It Sure Sounds Like Eliot Wolf is Implying Ja'Lynn Polk's Rookie Failures are the Fault of Jerod Mayo's Coaching Staff

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With the one of the least productive wide receiver rooms in the NFL, no real guarantees of finding a WR1 in free agency, and only a slim chance of landing Travis Henry in the draft, the Patriots are in a bind at this position for at least the seventh offseason in a row. Sure, Tetairoa McMillan will fall to them at No. 4. But if they don't end up with either Henry or Abdul Carter, the safer move would be to fill the gaping hole at left tackle that has plagued them even longer than at wideout. 

Which makes getting a return on the draft capital they already spent last year all that much more of a priority. The whole organization knows it. Certainly Drake Maye has already addressed it:

And the abysmal lack of production from Polk (221st out of 223 in Pro Football Focus' grade) and Baker (somehow 195th even though he only had one reception) was inevitably going to come up when Eliot Wolf got behind the podium at the Combine:

"I hate to use this analogy, but like, you know in 'The Dark Knight' when it's like, 'The hero you need isn't the hero you have'? He was a young player that came in and he's mature, he's smart.

"I think organizationally, we maybe put too much on his plate early, and I think that really kind of stunted his growth a little bit. He's aware of that and we've talked about it, and he's going to continue to work hard and rehab and do the things that are necessary to improve."

First of all, I'm going to humbly request that you clean up your pop culture references. You're a man in an important position. What you say matters. If you're going to work my side of the street by clumsily shoehorning movie quotes into a conversation, be precise with your language. Besides, this is the key line in the greatest superhero movie ever made. The whole point of the film, in fact. It deserves to be treated with proper respect. You wouldn't quote Neil Armstrong as saying "That step you take is the giant leap." And "You either die a hero…" deserves the same reverence. End of rant. 

But the real point is what he said about Polk's - and by extension, Baker's - lack of development. I kind of regret going with that incendiary, Felger and Mazz-level headline.  Because trolling the Patriots is not my thing. Not by any stretch. I just can't see any way to read this other than The Wolf is putting the blame on the last coaching staff. 

And I don't think he's wrong. Yes, the decision to draft these two instead of say, staying at No. 34 and grabbing Ladd McConkey falls on Wolf. And Polk was a reach even at 37 where he was taken. But Jerod Mayo, Alex Van Pelt, offensive assistant Ben McAdoo and WR coach Tyler Hughes got a combined 13 catches and 99 yards out of them. That's on their permanent record. 

Besides, the most natural thing in any line of work is to pin as much of your own failures as possible on the people who are no longer there to do anything about it. It's just good business. Otherwise, what's the point of surviving a purge? Presidents have been blaming their predecessors for bad times and taking credit for good times since probably Adams and Jefferson. Why should an NFL executive fall on his sword then? 

All we know for certain is that no one in the world is as invested in seeing these two sophomores make the coveted Year 2 leap than Eliot Wolf is. If after a full offseason to not "have too much on their plates" they still can't catch passes from Maye like actual professional pass catchers, it's not going to be Mike Vrabel, Josh McDaniels, passing coordinator Thomas Brown or WR coach Todd Downing left holding the bag. It's going to all be on the GM who drafted them. And then he'll be the one whose growth is getting stunted. And he'll be the one who lived long enough to see himself become the villain.

No pressure though.