Film Review: Mohamed Sanu Is Primed to Have a Bounce Back Season
At the trade deadline last year Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots sent a second round pick to the Atlanta Falcons for wide receiver Mohamed Sanu. Sanu had a good debut game for the Patriots against the Baltimore Ravens, posting a stat line of 10 catches for 81 yards and a touchdown. However, in Sanu's second game with New England he would suffer an ankle injury while returning a punt, and that injury affected him the rest of the season.
Sanu was a completely different player after the injury. The ankle injury slowed him down greatly. But after offseason surgery, Sanu is rehabbing and is looking great. He has the potential to be the WR2 or the WR3 in the Patriots offense this season and he can be a dependable player for whoever is at quarterback.
In this article, I mainly want to focus on Sanu before the injury to show what he is fully capable of. Sanu has fantastic footwork and finished a lot of tough catches last season before the ankle injury. Sanu is also a very smart player and that shows up all over his tape. Sanu will be #12 on the Falcons and #14 on the Patriots.
Now, let's get to his game.
This first play shows off how the Patriots could get free yards. The Falcons have Sanu run a route into the flat and they have Julio Jones run a go route to set a pick for Sanu. Julio gets in the way of the corner covering Sanu and Sanu is able to get a free four yards to set up 2nd-and-6. Getting a positive gain on 1st down can be crucial and it sets the offense up for success. New England can run this same play and have N'Keal Harry do what Julio Jones is doing here.
Sanu does a great job on this play adjusting to this ball and helping his quarterback out. Matt Ryan throws this ball on the move and Sanu is able to stop and bring this pass in. Sanu had great chemistry with Matt Ryan and I am sure that Sanu will be able to have great chemistry with whoever the Patriots start at quarterback.
Route Running
One of the best parts of Sanu's game is his route running. He has great footwork and that translates directly to his route running ability. He is able to defeat corners and create separation consistently.
This is a great example of Sanu's route running ability. Sanu fakes that he is going outside, forcing the corner to adjust to that and then he goes inside. Sanu now has full control of the inside leverage and he runs an in-breaking route leaving the corner in the dust. Sanu has very sharp cuts making it hard for corners to adjust and Sanu shows that off here. When Sanu cuts inside, he creates a ton of separation from the corner and he gets a solid gain here.
Sanu is lined up in the slot this play, which shows off his versatility. Sanu can line up in the slot or outside and that versatility can help an offense a lot. This corner has outside leverage on this play so Sanu steps to the outside first. With Sanu's first step going outside, the corner adjusts to that and that lets Sanu go inside with ease. He then runs a deep in-breaking route here and creates enough separation between himself and the corner. Unfortunately, the ball falls incomplete.
Sanu has another awesome route this play and he's lined up in the slot. The corner covering Sanu has outside leverage and instead of attacking outside to set up the inside route, Sanu does the opposite this play. Sanu goes inside and that forces the corner to commit to an in-breaking route. But once Sanu cuts in, he slams on the brakes and goes outside leaving the corner behind him. Sanu does a great job selling his fakes which creates separation.
Sanu is a physical player too; he's able to run through contact to finish his route. The corner is able to get his hands on Sanu here, but Sanu is able to get past him still and finish his route strong. The corner starts off his outside leverage here and Sanu starts off by attacking inside. The corner tries to engage with Sanu the entire time but Sanu is able to get past him and at the top of the route go outside and finish a nice catch.
Sanu is a super smooth route runner and on this play he shows off how dangerous he can be on curl routes. The corner that would have been guarding Sanu blitzes, so Sanu gets a free release. Sanu doesn't allow the defense to react to this curl in time because of how easy he makes the route look. He doesn't waste any movement and he's able to turn back to his quarterback in one fluid motion so that he doesn't tip the defense off to the route he is running.
In Sanu's first game with the Patriots, he was able to make an immediate impact and he was able to show what he can do fully healthy. Sanu does a great job on this play not tipping what route he's running so the DB covering him can jump it. Sanu shows off the smoothness in his routes again and gets a touchdown to put the Patriots on the board.
Sanu can also attack corners on deep routes forcing them to respect him going on a go route. On this play it looks like Sanu is running a go route and that forces Marcus Peters to back pedal and respect that. Sanu then cuts inside at around the 50 yard line, creating a lot of separation between himself and Peters. Sanu is awesome at attacking the middle of the field.
Sanu is going up against the slot corner at the bottom of the screen and he's able to run a great route. Sanu fakes inside and the corner bites on that and overcommits inside to stop Sanu. Right when the corner does that, Sanu goes outside, creating a cushion between himself and the corner and then he runs a sharp out route. Sanu is a good route runner and he'll be able to get open a lot this year.
Finishing Tough Catches
A lot of Patriots fans remember Sanu dropping a good amount of passes last season. But a huge reason for that was because of his injury. When he was fully healthy, Sanu was able to finish tough catches and he was able to reel in the easy ones. Sanu has good hands and he'll be able to show them off this season.
Sanu is able to create some initial separation with some nice footwork here, but Marcus Peters recovers nicely and is able to get right back on Sanu. Sanu gets his hands on the ball and doesn't let Peters break this pass up. Sanu has strong hands and when he isn't on an injured ankle, he's able to make catches like this consistently.
On this play, Sanu has Logan Ryan draped all over him, but he's able to finish strong and bring this ball in. Ryan does a great job on the coverage but Matt Ryan puts the ball in a great spot and Sanu is able to bring it in and get a nice gain to set up a manageable 3rd down.
Sanu shows off his sharp route running on this play, but watch him adjust to this ball. Brady throws this ball low and Sanu is able to get down and grab it before it touches the ground. Sanu has strong hands and he showed them off throughout the 2019 season before his ankle injury. After his injury, he had some drops but he should bounce back back to his pre-injury form and be a good player.
Sanu is a strong route runner and that is going to be huge for whoever the Patriots quarterback will be. Sanu can get open and pick up solid yardage to keep drives alive. He is a very tough player as well; playing through an ankle injury is not easy but he was able to do that last season. He wasn't the most effective player after the injury but this season will be different. Sanu will be dependable and an impact player for New England's offense.
