What will Tim Wright's impact be like moving forward?
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| Tim Wright (81) celebrates his first quarter touchdown against the Bengals with Bryan Stork (66) Jim Rogash/Getty Images |
For the first few games, we didn't see much of those. You can probably chalk that up to Wright taking time to learn the playbook. He finally came to life last Sunday against the Bengals, catching five balls for 85 yards and a touchdown.
Wright showed shades of Aaron Hernandez with his quickness and solid hands, something the Patriots haven't had since Hernandez left the team.
ESPN Stats & Information points out that New England is 3-0 this season when they run more than one-third of their plays in two-tight end sets.
Per Mike Reiss ESPNBoston.com:
Week 1 (at Dolphins): 16 percent
Week 2 (at Vikings): 61 percent
Week 3 (vs. Raiders): 34 percent
Week 4 (at Chiefs): 32.6 percent
Week 5 (vs. Bengals): 59 percent
The Patriots featured two tight ends on the field for 44 of their offensive plays against the Bengals, and with the emergence of Wright and Rob Gronkowski's return to full health (he was taken off the injury report, suggesting he is now 100 percent), that number figures to increase.
So, with that said, what will Wright's impact be like as the season progresses?
What's apparent is that he is getting more involved with the offense after only seeing 21 snaps against the Dolphins, and 13 combined between Week 2 and Week 3. He saw 19 snaps against the Bengals.
“€œI’€™m coming along. I have a far way to go,”€ Wright said. “The coaches are doing a great job each week — all the game plans they are implementing — getting me up to speed and putting me in a position to succeed.”
Both Wright and Gronkowski scored touchdowns on Sunday night, and they were both on the field at the same time when each was scored.
As Wright becomes more comfortable in the offensive, he should see an increase in snaps. Because he was a wide receiver at Rutgers but now a tight end in the NFL, Wright should create some big time match up problems for opposing defenses the same way Hernandez did.
Because his style more closely resembles Hernandez, Wright serves as a major compliment to Gronkowski.
Per Ryan Hannable of WEEI:
“€œI think we complement each other well — we use our strengths to our advantage,”€ Wright said. “He’€™s a bigger guy, I’€™m a little smaller, but quicker in certain aspects. He’€™s bigger and more physical in certain aspects, so it’€™s a good counter for our offense to have different tight ends on the field.”
Wright went on to say that the team is gaining confidence in two-tight end sets again, which is a bad thing for the rest of the NFL. That was the Patriots bread and butter from 2010 to 2012, when they were consistently one of the top offenses in the league.
Do you think Tim Wright will have a major impact going forward? Tweet me your thoughts - @JesseGaunce
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