New England Patriots 2016 Player Grade: Danny Amendola
By Matty Simo
The New England Patriots should have gotten more from Danny Amendola in 2016. Instead, injuries continued to haunt him and limited his production again.
There were six other New England Patriots that made more catches than Danny Amendola in 2016. One of them was a tight end (Rob Gronkowski) who missed half the regular season and all of the playoffs. Another was a running back (James White) who finished with almost three times as many receptions.
Amendola had just 23 catches — his lowest number in four years with the Patriots — for 243 yards last season. The saving grace for him was that he scored four touchdowns, the most he had in any season for the team. Plus, his best performance came in the Super Bowl (eight receptions for 78 yards and one touchdown).
Judging by those numbers, it is certainly understandable why Amendola is considered to be one of five players entering their final season in New England. He will be playing out the last year of his contract in 2017 like teammate Julian Edelman. And like Edelman, he is also 31 years old. But unlike Edelman, he has been far less productive and far more inconsistent.
When the Patriots signed Amendola away from the St. Louis Rams in 2013, he was viewed as a potential replacement for the departed Wes Welker. But Edelman ended up being that guy, totaling a career-high 105 catches for 1,056 yards and six touchdowns in his first year as a starter. Amendola played 12 games that season, the same amount he did in 2016.
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Amendola’s top regular-season games a year ago both came with Jimmy Garoppolo under center. They were also the first two games, as he did not have more than three receptions or 30 yards in any other the rest of the way — until the Super Bowl.
In fact, the only thing keeping Amendola from getting a failing grade here is how well he performed against the Atlanta Falcons. Helping Tom Brady win MVP honors and the Pats take home their fifth Vince Lombardi Trophy allowed him to pass.