All it took was one grainy, faraway photograph of Tom Brady throwing to Danny Amendola to make Patriots fans get over Wes Welker and fall for their new sub-6-foot receiver.
And seeing Brady throwing to Amendola should have New England fans psyched. It was assumed when the former Rams wideout signed the five-year pact with the Patriots that he would be able to assimilate to the New England offense just as quickly as his predecessor, Welker. But based on the majority of free agent wide receivers Bill Belichick has signed in the past, that may not be a smart assumption.
Granted, they weren’t as young (or pricey), but Chad Ochocino, Torry Holt, Joey Galloway, Greg Lewis, Doug Gabriel, David Terrell and Andre Davis (just to name a few) didn’t exactly pan out for the Patriots. If New England wants Amendola to be the next Welker, he’ll need to work gain a rapport with Brady just as hard as he’ll need to study his playbook, which he may still know from his last year with Josh McDaniels in St. Louis.
On this week’s Gunslingers podcast, NESN.com’s Luke Hughes and Doug Kyed discuss Amendola’s workout with Brady and how it may ease his transition to New England. They also discuss which prospects the Patriots have brought in for workouts, what the Jets should do in the first round of the draft and how many quarterbacks will be taken in Round 1.
Listen in below, or download the podcast on iTunes, for all the latest on the Patriots and the NFL.
Photos via Facebook/New England Patriots from B/R
