Who will be more important this season Samuel or Funchess

[Ace_Aladdin]

Although the season is about a month away this is the time we will get to see glimpse of the revamped offense with the addition of the new shiny toys.

I believe this offfense will take on the characterstics of the Patriots & Atlanta offense that will blend the short & down field passing game to go along with a potent Running game.

Samuel & McCaffrey are the perfect complimentary pieces to Olsen & KB that will be able to work underneath routes and create seperation with their quickness & speed but it will be predicated on Cam's ability to improve his pre-snap reads.

Below is a good break down of the quick passing game Patriots have mastered that Rivera wants this offense to evolve into. 

P.S. Can't be a good WR in the NFL if you don't have hands. 

 

https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-why-the-patriots-have-the-best-short-pass-game-in-the-nfl-brady-gronkowski-amendola

Quote

Why do all the work – and take all the hits – when you have young talented playmakers who’ll do that for you? This is the Patriots offense in its current incarnation. Loaded with skill players that can create separation underneath, Brady is feeding them as quickly as he can and the offense is playing at as high a level as it has since 2007. If you want to install a quick passing game into your offense, New England is a no brainer to provide the Teaching Tape.

The Patriots hoarding of slot receivers has become a joke of sorts throughout the NFL, but when you look at the results, it’s Bill Belichick who’s laughing. On passes thrown within 2.2 seconds of the snap a year ago that weren’t screens (40.9 percent of attempts league-wide), Brady led all quarterbacks in completions (226), attempts (332), and yards (2,407 — first in the league by more than 500) while he was second in touchdowns (20) and only threw three picks. He did all that while still maintaining the seventh-best yards per attempt on those throws in the NFL (7.25). The statistics are mind-boggling.

So how do they do it? By playing matchups. 2.2 seconds isn’t enough to scan the whole field and decipher the intricacies of the defensive scheme. Much of Brady’s decision-making comes from the pre-snap alignment of the defense. Once he receives the ball, Brady does little more than read the defenders in a small area of the field to be able to get rid of it so swiftly. Below is the setup of the first play to start the second half in the Pats’ playoff game against the Chiefs.

The press on the outside and head-up alignments elsewhere with a safety in the middle of the field strongly suggests man coverage (the Chiefs are also a very man-heavy team). Brady sees that the coverage has also isolated Rob Gronkowski on Tyvon Branch. Advantage: New England. Brady resets the formation into what we see below to capitalize on this mismatch.

Gronk splits out even wider while James White is moved from the backfield to the slot, taking linebacker Derrick Johnson with him. The Chiefs don’t audible out, so the Pats run one of the most widely used route concepts in the NFL today, the slant-flat. Gronk’s slant route is great versus man coverage. The flat route is not a man-beater, but it does the job of removing the linebacker from underneath the slant. If they were to run the same routes from their previous alignments, Johnson would have flashed right through the passing window when Brady wanted to throw and it wouldn’t have been nearly as clean a window. Instead the result is an easy 18-yard completion as Brady puts on a masterclass in quarterbacking.

Against man coverage finding favorable matchups is easy, but against zone it gets trickier as it’s less about the skill differential and more about formations. This is where scheming comes into play. Below is a crucial 3rd-and-4 in a two-minute drill against Houston, one of the top defenses in the league. New England has trips left, yet the Texans only have two defenders within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage in position to defend. It becomes little more than a version of basketball’s 3-on-2 fast break, where if they can space themselves correctly it should be an easy conversion.

That’s exactly what they do, as Danny Amendola runs a spot route from the outside to find a hole in the zone. Keshawn Martin runs a flat route. And Gronk is little more than interference as he heads straight upfield taking the outside corner with him. The Texans don’t bring the blitz and instead drop into cover-4, meaning only one defender is responsible for the flat on that side. The problem is two routes are run to the flat, flooding the zone. The result is that slot cornerback Kareem Jackson is caught in a bind through no fault of his own, and little effort is needed from Brady for the first down.

3-on-2 situations like that don’t happen often though, and sometimes favorable looks against zone have to be manufactured. This brings us to the deadliest and most underrated aspect of the Patriots offense — their use of pre-snap motion. Time after time, opposing defenses don’t adjust their coverages correctly to the motion and leave gaping holes in their zones. It doesn’t even take much digging to find blatant examples this. Take, oh, I don’t know, the Patriots first offensive snap of the season.

Rob Gronkowski lines up in the backfield before motioning out to the slot, and the Pittsburgh defense acts like New England just invented the forward pass. The Pats have two receivers to the left with only one man covering them and the first down is inevitable.

This was far from an uncommon occurrence. Of all the insane stats Brady put up last season, his quick game splits with and without pre-snap motion might be the craziest of them all.

Passes Thrown Within 2.2 Seconds of Snap

Stat	With Motion	Without Motion
Completions	125	101
Attempts	170	162
Yards	1398	1009
Y/A	8.22	6.23
TD	13	7
QB Rating	118.2	91.8

Brady led the league in every single one of those statistical categories with motion – even yards per attempt. It’s as if the Patriots are playing a completely different game than everyone else, and it’s amazing to watch. It’s scary to think that with the addition of Martellus Bennett and return of Dion Lewis, New England’s offense could get even better — and quicker — in 2016.

 

 

 

 

 

[LinvilleGorge]

Samuel. Until given a reason to think otherwise bases on actual performance on the field, I've essentially given up on Funchess.

[Ace_Aladdin]

6 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Samuel. Until given a reason to think otherwise bases on actual performance on the field, I've essentially given up on Funchess.

Funchess will be a good depth player to rotate in for KB to work outside but the league is going towards players that are more dynamic and versatile. 

[*FreeFua*]

I hope it doesn't come down to these two and Hurney addresses the need at WR somehow before the season starts.

[Eazy-E]

Someone is going to have to replace Ginn's speed or this offense is screwed.

[GoobyPls]

I like Samuel way more, the problem is he's really raw. His route concept is small and he's not really a deep threat at this point.

 

Funchess is so bad I think Samuel can end up taking his spot by the time the season starts 

[Ace_Aladdin]

30 minutes ago, GoobyPls said:

I like Samuel way more, the problem is he's really raw. His route concept is small and he's not really a deep threat at this point.

 

Funchess is so bad I think Samuel can end up taking his spot by the time the season starts 

 

His route running will need work but good thing we have Cotchery.

BTW his skill set allows him to be moved all around the field for a better matchup. 

[Snake]

What if I told you both might be more important than KB. :-/

[Hoenheim]

Its a more important season for Funchess to prove himself. He regressed in pretty much every statsitcal catagory year 1 to year 2 by large amounts and was a ghost in multiple games. Him and KB need to show up this season on the outside. Hell I could see Samuel and Shepard being better #2 and #3 WR options 

[Saca312]

Samuel's going to be more important for this offsense no doubt. He's going to be our primary playmaker, so I expect him to do a lot.

It's also an important season for Funchess to prove he can remain consistent.

 

[Hoenheim]

Just now, Saca312 said:

Samuel's going to be more important for this offsense no doubt. He's going to be our primary playmaker, so I expect him to do a lot.

It's also an important season for Funchess to prove he can remain consistent.

 

Primary playmaker as  a rookie?! Is that a bold prediction? 

[Swaggasaurus]

I see Funchess eventually being a key cog for our team. Maybe as soon as this year. This guy is a basketball player playing football. Still young in his development. The guy who will eat himself off the team is KB. The child prodigy who simply does not give a fug.

[Saca312]

Just now, Hoenheim said:

Primary playmaker as  a rookie?! Is that a bold prediction? 

I'm pretty confident he'll be doing a lot for this offense. Loved his college tape and think he could've been a first rounder. I think it'll translate to the NFL, but we'll see.

[Ace_Aladdin]

6 minutes ago, Hoenheim said:

Its a more important season for Funchess to prove himself. He regressed in pretty much every statsitcal catagory year 1 to year 2 by large amounts and was a ghost in multiple games. Him and KB need to show up this season on the outside. Hell I could see Samuel and Shepard being better #2 and #3 WR options 

KB did regress but I believe the injury was the main reason for the decline although it still wasn't that bad of a season. Just like Cam he needs to come in leaner and improve his route running. 

 

2014:  1,008 yds 9 TDs

2016: 941 yds 7 TDS