wes welker

Are the Chargers clueless, or just a little stupid?

Or do the Patriots [team stats] simply have the habit of making opponents look that way?

The Chargers ran their mouths after last year's playoff loss, again this week after the cheating scandal broke, and even during the Patriots' 38-14 blowout loss on Sunday night. It's to the point where you have to wonder if they're delusional. A small, harmless example came at the half, when NBC's Andrea Kremer reported that Chargers players were heard yelling, "We've got them right where we want them!" on their way into the tunnel at intermission. Seriously.

The Chargers are a supremely talented team that only lacks heart, brains and fortitude. Those are characteristics the Pats have had in spades for years, of course, but the difference now is that they have the talent to go along with it.

Meanwhile, how is it possible for Norv Turner to be in the league for so long and still be so atrocious? If you thought the San Diego coaching was bad under Marty Schottenheimer, you quickly realized it's gotten even worse under Turner.

Forget about secretly taping the Chargers. The Pats don't need it.

QUARTERBACK -- A

Tom Brady [stats] threw one ball behind Wes Welker for an incompletion and another one behind Randy Moss for his only interception of the year. Otherwise, he was deadly again (123.0 rating). Of course, it helps when everyone is wide open. A small example of his brilliance came on Moss' first-quarter touchdown, when Brady recognized Moss was going to be wide open at the snap, but instead of telegraphing the throw, he looked the safety off before going back to Moss down the hashmarks. Brady also made a nifty play to recover a strip sack with his legs.

RUNNING BACKS -- B-plus

Sammy Morris (51 yards, 10 carries, 5.1-yard average) continues to be a revelation. Laurence Maroney [stats] had a quietly productive night (77 yards, 15 carries, identical 5.1-yard average). Maroney did whiff in blitz pickup when he let Merriman get by him for a second-quarter sack.

RECEIVERS -- A

You think someone might want to cover Moss? Late last week, I wrote that it was about to get tougher for Moss because his big game against the Jets would put defenses on notice. Boy, was I wrong. The brain-dead Chargers decided not to cover him out of the slot on his first touchdown and then chose an interesting coverage technique on his second score, with corner Drayton Florence attempting to corral him with his buttocks. Welker (eight catches, 91 yards) is making a living getting open on routes underneath Moss, and he benefited as well from the Chargers' awful defensive game plan. His signature play came in the first quarter when he shook backup linebacker Tim Dobbins for a 15-yard gain. Tight end Benjamin Watson [stats] broke out with five catches for 49 yards and a touchdown, with his best play of the night coming in the fourth quarter when he broke four tackles to pick up 14 yards on a third-and-short.

OFFENSIVE LINE -- B-plus

Many of you had probably switched over to the Red Sox [team stats] by the time the men up front had their signature moment, which was a monster, statement-closing touchdown drive in the fourth quarter that took 15 plays, covered 91 yards and chewed up 10:07 of clock. Credit to the depth of the line with Billy Yates and Russ Hochstein filling in for an injured Stephen Neal. Matt Light [stats] and Logan Mankins [stats] each gave up a sack to Merriman, but the overall work was good. Mankins was credited with a knockdown of Pro Bowl nose tackle Jamal Williams on a 14-yard Morris gain in the third. Center Dan Koppen also was great against Williams, who was hampered by an arm injury.

DEFENSIVE LINE -- A-

Tomlinson's night (43 rushing yards) was not, as some suggested, just a function of the scoreboard. The men up front were terrific, even if the stat sheet didn't reflect it. Ty Warren [stats] led the way with five tackles, the most emphatic of which came in the third quarter when he destroyed a block by backup tackle Jeromey Clary and stopped Tomlinson for minus-1 yard. Warren immediately got up and waved his finger at the Chargers bench as if to say, "not today." Nose tackle Vince Wilfork [stats] outplayed his perennial Hawaii-bound counterpart Williams by a wide margin.

M
Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts The knock on Welker wasn't his athletic skills, it was his size. At 5 feet 9 inches, 185 pounds, schools thought size mattered. Welker was out to prove them wrong, and he did.

The Patriots wide receiver left Texas Tech as the NCAA record-holder for career punt return yards (1,761), and owner of the mark for returns in a season (57 in 2002).

Welker went undrafted in 2004, signing as a free agent with the San Diego Chargers. After being cut Sept. 15 of that year, he hooked on with Miami less than a week later. After three years with the Dolphins, he was traded to the Patriots March 5 in exchange for second- and seventh-round picks in the 2007 draft.

Welker, 26, made a significant contribution in his Patriots debut Sept. 8, with six catches for 61 yards and a touchdown in the 38-14 victory over the Jets.




Welker started his football career at Heritage Hall High School in Oklahoma City. In 1998 he was named The Daily Oklahoman All-State Player of the Year, and Oklahoma State Player of the Year by USA Today. Welker played in the 2000 Oil Bowl, scoring a 40-yard field goal for the Oklahoma team. Out of high school, Welker was not recruited much as he was considered to be too small to play at the college level. However, after a recruit at Texas Tech backed out of his scholarship, it was offered to Welker.


[edit] College career
Welker's last minute signing was a bonanza for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Welker became known as "The Natural" for his ability to make big plays in the biggest games. Over his 4 year career, he had 259 receptions for 3019 yards and 21 touchdowns. He carried the ball 79 times for 456 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also scored 8 touchdowns returning punts in his career, still tied for the NCAA record.[1] Wes Welker was a member of the Phi Delta Theta. He held the Director of Records Executive position during his four years at Phi Delta Theta. He was quoted as saying that his inspiration to become a Phi Delt was because of Craig Sukke, a Fargo, ND native.


[edit] Professional career

[edit] 2004
After his senior season at Texas Tech, Welker went undrafted in the 2004 NFL Draft but ended up signing as a free agent with the San Diego Chargers. Despite making the team out of training camp, Welker was cut after the first week of the 2004 season and signed with the Miami Dolphins, where he was mostly used on special teams. The same season Welker became the second player in NFL history to return a kickoff and a punt, kick an extra point and a field goal, and make a tackle in a game against the Patriots on October 10.


[edit] 2005
During training camp at the beginning of the 2005 season, Welker was promoted to the third wide receiver spot after Chris Chambers and Marty Booker. He finished the season with 29 receptions for 434 yards and no touchdowns. He also had 43 punt returns for 390 yards, a 9.1 average, and 61 kickoff returns for 1379 yards, a 22.6 average. These ranked 11th and 20th in the NFL, respectively.


[edit] 2006
After rumors that he would be cut during the preseason, Welker started off being the lone bright-spot of the struggling Miami Dolphins offense. Through 5 games, he netted a team-high 29 catches and team-high 299 yards. During Week 5, he was a huge target for back-up quarterback Joey Harrington, grabbing a career high 9 catches for 77 yards in the 20-10 loss to the New England Patriots. On the season, Welker had a team-best 67 receptions for 687 yards and one score. He returned 48 kickoffs for 1,048 yards (22.2 average) and 41 punts for 378 yards (9.2 average).


[edit] 2007
On March 5, the Dolphins traded Welker to the New England Patriots for second- and seventh-round picks in the 2007 NFL Draft.[2] The Patriots had originally planned to sign Welker, a restricted free agent, to an offer sheet which Miami would have had seven days to match. Had Miami not matched, they would have received only the Patriots' second-round pick as compensation.

Welker caught a touchdown on the first drive of the Patriots' 2007 season, equaling his receiving total during his entire career as a Dolphin. In all, he caught six passes for a total of 61 yards.