The Patriots‘ vaunted offense is not for everyone, as Mike Reiss of ESPN.com writes. Indeed, accomplished veterans and highly-drafted receivers alike have often struggled to adapt to New England’s unique offensive scheme, and current wideout Danny Amendola–who has not been immune to those struggles himself–explains why. Said Amendola, “In our offense, especially at the wideout position, it’s all about feeling. It’s about trying to find open space, using your eyes…In our offense, it’s kind of like if you take away all the street signs on the road and you kind of just drive — you yield and stop at an intersection just by what you feel and what you see with your eyes.”
It makes sense, then, that there would be growing pains for young receivers, regardless of the scheme their college might have run. Only a select few players have been able to establish a consistent rapport with Tom Brady over the years, but thus far 2016 fourth-rounder Malcolm Mitchell has shown an early aptitude in making the transition that has baffled so many others.
Let’s take a look at a few more notes from the league’s east divisions:
- Jimmy Kempski of PhillyVoice.com takes a way-too-early look at the Eagles‘ draft needs for 2017, a list that is currently headlined by the offensive tackle position. Philadelphia looks as if it will field the oldest offensive line in the league for the second consecutive season, and with Jason Peters‘ career coming to an end soon, the Eagles will need to continue to stock up on bookends.
- Former Broncos safety David Bruton, who signed a three-year deal with the Redskins in March, was brought to Washington to bring some semblance of stability to the team’s safety position, an area that has been a consistent weakness for the Redskins over the past decade. Both Rich Tandler and Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com believe that Bruton will open Week 1 as the starter at strong safety over former Denver teammate Duke Ihenacho, particularly since Bruton has been taking virtually all of the first-team snaps at the position in offseason workouts. But, as is always the case with Washington’s safety depth chart, the situation will remain fluid.
- Anthony Chiang of PalmBeachPost.com takes a look at where each of the Dolphins‘ 2016 draft choices stand entering training camp. Both Laremy Tunsil and Xavien Howard, the team’s top two selections, have a good chance to become starters in their rookie campaigns, but both will need to make considerable strides in training camp to do that. Third-rounder Leonte Carroo, meanwhile, might have been the most impressive rookie in offseason workouts and already looks primed for a significant role in Miami’s offense.
The way Amendola describes it, it sounds like the routes are essentially street ball routes. Kind of like run this route but carry yourself further foward or backwards depending on the pressure.