Breaston improved a lot.

Let’s hope for the same from someone like Darling, Bradley, or Webb (who intrigues me…there has to be some reason Haley kept him)

if not great talents. They’re just under utilized in the Patriots offensive arsenal

It might interesting to see how many teams gave up on a WR that ended up being at least serviceable.

someone else agrees with me on this. But it looks like he took his money and ran.

as I recall. Bowe’s issues are consistency in routes and hands.

Almost moreso than any other position, there is ALWAYS talent on the free agent market @ WR. I’d argue WR & RB are two of the most replaceable positions

WR position is special, no question. It’s the one spot that winning the 1-on-1 matchup really throws a monkey wrench into the whole defense. You can do a lot with teamwork between the hashes, without bending things outta shape. But if that one guy is beating his one guy out on the perimeter, the defense needs another guy on the perimeter and out of position to help anybody else.

That’s why WR should always be a position that goes high in the draft.

It’s easy to find draft busts. That little tidbit about the 1st-round TE misses by Pioli was a new one on me. Trying twice for a TE that high doesn’t fit the pattern I have in my mind. Perhaps team needs pushed the pendulum that way?

I think the real genius in the draft comes from husbanding extra picks. Nobody expected Brady to be a dragon-slayer. It was just an extra pick that Pioli and co. had in hand and they spent it on a good prospect. We talk about what a genius Jimmy Johnson was, but how wrong could he go with a jillion picks to play with?

It’s a matter of using the laws of probability in your favor by turning the question upside-down. Rather than only trying to make every pick as high a probability of success as possible (which you, of course, are doing), with enough picks, the probability that ALL of them will bust shrinks toward zero. The successes your team enjoys aren’t necessarily the product of your being a better talent guy than everybody else; rather, they are the product of your managing your business so that you get more picks than the other guy. Just trade down more than you trade up a few times, and watch the picks multiply.

For those who are interested, the probability theory works like this:

Give every draft pick a 40-60 shot at being starting-caliber. Pick 3 players. The probability that all 3 will start is .4×.4×.4=.064. That’s a 6.4% probability of hittin’ on all 3. You expect lots of misses. But turn that question around to see what the probability that all 3 will be busts, and you get .6×.6×.6 = .216, which translates to 78.4% probability that one of ’em will be good.

That 40-60 relationship is arbitrary. But even at that, if you trade for the extra pick, and now have 4 draft picks, at a 40% success rate, the probability of a hit goes up to 1 – .4×.4×.4x.4 = 1 – .4^4 = 1 – .0256 = .9744. So out of 4 longshots, you’re getting over a 97% probability of hitting on one of ‘em. Your eye for talent didn’t improve. Just the sheer number of opportunities you gave yourself.

This, of course, is a very small matter, when so much DOES ride on solid talent evals. But a sign that an organization has a solid SYSTEM in place is the sheer number of picks they get to make. Trades that involve giving up a player for a 2nd and a 5th, when you could’ve insisted on a couple 1sts. Trades like New England made with KC with Cassel and Vrabel for a 2nd.

WR stands out as under-addressed (on paper), to date. I think team needs (and a semi-weak WR class?) took KC right out of consideration for making big WR moves in the draft. I’m halfway thinking that KC’s going on a WR hunt after reports from minicamp, especially. Lawrence is having problems fielding kicks, let alone proving he can be a consistent and tough WR in regular offense.

I don’t recall anyone ever saying last season that Bradley “stretched the field” on anybody. And he’s penciled-in to start? I know Haley’s known as a WR guru, and might work miracles with who’s on the roster right now. But if reports have any credibility, WR is currently a weak spot.

It’s kind of expected, when you’re overhauling a team, the way KC is. Focus needs to start with everything that supports the WR’s efforts. Sure, you want the best WR possible, but what good is Terrell Owens if Romo’s running for his life and never gets any good downfield looks? And every extra second you can buy, the better your WR automatically becomes. So you kind of expect WR to be the last thing to get a BIG infusion of talent. How aggressive they will eventually be may depend on how things are developing on the o-line. We non-Sack-n-tosh fans may change our tune, with Goff at RG simplifying the RT job.

But like you say, Dagda, those other issues might not be settled in one year, and if not, going all-out for a high-dollar WR in FA might be premature. And look at what Pittsburgh was able to do with the same system of offense, many of the same weaknesses, right down to a journeyman WR corps. Hines Ward is NOT a dominant WR, but he plays tough and smart, like all the Steelers do.

the speed? You remember Week 1 last year, right? I think that myth was dispelled real quick about fast Devard was. Talk about your false advertising. Bradley is twice the receiver Darling ever will be