Jake Ballard
As OchoCinco leaves for Miami, a new #85 comes to the Patriots. Former Giants TE Jake Ballard was claimed off waivers by The Patriots. My first reaction is to think that Belichick practically stole this guy from Tom Coughlin.
The reports out of NY indicate that no one within the Giants organization expected Ballard to be claimed. They were nearly correct, as Ballard navigated his way through the waiver wire unclaimed by every team that finished below the Patriots in the 2011 season, every team except Green Bay.
It seems that the Giants had expected Ballard's torn ACL and stress fracture surgeries to make him undesirable to other teams. Ballard will spend the 2012 season on Injured Reserve, and maybe be slow in returning for 2013. Nevertheless, The Patriots scoop him off the scrap heap for nothing but his measly undrafted rookie contract.
Ballard showed good athleticism and decent ability to catch the ball during the 2011 Pats-Giants regular season tilt, but his true value is in his run and pass blocking. Ballard is much bigger than Daniel Fells and Bo Scaife, and would be seen as the #3 TE, backing up Gronkowski. Ballard is not as fast, nor does he have Gronk's hands, but at 6'6" and 260, he fits the mold.
The Patriots like to go with big packages, and we often saw Offensive Linemen fill blocking TE roles in 2011. Ballard's size gives the Offense a bit more versatility in big packages. He is effective in the passing game, having caught 38 passes for 604 yards and 4 TDs in his rookie season. Which, is impressive when not compared to Gronk, Graham, or Hernandez. He runs a 4.8 forty yard dash, and I think that he has immense upside in a system that loves the TE.
Below is a metric from ProFootballFocus displaying expected thresholds for rookie TEs around the league, compared to top performers in recent years.
Ballard is on par with reception and TDs, but exceeds average production in yards and yards/catch. Nevertheless, Ballard did receive a bit more playing time than the average rookie. However, this is even impressive due to his origin as an undrafted free agent. Ballard was targeted 61 times in 14 games, which give him a reception percentage of 62.2%. This figure indicates that his hands a bit clunky, but not made of stone. Overall, its not bad for a "blocking TE."
The reports out of NY indicate that no one within the Giants organization expected Ballard to be claimed. They were nearly correct, as Ballard navigated his way through the waiver wire unclaimed by every team that finished below the Patriots in the 2011 season, every team except Green Bay.
It seems that the Giants had expected Ballard's torn ACL and stress fracture surgeries to make him undesirable to other teams. Ballard will spend the 2012 season on Injured Reserve, and maybe be slow in returning for 2013. Nevertheless, The Patriots scoop him off the scrap heap for nothing but his measly undrafted rookie contract.
Ballard showed good athleticism and decent ability to catch the ball during the 2011 Pats-Giants regular season tilt, but his true value is in his run and pass blocking. Ballard is much bigger than Daniel Fells and Bo Scaife, and would be seen as the #3 TE, backing up Gronkowski. Ballard is not as fast, nor does he have Gronk's hands, but at 6'6" and 260, he fits the mold.
The Patriots like to go with big packages, and we often saw Offensive Linemen fill blocking TE roles in 2011. Ballard's size gives the Offense a bit more versatility in big packages. He is effective in the passing game, having caught 38 passes for 604 yards and 4 TDs in his rookie season. Which, is impressive when not compared to Gronk, Graham, or Hernandez. He runs a 4.8 forty yard dash, and I think that he has immense upside in a system that loves the TE.
Below is a metric from ProFootballFocus displaying expected thresholds for rookie TEs around the league, compared to top performers in recent years.
Thresholds: 10 games, 300 snaps, 40 points
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| Year | Name | Team | TA | Rec. | % Ct | Yds | YPR | TD | DP | Fu | Standard | SPPS | SPPT | PPR | PPPS | PPPT |
| 2011 | Lance Kendricks | SL | 53 | 28 | 52.8 | 352 | 12.6 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 30.4 | 0.05 | 0.57 | 58.4 | 0.09 | 1.10 |
| Kyle Rudolph | MIN | 33 | 26 | 78.8 | 249 | 9.6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 42.9 | 0.09 | 1.30 | 68.9 | 0.14 | 2.09 | |
| 2010 | Rob Gronkowski | NE | 57 | 42 | 73.7 | 546 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 112.6 | 0.14 | 1.98 | 154.6 | 0.19 | 2.71 |
| Aaron Hernandez | NE | 64 | 45 | 70.3 | 563 | 12.5 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 97 | 0.20 | 1.52 | 142 | 0.29 | 2.22 | |
| Tony Moeaki | KC | 65 | 47 | 72.3 | 556 | 11.8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 73.6 | 0.08 | 1.13 | 120.6 | 0.13 | 1.86 | |
| Jermaine Gresham | CIN | 76 | 52 | 68.4 | 471 | 9.1 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 71.1 | 0.09 | 0.94 | 119.1 | 0.15 | 1.57 | |
| 2009 | Brandon Pettigrew | DET | 52 | 31 | 59.6 | 354 | 11.4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 46.6 | 0.09 | 0.90 | 78.4 | 0.15 | 1.51 |
| 2008 | Dustin Keller | NYJ | 74 | 48 | 64.9 | 535 | 11.1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 71.5 | 0.14 | 0.97 | 118.2 | 0.23 | 1.60 |
| Martellus Bennett | DAL | 26 | 20 | 76.9 | 283 | 14.2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 52.3 | 0.13 | 2.01 | 72.3 | 0.19 | 2.78 | |
| John Carlson | SEA | 77 | 55 | 71.4 | 627 | 11.4 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 92.7 | 0.13 | 1.20 | 153.7 | 0.21 | 2.00 | |
| 2011 | The Rookie | 58 | 39 | 68.9 | 454 | 11.7 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 69.1 | 0.11 | 1.25 | 108.62 | 0.18 | 1.94 |
Ballard is on par with reception and TDs, but exceeds average production in yards and yards/catch. Nevertheless, Ballard did receive a bit more playing time than the average rookie. However, this is even impressive due to his origin as an undrafted free agent. Ballard was targeted 61 times in 14 games, which give him a reception percentage of 62.2%. This figure indicates that his hands a bit clunky, but not made of stone. Overall, its not bad for a "blocking TE."
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