One Player I Wish Had Played With The Patriots

In 2005 the New England Patriots had Deion Branch who caught 79 passes, and David Givens who caught 59 passes. After that Troy Brown caught 39, and Ben Watson and Kevin Faulk each had 29. The rest of the pass catchers weren't that impressive.

Troy Brown's 39 receptions brought in 466 yards and 2 touchdowns. The next receiver on the list was Tim Dwight. Dwight had 19 catches for 332 yards and 3 touchdowns. I can assure everyone that in 2005 Jerry Rice was still a better receiver and athlete at age 43 than what Dwight was. 

In 2005 Jerry Rice retired from football. In 2004 he played for two teams. During that season, Rice caught 30 passes for 429 yards and 3 touchdowns. Rice played with Kerry Collins who barely completed 53% of his passes and was traded to seattle after week six. Rice got an upgrade at quarterback it was still Matt Hasselbeck, who completed 65% of his passes.

At the age of 42 Jerry Rice put on one of the greatest games in Monday night football history. During that game, Rice had 9 targets. He caught 8 of them for 145 yards and a touchdown. It wasn't just that Rice put on a clinic that game, he also showed he was still clutch. The problem was Rice was a member of the 9-7 Seahawks.

In 2005 Rice signed on with the Denver Broncos but decided it wasn't worth the work to be a depth chart piece for them. He would've been their number five guy.

The Patriots were the defending superbowl champions. And with Bill Belichick knowing how to use people to the best of their abilities, added to that the intelligence of both Tom Brady and Jerry Rice, Rice would've put up respectable stats in 2005 and I dare to say would been the number three guy on the depth chart by mid season, as I believe he was a better receiver than Troy Brown at that time. 

Rice might have even found a way to drag out his career for another season or two. Rice was always clutch in big games and if somehow he had been the number four or five guy during the Patriots undefeated season, it's fun to think about if he would've added just enough to be the tipping point for the Patriots. Over the last 20 years, Jerry Rice is the biggest would've, could've that never happened but the thought of one regular season with an aged Jerry Rice and young Tom Brady still leaves one curious and disappointed that it never happened.