16 October, 2019
As expected, the New England Patriots have loaded up at
the tight end position in the wake of attrition paring down their power sets on
offense.
Most figured that veteran Ben Watson would be re-signed
at some point, but in an unexpected move, the Patriots have also signed
fourth-year nomad Eric Tomlinson, a mammoth in-line blocker who played for the
New York Jets last season after seeing time with the Philadelphia Eagles and
Houston Texans before that.
The Texas - El Paso product entered the league as a
projected tackle, but has shown enough as a safety valve in the pattern to
remain a tight end. Needless to say, his forte is run blocking, and at 6'
7" and 270 pounds, he has shown an ability to engulf edge defenders and
make breakfast food out of them.
Having both Tomlinson and Watson on the roster could have
a reset effect on the entire offense.
Towards the end of last Thursday's victory over the New
York Giants, the Patriots offense was bogged down by injury to the point that
they could only field one personnel grouping, hard cheese for a unit that
routinely enjoys the flexibility of multiple personnel groupings and the
advantage of running a concept-based offense.
That concept base has taken some serious hits since the
end of last season, particularly at the tight end position when Dwayne Allen
left in free agency and Rob Gronkowski retired, and also when they whiffed on
bringing in any free agents to man the positions and were forced to start the
season with Matt LaCosse and Ryan Izzo.
Izzo has been serviceable, but LaCosse has spent more time
in the training room than on the field - and when he went down once again
against the Giants, head ball coach and defacto general manager Bill Belichick
jumped into the free agent pool to acquire Tomlinson and to bring back Watson,
who was cut last week after coming off suspension.
We all pretty much know what the Patriots are getting
with Watson, but Tomlinson is a bit of a mystery other than he's a decent
end-of-the-line blocker and an occasional threat in the short passing game –
and that provides clues to defenses in that they will know that when Tomlinson
is in the game, a run will most likely follow him.
Which Belichick doesn't mind, as his old-school bent
conjures a want of just lining up and pitting his eleven against yours, which
we all witnessed toward the end of last February's Super Bowl, when his charges
executed the four-minute offense to perfection, blowing the Los Angeles Rams'
elite defensive front right off the line of scrimmage.
But that was with Allen and Gronkowski on the edges and
with fullback James Develin clearing out the drains with malicious intent. This
is a different team, one without a fullback at all on the roster and without
their starting left tackle and center – with that said, the signing of
Tomlinson may prove to be a shrewed move by the Dark Master...
...or maybe he'll just be in town for a cup of coffee and
a chat, as Tomlinson does possess some intimate knowledge of the Jets personnel
and most likely wouldn't mind divulging some of that knowledge in exchange for
a nice payday.
But the best case scenario for New England is that
Tomlinson blocks well enough to help out Marshall Newhouse on quarterback Tom
Brady's blind side and can blow through linebackers in the running game.
The Patriots don't need much more help to make a long run
in the post-season, especially if Tomlinson and Watson turn out to be
productive.
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