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Why the Patriots are interested in Emmanuel Sanders 03.19.13 at 9:00 pm ET
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Emmanuel Sanders

Emmanuel Sanders

With the Patriots and their wide receivers and defensive backs, straight-line speed is nice — and they’ve gone after burners like Bethel Johnson and Brandon Tate in the past — they seek out players who are nimble, agile and display great footwork. That’s why you can trace so many of their picks at the position the last few seasons to guys who do well in the agility drills as collegians, particularly the 3-cone. Julian Edelman, Wes Welker, Deion Branch, Nate Ebner and Devin McCourty all displayed great agility by posting excellent 3-cone times as collegians. For more on their times — as well as New England’s occasional 3-cone obsession as it relates to some members of the current draft class — click on my story here.

(While it’s not the end all and be all when it comes to evaluation, it can sometimes put a prospect over the top in the eyes of the Patriots — that may have been the case behind the infamous selection of wide receiver Chad Jackson in the second round of the 2006 draft.)

That brings us to Emmanuel Sanders. The Patriots have kicked the tires on the restricted free agent, and while there’s no offer sheet as of yet, it’s easy to see why the Patriots would be interested in the 5-foot-11, 180-pounder. While it’s one thing to consider his surface numbers (in his three-year career with the Steelers, Sanders has 94 receptions for 1,290 yards and five touchdowns), one of the things that fairly jumps off the page is his overall agility numbers he posted while at SMU. As a collegian at SMU, Sanders not only displayed the requisite straight-line speed — he had a 4.4 40-yard dash — but also flashed great agility, posting a 6.6 time in the 3-cone drill, the second-best time that year among the receivers. (By way of comparison, that would have placed him third overall at this year’s combine.) There was also his 4.1 time in the 20-yard shuttle (third-best among wide receivers), another drill that measures footwork and agility.

(For what it’s worth, new acquisition Danny Amendola also tested as a collegian when it came to the agility drills. Before going undrafted in 2009, the Texas Tech product posted a 6.81 in the 3-cone drill time and a 4.25 when in the 20-yard shuttle, both considered excellent times.)

It’s realistic to think that the Patriots at least had Sanders on their radar screen when they came to the third round of the 2010 draft — the SMU product went 82nd overall to Pittsburgh, while New England went with Taylor Price eight picks later at No. 90. (For what it’s worth, Price — who was cut midway through the 2011 season — had a 3-cone time of 6.82 as a collegian at Ohio.) With another chance to get after Sanders — who would come at the expense of a third-round pick because of the tender placed on the receiver by the Steelers — the Patriots should seize the opportunity to find another conehead.

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  • WHO CARES

    would be a good pick up

  • Bruinman86

    So sign the kid and give up the 3rd round draft pick. Heaven only knows the Pats have forgotten how to draft Wide Receivers. So they would have wasted the draft pick on a dud anyway. Go for it.

  • http://twitter.com/Emmmanuel4 om

    I hope they get him, I thought the same when he had a good cone drill time and 40 time years ago. He is underrated and can fill the Wes Welker role and be even faster in the slot or a deep vertical threat if needed. He’s just gotta be a solid catcher and be consistent and he should surpass Welker.

  • http://www.facebook.com/dhenderson879 Dave Henderson

    If i hear about another 3 cone drill performance in regards to CBs or WRs that they are going to draft/ have drafted im going to throw up. This drill has failed pats talent evaluaters throughout their time at NE

  • http://twitter.com/Kyle41987 kyle M

    He is worth a third rounder, but I hope they can make a trade and give up a future third. We are already low on draft picks.

  • Bruinman86

    Agreed. Next years 3rd would be nice.

  • ReadyForBaseball

    I’m still saying to draft Jonathan Banks!

  • Moneyball

    The classic “make or buy” decision. The Pats have repeatedly failed to develop their own receivers. (Maybe we should look at the coaches and not the draft evaluators. They never gave Price a chance to prove himself.) It’s time to acknowledge the obvious and buy proven talent.

  • http://twitter.com/RodfromCranston RodfromCranston

    Great! 5’10″ 180 lbs. What are the Pats trying to do, be the Smurfs with wideouts?

  • Jeebus

    Essentially trade Mallet for a 3rd rounder, or Mallet for Sanders. I’d do this in a hurry.

  • Jeebus

    YEAAAAH!

  • Bruinman86

    Who do you replace him with? Pats are lean on QB’s as it is

  • manny

    pats won’t do crap

  • Schwank

    We know they want him…..why don’t you give us a real hypothesis on what their possible strategy is for not yet making an offer? For example….is the longer they wait more beneficial and potentially cheaper for them? Is the longer they wait more of a chance that Pittsburgh sign other people and then has less inclination to match? Or is the longer that they wait simply screwing with Pittsburgh’s ability to make other moves? You get my drift. We understand why they want him…give us some real insight.

  • Schwank

    I think it were that simple they would have pulled the trigger. Perhaps it’s a chess game waiting so Pittsburgh doesn’t or is unable to match. THus getting him cheaper. Perhaps they have second thoughts on the 3rd round pick and are waiting to see if other guys get released. They likely won’t show their hand until they have to. Could be a myriad of reasons.

  • Mr. Timex

    Does krafty use his stopwatch for the cone olympics?

  • beantown

    who cares about the patriots because for 8 straight years all they do is win durring the regular season and then Brady sucks in the playoffs choker Brady gets way to much credit because he is so overrated and if it was not for Adam vinatria the patriots would never have won the super bowl and untill Brady takes his skirt off the patriots will never win another super bowl who cares about the regular season when year after year in the playoffs he sucks

  • Dave

    Sanders is nothing more than a #3 WR.

  • http://www.facebook.com/paul.barsalou.9 Paul Barsalou

    Deon Branch did alright

  • henry

    this guy is injury prone and is a soft player, big mistake giving up a third for sanders

  • eric lindquist

    Who is Adam Vinatria? If you are too stupid to be able to find out how to spell the name of the Patriots’ former kicker correctly, your comments are worthless. However, since many people attribute the Patriots’ success in the early 2000s to Adam Viniateri and discount Tom Brady’s contributions, I will point out that it was Tom Brady who got the team close enough to allow Viniateri to kick his winning field goals. On the final drive in the Super Bowl against the Rams, Brady completed five of seven passes. Viniateri was not going to kick a field goal from the Patriots’ 20. As for Brady’s skirt, he has probably been knocked to the ground a thousand times in his NFL career. You would not be able to stand in against an NFL pass rush but would soil your drawers and whimper for your mother every time you saw a defensive end or linebacker about to clobber you.

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