Yesterday, the Patriots announced that they had claimed DT Kelcy Quarles and DT Bruce Gaston off waivers and added them to the team's 53-man roster. ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss posted a film review for both Gaston and Quarles to highlight each player's strengths and weaknesses.
"Quarles played well in the preseason finale against the Patriots and our educated guess is that is what sparked the team's waiver claim," wrote Reiss. "Based on that performance, it's hard to believe he went undrafted."
However, yesterday's biggest news came when the Patriots announced that they had traded Ryan Mallett to the Houston Texans. Zuri Berry posted his takeaways from the trade over at Boston.com. He says that this trade proves that Jimmy Garoppolo beat out Mallett in training camp and showed enough to be the Patriots lone backup.
"It was obvious despite being a rookie that Garoppolo had a comfort level that Mallett just didn't show on the field," explains Berry. "He only improved over time, something Mallett did not do."
In the wake of the trade, Comcast SportsNet's Phil Perry wrote an article that highlighted Mallett's pro career. Perry broke down each season since Mallett was drafted in 2011 and said that his inability to shine in the preseason ultimately led to this trade.
"Mallett needed to use his preseason opportunities to showcase his talent since he was not going to receive any kind of extended playing time in regular-season action," said Perry. "Time and time again he only showed he could be solid -- not great, or even very good -- when at his best."
Nevertheless, Boston.com's Adam Kaufman believes that Mallett will thrive in Houston if given the chance. He believes that Mallett must be thrilled to go to the Texans because for the first time in his career he has the chance to truly compete for the starting job. With Andre Johnson, Arian Foster, and DeAndre Hopkins around him in the huddle, Mallett will have a great chance to prove his worth and earn a contract for next season.
Callum Borchers wrote an interesting article in the Boston Globe this morning about new technologies that the NFL will be using in 2014. He says that most players will be wearing quarter-sized sensors under each shoulder pad that will be able to track players' speed, acceleration, and other information throughout the game. In addition to being used for league research, the data will also be relayed to TV broadcasters so that they can provide a more detailed explanation of certain plays throughout the game.
