team sense. Still a good poll , makes it more interesting with the options givin. With what is listed id pick either marlon brown or upshaw.

I know exactly what you mean. He puts off a good vibe - it just seems like he was one if those sleeper picks that turns out to be gold. He may not turn into Calvin Johnson - but I have a strong feeling he will be somethin special.

I think it's a little clearer now that he's actually practicing with the team , running and cutting. That's a good sign and a whole lot better than seeing him on crutches

and Kendrick ? I don't know about you but I feel better about the secondary than I did last year. And I definitely wouldn't say they've done nothing- and nobody said they were done yet either.

I think it's the whole offense as a unit just not working together well. Play calling included. I was suprised that last year was our highest productive year offensively - bc I thought we could have done a lot better.

Getting off to a better start in games is definitely somethin they need to improve! It was so frustrating watching them in the first half of most of their games- drives would constantly stall and they could just not get going. Sometimes they wouldn't get going until there was about 10 minutes left In the game when it was almost too late. Hopefully we don't have that problem this year.

Some of y'all are quite disrespectful. I'm not going to actually hope for him to retire- I want him to be happy and play the game he loves. Only thing I'm gonna hope for is for it not to happen again. If he can't make it back on the feild that would be ok too- but I'm also not going to insult his intelligence and act like he doesn't know what he's doing.

you must be on one. Neither one of them have to be behind either. Arrington will play the slot. But if that was the case I assure you our highest paid corner that we just extended would be infront of Arrington.

well that's takes away the whole concept of the post- evidentally the texts had the "insinuation" of profanity even though it was censored- I copied and pasted the texts and didn't even think about it bc of its context ... Guess I'm gonna have to be more careful

I'm sure that's kind of the plan. Get him back as the starter by midseason or so. I never once counted him out. People are skeptical and worried but he is a huge asset to our team. I hate to sound selfish bc I do care about his life after football but this team needs him- Maxx is such a young pup and needs pittas help to really make the transition. Crockett helps too- but pittas experience and the fact that he's one of the only players left from the Super Bowl squad is really important.

Absolutely loved episode 3 of the wired rookie camp. Was great to see perriman and Waller working together. I know it's a real cleshay thing to say but I honestly can't remember being this excited for an upcoming season- and I've been a fan for a long time. The only time that comes close was after the 2011 season, the way it ended just left a really bad taste in my mouth and I knew for a fact we would be back for redemption. Now I feel the same way this year - except even more excited about our new additions , and the fact that we got so much younger will have us set for years to come. I am pumped!

Checkmate.

Just thought id reiterate this- pats tryed to explain that calling McNally the "deflator " was a reference to his weight - yet they didn't explain these texts : After the Patriots played the Jets on Oct. 17, Brady was furious about the inflation level of the footballs and complained to Jastremski. Jastremski and McNally, who was upset with Brady's criticism, then exchanged the following text messages during the three days after the game: Jastremski: Can't wait to give you your needle this week.

I've got faith in the man! He's gonna come back fresh, and with our new additions he will be able to stay that way throughout the season

the only thing I'm worried about is him being so young. I have no doubt he will have success in this league - but he's barely 21 and it might take 3 years or so for him to really mature into a strong player. However it pitta comes back even at mid season we won't need him to do too much and he can really learn and blossom behind him.

Welcome to the good guys.

well obviously enough people thought it was unethical for them to make a change- I think that's all that matters when it comes to that . I agree with you on the fact that they didn't do anything "illegal" .. The way they took advantage of the situation is what other ppl could possibly perceive as shady- bc they noticed the referees were all discombobulated and they capitalized by running a hurry up offense. Can't really blame them. However I can blame the officials- that is who my beef is with. Not only were they not standing over the ball and properly notifying the defense of who was eligible/ ineligible until about 5 seconds before the ball was hiked( which the hand signals are exactly the same- and a change was made before the Super Bowl ) but they couldn't even offer harbaugh an explanation of what was going on without giving him a fifteen yard penalty . Ofcourse harbaugh didn't want to waste a timeout to get a simple explanation ! That timeout could have been crucial in the final minutes if the game. In hindsight you can say he should have called one- but that's hindsight. Also I hear pats fans always coming back with " they clearly announced who was eligible over the loudspeaker at the stadium and they still couldn't figure it out and blazay blah" - you try making out an announcement in the heat of a game with thousands of screaming fans - with a helmet on- while simultaneously trying to get the defensive play , make substitutes , etc. I'm not one of those people who thinks that's the reason we lost- however I don't blame it on the secondary either. Obviously it was a combination of things - a major one being the iffy play call to throw the ball to Torrey on first down with plenty of clock to burn - when we were marching down the feild with momentum. All we had to do was run the ball with Forsett a few times and milk the clock. Even if Torrey caught that ball- Brady had plenty of time left to put a drive together- so all in all it was a poor play call- I can understand it, but wouldnt have done the same. All of that said- it's one thing to be objective and another thing to come off like your not even a ravens fan. And don't act like some of us aren't objective just bc we aren't going with the "against the grain" argument where you do the unexpected and debate the other side. Just bc some of us are doing the "expected" and happen to be defending the ravens doesn't mean we aren't being objective just bc we are fans and we don't agree with you. I know how to play devils advocate- but sometimes you just have to go with what feels right. The patriots have done quite a few things that were unethical- and yes ppl have differing views of what unethical might be- but when the majority feels the same way that pretty much says it all.

The makings of something great is there no doubt- all we have to do is stay healthy and execute. With the young talent we just brought in we could really have something special here for years to come.

everything you say makes sense - it doesn't necessarily mean we will be productive - but it doesn't mean we won't be even more productive than last year either. They might be unproven - but undoubtably the potential is there. You may not be confident in our offense - I am. I believe joe will bring out the best in these guys and that this will be the year he truly elevates his game and has the numbers to back it up. All he has been missing is a few big body targets and some guys that will make YAC. The last time we had Dennis pitta for an entire season was the year we won the Super Bowl. I think it was pretty clear that was his favorite target and his absence really left a void. The departure of Anquan didn't help either. But with what we have now - combined with joe having another year of experience under his belt to improve physically and mentally - paired with trestmans style of offense to really let joe just sling the ball down feild - amazing things can happen. Sure there's always a chance things don't start out well - and injuries could stunt things - but until that happens I'm Hoppin on the optimistic bandwagon and I will ride it all the way to Super Bowl 50 baby. I also firmly believe that what we saw from Forsett was not an abberation. I saw this guy throughout his career- and when he was behind marshawn lynch in Seattle I could tell he had the potential to be a star if he wasn't in the shadow of another. All he needed was a shot and he capitalized. Now if he gets injured that's another story. I'm not sold on our backups at the position- although I think buck kind of reminds me of BP during our 2012 postseason run. Injuries can always change things- so let's just try to make it through camp before we get too excited- but if we stay healthy- I think we have an extremely good chance to be Lombardi contenders .

I thought this was kind of funny- article about the explanation the pats came up with for some of the strange texts. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/patriots-absurd-explanation-why-employee-161111297.html

agreed!