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No. 83 is the team MVP
By NFL standards Wes Welker is 5-foot-nothing, and a hundred-and-nothing pounds. But he is everything to the New England Patriots right now.
Belying his diminutive stature, Welker is the biggest reason that coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots head to Buffalo this weekend still atop the AFC East at 8-5. Without Welker's inspiration and perspiration against the Carolina Panthers last Sunday, when he had 10 catches for 105 yards and lifted a lifeless team to a 20-10 victory, the Patriots would be trying to explain away a three-game losing streak and a season on the brink.
The Patriots might have more famous players (Tom Brady) or more feared ones (Randy Moss), but they don't have a more valuable one than Welker.
The humble, hard-working wide receiver with the Oklahoma twang and incomparable game has stepped up and filled a leadership void, risked life and limb to keep the chains moving over the middle and oh, by the way is fourth in the NFL in punt return average (13.0). (His 69-yard punt return against the Colts that set up a Brady to Moss touchdown that gave the Patriots a 31-14 lead would have been one of the biggest plays of season if not for fourth-and-2.)
You don't believe me that Welker is the Patriots' MVP? Then ask the gold standard for invaluable Patriots slot receivers/punt returners, Mr. Patriot himself, Troy Brown.
"Well, in my opinion he is the MVP of their football team," said Brown. "If he is not getting it, I don't know who should get it. He has held that offense together. He has caught the ball well and taken shots. He's not giving in to the double team and is still finding ways to get open, when teams try to take him away."
Brady is the face of the franchise, the spine of the Patriot Reign and the biggest reason this team has three Lombardi Trophies. That is indisputable. Moss, despite his current controversy, is a pass catcher nonpareil and future Hall of Famer. But Welker, who despite missing two games leads the NFL in receptions with 105 and is second in receiving yards with 1,158, is the heartbeat of the Patriots' offense.
He has been since he was acquired from the Dolphins three seasons ago in deal that now looks like a bigger steal than the heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Looking back upon the Patriots' record-setting 2007 season -- were stats for losers then? -- it's now apparent that Welker didn't just play a supporting role in the aerial act.
Welker caught a team-record 112 passes for 1,175 yards in '07. Last season with Brady shelved with an ACL injury and Matt Cassel at QB, Welker caught 111 passes for 1,165 yards. If it were not for the gale force gusts in the season-finale at Buffalo, which bent the goalposts like Gumby and made passing nearly impossible, Welker would have surpassed his '07 totals.
It was not a coincidence that both Brady and the Patriots' offense looked out of sorts in the beginning of the season, when Welker missed two of the first three games with a knee injury.
The offense didn't kick it into gear until Tom-Tom re-established his Welker GPS against Tennessee, when the Patriots unleashed a 59-point avalanche and Welker collected 10 receptions for 150 yards and two touchdowns, the first of his five games with 10 receptions or more this season.
Like Brown before him and another No. 83, Deion Branch, Welker has become Brady's most valuable pass-catcher.
"Wes is that comfort blanket," said Brown. "I think when it is all said and done he looks to Wes in those crucial situations, even short of a first down he has the confidence to get the ball to him and let him run for the first down, if the pass is short of the sticks. A couple of teams have those type of blankets for them, but I don't think they compare to what Wes is doing right now."
Welker's case for team MVP goes beyond the numbers, beyond averaging 105 receiving yards per game, being on pace for 133 catches, which would be the second most ever in an NFL season, and recording a third-straight 100-reception season. He has become this team's conscience, an emotional compass at a time when they seem to have lost their (Patriots) way.
He isn't just a possession receiver. He is a possessed receiver.
After calling out his teammates following a stunning loss to his former team in Miami, saying everyone needed to look in the mirror, Welker answered the call against Carolina.
Perhaps no play signifies Welker's sine qua non status than his 100th catch of the season, a 6-yard grab that concluded with him getting buried by Charles Godfrey. Welker was slow to get up and had every reason to stay down.
Instead on the next play, third and 2, he responded with a 13-yard catch-and-run, landing on the ball as he was lassoed out of bounds. He bounced up waving his arms, willfully lifting the "LateGate" torpor that was hanging over the team and its fans like a foul fog. That was the initial first down on 96-yard drive that may have saved the Patriots' season, a drive on which Welker had five catches for 64 yards.
While Moss went M.I.A., when his team needed him most, Welker became an MVP.
So, while Brady and Belichick did their best to shield Moss from criticism they also saluted Welker's heroic performance. Brady went on WEEI's "Dennis & Callahan" and paid Welker the ultimate compliment, saying he is the type of player that typifies what the Patriots stand for and why they rose to NFL royalty.
Brown, who actually was one of those players, agreed.
"I can understand exactly what Tom is saying when he says that Wes is the type of guy that helped build that franchise to the way it is now," he said.
Welker is the type of player the Patriots used to have a locker room full of and the fact they don't any more merely makes him an even more valuable asset, the most valuable one of all.
Belying his diminutive stature, Welker is the biggest reason that coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots head to Buffalo this weekend still atop the AFC East at 8-5. Without Welker's inspiration and perspiration against the Carolina Panthers last Sunday, when he had 10 catches for 105 yards and lifted a lifeless team to a 20-10 victory, the Patriots would be trying to explain away a three-game losing streak and a season on the brink.
The Patriots might have more famous players (Tom Brady) or more feared ones (Randy Moss), but they don't have a more valuable one than Welker.
The humble, hard-working wide receiver with the Oklahoma twang and incomparable game has stepped up and filled a leadership void, risked life and limb to keep the chains moving over the middle and oh, by the way is fourth in the NFL in punt return average (13.0). (His 69-yard punt return against the Colts that set up a Brady to Moss touchdown that gave the Patriots a 31-14 lead would have been one of the biggest plays of season if not for fourth-and-2.)
"Well, in my opinion he is the MVP of their football team," said Brown. "If he is not getting it, I don't know who should get it. He has held that offense together. He has caught the ball well and taken shots. He's not giving in to the double team and is still finding ways to get open, when teams try to take him away."
Brady is the face of the franchise, the spine of the Patriot Reign and the biggest reason this team has three Lombardi Trophies. That is indisputable. Moss, despite his current controversy, is a pass catcher nonpareil and future Hall of Famer. But Welker, who despite missing two games leads the NFL in receptions with 105 and is second in receiving yards with 1,158, is the heartbeat of the Patriots' offense.
He has been since he was acquired from the Dolphins three seasons ago in deal that now looks like a bigger steal than the heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Looking back upon the Patriots' record-setting 2007 season -- were stats for losers then? -- it's now apparent that Welker didn't just play a supporting role in the aerial act.
Welker caught a team-record 112 passes for 1,175 yards in '07. Last season with Brady shelved with an ACL injury and Matt Cassel at QB, Welker caught 111 passes for 1,165 yards. If it were not for the gale force gusts in the season-finale at Buffalo, which bent the goalposts like Gumby and made passing nearly impossible, Welker would have surpassed his '07 totals.
It was not a coincidence that both Brady and the Patriots' offense looked out of sorts in the beginning of the season, when Welker missed two of the first three games with a knee injury.
The offense didn't kick it into gear until Tom-Tom re-established his Welker GPS against Tennessee, when the Patriots unleashed a 59-point avalanche and Welker collected 10 receptions for 150 yards and two touchdowns, the first of his five games with 10 receptions or more this season.
Like Brown before him and another No. 83, Deion Branch, Welker has become Brady's most valuable pass-catcher.
"Wes is that comfort blanket," said Brown. "I think when it is all said and done he looks to Wes in those crucial situations, even short of a first down he has the confidence to get the ball to him and let him run for the first down, if the pass is short of the sticks. A couple of teams have those type of blankets for them, but I don't think they compare to what Wes is doing right now."
Welker's case for team MVP goes beyond the numbers, beyond averaging 105 receiving yards per game, being on pace for 133 catches, which would be the second most ever in an NFL season, and recording a third-straight 100-reception season. He has become this team's conscience, an emotional compass at a time when they seem to have lost their (Patriots) way.
He isn't just a possession receiver. He is a possessed receiver.
After calling out his teammates following a stunning loss to his former team in Miami, saying everyone needed to look in the mirror, Welker answered the call against Carolina.
Perhaps no play signifies Welker's sine qua non status than his 100th catch of the season, a 6-yard grab that concluded with him getting buried by Charles Godfrey. Welker was slow to get up and had every reason to stay down.
Instead on the next play, third and 2, he responded with a 13-yard catch-and-run, landing on the ball as he was lassoed out of bounds. He bounced up waving his arms, willfully lifting the "LateGate" torpor that was hanging over the team and its fans like a foul fog. That was the initial first down on 96-yard drive that may have saved the Patriots' season, a drive on which Welker had five catches for 64 yards.
While Moss went M.I.A., when his team needed him most, Welker became an MVP.
So, while Brady and Belichick did their best to shield Moss from criticism they also saluted Welker's heroic performance. Brady went on WEEI's "Dennis & Callahan" and paid Welker the ultimate compliment, saying he is the type of player that typifies what the Patriots stand for and why they rose to NFL royalty.
Brown, who actually was one of those players, agreed.
"I can understand exactly what Tom is saying when he says that Wes is the type of guy that helped build that franchise to the way it is now," he said.
Welker is the type of player the Patriots used to have a locker room full of and the fact they don't any more merely makes him an even more valuable asset, the most valuable one of all.
The word
Christopher L. Gasper riffs on the news
Diva
...that's the word former Patriots linebacker and current NFL Network analyst Willie McGinest used to describe the attitude of Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker. Slapped with the franchise tag by the Patriots, Welker implied Tuesday he would not be attending the team's mandatory mini-camp in June if he didn't have a new long-term contract. Part of McGinest's rationale was that Welker's earning power and production -- really one and the same -- are the product of playing for the Patriots and playing with Tom Brady. Since joining the Patriots in 2007, Welker leads the NFL in receptions (554) and is fourth in receiving yards (6,105). It's fair to debate how much of his success and value as a slot receiver is tied to being Brady's favorite target in a pass-happy offense. (By the way, Willie, Welker did catch 111 balls in 2008, when Brady was out for the year.) It's not fair to denigrate Welker's attitude, work ethic or commitment. Grossly underpaid almost since the moment he joined the Patriots, Welker has desired and deserved this new contract since 2009. However, he has not once withheld his services or publicly lashed out at the Patriots, traditionally the only ploys that get the team's attention. He returned from a torn ACL in seven months in 2010, when he could have babied the injury to protect his value. Last year, in training camp he said he felt the best he had in his career and backed it up by setting a franchise record for receiving yards (1,569). Welker is the antithesis of a diva wide receiver. He is a player who is understated, underpaid and has over-performed.
Comments »Christopher L. Gasper video
Featured comments
“Amen, the trading down in the draft to get 20 mediocre players never made much sense for a team at the top with few holes. Time to trade up and sign a few mega-free agents. Tom Brady got the team to the Super Bowl by himself this year. The bend, don't break defense is a joke. It takes time of possession off the clock for the offense, forcing them to score on virtually every possession. We are wasting the talents of the greatest QB of all-time. ...In five years, Patriot Place will be a ghost town.”
MJKJRMRYAZ
“Brady has suffered one too many sacks and is toast. Look at his playoff performances over the past 2-3 years. Not Good. Kraft should do everything possible to retain Belichick. He's head and shoulders over most other NFL head coaches.”
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