Taking a close look at Amendola's game film

After looking through a couple video highlights of new Patriots WR Danny Amendola, you can clearly see why he's drawn some serious comparisons to Wes Welker. Personally, I always thought that Amendola would fit in nicely, but after watching to film, my confidence has gone up. Here's a couple videos:




Although very similar to Welker, there were a few things that popped into my head as I watched these clips. BE IN MIND THAT THESE ARE HIGHLIGHTS OF ONLY 2 GAMES, so the pool of evidence isn't very big. Needless to say, here's was I took note of:

First off, Amendola doesn't seem to go over the middle as much as I expected, but he isn't afraid too. If you notice any pattern in his routes, it looks like he is a big fan of the quick out. Faking a vertical (or towards the middle) route then swiftly cutting towards the sidelines. From these highlights you can also see that he runs this route VERY well, and as a defender it is difficult to cover. You may also notice a few outside vertical routes in the videos.

He isn't afraid of getting hit. As I said above, he isn't hesitant to go towards the middle of the field. Whereas many players fear their safety in a situation like that, Amendola is cool as could be when running inside the hash marks. He does his job and seems to always fight for the extra yard. Maybe the reason he has had injury issues in the past?

He is a great punt returner. Again, these are only highlights from two games. However, I saw him make a couple big plays on special teams. This could come in handy with Julian Edelman possibly leaving for another team.

Anthony Aidonidis
@aidonidis18