Ryan Mallett: Is there a pulse?

[CluelessJoe]

I honestly haven't seen much of the Patriots or Mallett this preseason but from a stats perspective, it appears as if he's at least making a solid run at Hoyer for the QB2 job this season. What's the scoop on this situation going into the season - is there actually some hope for those of us (many Brady owners, I assume) that have stashed Mallett at the end of our bench or is it time to pull the plug?

[joeday]

I honestly haven't seen much of the Patriots or Mallett this preseason but from a stats perspective, it appears as if he's at least making a solid run at Hoyer for the QB2 job this season. What's the scoop on this situation going into the season - is there actually some hope for those of us (many Brady owners, I assume) that have stashed Mallett at the end of our bench or is it time to pull the plug?

IMO (for what thats worth) I have a feeling if Brady went down midseason there would be two likely scenarios...1) if the team is 6-2 Hoyer takes over and 2) if the team is 2-6 Mallet takes over. Now obviously no one wants, or expects, Brady to get hurt so I believe barring that then Mallet will take over Hoyers job next season while Hoyer is on the market.

[MR ROURKE]

I have heard rumers that Mallett has really out played Hoyer and could win the QB2 job sooner then later.

[CluelessJoe]

Anyone see all of his preseason snaps care to comment on the progress (or lack thereof) that he's made since the widely reported news of him having a horrible training camp? I'm curious to know how he's looked - stats aside.

[Chris_R]

Mallett has consistently looked better as the pre-season continues, not sure if he'll play in the final game but I believe he's outplayed Hoyer and after checking on a few Patriots forums and blogs it appears that has been the case here recently. I'm holding him in the league I have him and not in a real big rush either, actually he's a guy I wouldn't mind owning in all of my dynasties as he's really cheap right now, his skillset offers some nice upside, and you know at the least he's going to have 2 elite TE's to throw to that would make life easy on any QB(barring a trade of course).


Now he hasn't lit the pre-season on fire or anything, but then again he's not expected to start this year so he still has learning to do. Brady should be playing for a long time, so I realistically don't expect anything anytime soon but for the price he's a nice stash IMO.

[PurpleHaze]

As a guy that has held onto Mallett since he was drafted in dynasty here's my take:

- Mallett has outplayed Hoyer this preseason and has probably taken the #2 job.

- I believe Mallett is a future elite QB and the future starter at NE.

- I have no idea when Mallett will be the starter. It could be this season (if Brady gets hurt) or it could be 3 more years (Aaron Rodgers sat for 3 years under Favre).

- NE has been known to discard vets when it came time to pay them. Even big names... So I don't think Brady is a lock to stay there for several more years.

- If Brady suffers a significant injury and Mallett does well in his place, Brady might not get his job back. The big question is how Mallett would perform if that were to happen this year.

[henry1jg]

I think Mallett is the heir & a great stash

[dresden]

I haven't had a chance to watch the Pats games, but with the reports I've seen on Rotoworld, I find the comments here somewhat surprising:

CSN New England's Tom Curran nominates QB Ryan Mallett as one of the biggest disappointments in Patriots training camp.
"Ryan Mallett has an opportunity to lay claim to being the heir apparent to Tom Brady," said Curran, "and he just hasn't done it." Mallett's camp work has drawn mixed reviews. While beat writers have unanimously questioned Mallett's decisiveness and accuracy, ESPN's Adam Schefter was told last week by reliable sources that the 2011 third-rounder has looked "very good." Aug 8 - 11:56 PM

The Boston Globe agrees with CSN New England's assessment that QB Ryan Mallett has been one of the disappointments of Patriots camp.
Mallett completed just 16-of-37 passes for 178 yards and two interceptions in Thursday's preseason opener. Assessing his play, beat writer Greg Bedard opined that Mallett "just didn’t look comfortable," and the "game is not coming naturally to him." Bedard believes Mallett "appears to be thinking way too much," and has had only one practice where he "looked the part." The pressure will be on Mallett in New England's final three preseason games. Aug 11 - 1:33 PM

These are dated by about two weeks, but there haven't been any reports since to note that Mallett has improved. Have other sites been reporting differently?

[PurpleHaze]

These are dated by about two weeks, but there haven't been any reports since to note that Mallett has improved. Have other sites been reporting differently?

The last 2 preseason games he significantly outplayed Hoyer and even put up better numbers than Brady (albeit against 2nd and 3rd stringers).

Greg Cossell's comments on Ryan Mallett prior to the 2011 draft:

"Via Twitter, Cosell has coughed up a stream of observations that speak favorably of Mallett.

Cosell says that Mallett has the “best NFL skill set” in the draft, with a physical presence in a muddied pocket. Cosell thinks that Mallett re-set in the pocket and threw better than conventional wisdom suggests. "

He said that Mallett had the "best NFL skill set" over guys like Cam Newton, Jake Locker, and Andy Dalton. That and Mallett is learning behind Belichick and Brady.

That's what you call...UPSIDE.

[Shoreline Steamers]

I have Mallett, but not Brady. I believe he has upside, but I've been trying to get SOME value in trade for him this offseason, but had no takers (even from the Brady owner). I'd like to be able to wait on him, but (team in sig) I've already got a fair amount of roster space allocated to QB.

I'd like to move somebody to get down to 3 QB and free up a roster spot. But I KNOW if I can't trade Mallett at present, and decide to cut him, he'll land on somebody's roster before the day is out.

Hard to gauge because he could be a snap away from starting, or it could be three more years... Very good physical skills, it was his "between the ears" issues that cause his fall to the 3rd round in 2011.

[PurpleHaze]

QB: B. Roethlisberger, S. Bradford, R. Wilson, R. Mallett

Tough call but I've kinda lost faith in Bradford. Maybe try to trade Bradford then your bench will be oozing with youth and upside with Wilson and Mallett.

That said, all of your QBs are worth a heck of a lot more than someone like Dickson so maybe it is best to keep 4 for now.

[bluemetal]

I am a Pats fan so obviously biased. I think Hoyer is not a starting QB and agree that Mallet COULD be the heir to Brady. I am probably in the vast minority but I would absolutely not be surprised if Brady is in the last 1-2 years of his career with the Patriots. We never thought that Manninng would play for any team other than the Colts but look what happened. Great players decline eventually and have to be replaced. Bellicheck would not have kept Mallet around if he had at least not shown some potential. They have gotten rid of other high picks quickly in the past who have not performed or not shown potential

[TommyL31]

In preseason week 2 Mallett easily outperformed Hoyer and Mallett looked fine in week 3 backing up Brady as well. I think if some people are disappointed because they thought he would be beating down Tom Brady's door this year that's understandable but he improved and outplayed Hoyer. I think there's still a chance that Mallett is the heir to Tom Brady but could use more time to learn (ie as a Pats fan I might not be worried if he were our starter next year but I would if he had to start in the first 6 games this year).

I'm not a Tom Brady fan buy I'm still stashing him.

[Shoreline Steamers]

QB: B. Roethlisberger, S. Bradford, R. Wilson, R. Mallett

Tough call but I've kinda lost faith in Bradford. Maybe try to trade Bradford then your bench will be oozing with youth and upside with Wilson and Mallett.

That said, all of your QBs are worth a heck of a lot more than someone like Dickson so maybe it is best to keep 4 for now.

I TOTALLY hear you on this. I tried to move Bradford in the offseason in packages with other guys/picks, to get a shot at drafting Luck, or RGIII. I also tried to sell a package for both Stafford and Matt Ryan. No takers. Couldn't even get a sack of magic beans for him.

Dickson was a 4th round draft pick this year, after I shipped Olsen off to move up to 1.11 to make sure I got Russell Wilson. He's just a backup to me.

[lifesyourcup]

Mallett has the tools to be a starter. Hoyer does not, destined to be a career backup.

When Mallett does take over for Brady, he gets to throw to Hernandez (2018) and Gronkowski (2019) for quite some time. That's definitely a plus for him.