WR Corp drastically improved or not?

[Tr3ach]

1 hour ago, Jmac said:

Made some moves to sure up the position no doubt. With the draft and the moves in FA, how much improvement do you expect this season?

Johnson definitely moved the needle but he may be gone after this season.  I dont think day 1 of the draft moved it much because I dont think a gadget player that you scheme touches for moves the needle much as far as overall wr corps.

[SOJA]

I mean Dionte Johnson is so much better than anything we had last year it's an instant improvement. hopefully year 2 mingo is better than year one mingo. 

XL at minimum will be our gadget and screen guy this year with a much higher potential to break out a big play rather than running screens to Chark and Thielen 

so yes it's better. Given the resources we had I'm not sure how much they could have improved it more tbh 

[KSpan]

Drastic improvement vs last year would be just having a below average WR room, let alone anything higher than that. Improving this position is the easiest layup any competent FO will ever have, and they sure as hell better be drastically improved. 

[rayzor]

[Jon Snow]

It's certainly different.  How much improvement will be determined this season.  It's hard to imagine it being worse.

[SCO96]

DJ Clark and Jonathan Mingo were our #2 and #3 receivers behind Theilan. The two of them combined for 78 catches ,5 TDS , and 943 yards . Those are the type of number you should expect for a lone #2 receiver or a stud TE over the course of a 17 game season.

To match that production level in 2024 XL would need to average 4.5 receptions per game, a TD every 3 games, and 55.5 yards per game. If XL is used properly and if Bryce is competent enough to get him the ball he should have no trouble reaching (or surpassing) those totals which would be a huge improvement for our passing game. 

Theilan is still a dependable #3 and the addition of Johnson gives us a true # 1. On paper we are without a doubt better at WR. Whether or not it translates to the field remains to be seen.

 

[MHS831]

If you look at the big picture--Johnson, new OL, new scheme--yes, there will be noticeable improvement.  We could really use a TE, but I think Tremble is about to break out in that role-he was not used that well before.

[CRA]

6 minutes ago, SCO96 said:

DJ Clark and Jonathan Mingo were our #2 and #3 receivers behind Theilan. The two of them combined for 78 catches ,5 TDS , and 943 yards . Those are the type of number you should expect for a lone #2 receiver or a stud TE over the course of a 17 game season.

To match that production level in 2024 XL would need to average 4.5 receptions per game, a TD every 3 games, and 55.5 yards per game. If XL is used properly and if Bryce is competent enough to get him the ball he should have no trouble reaching (or surpassing) those totals which would be a huge improvement for our passing game. 

Theilan is still a dependable #3 and the addition of Johnson gives us a true # 1. On paper we are without a doubt better at WR. Whether or not it translates to the field remains to be seen.

 

I'm not sure the intention when things started was for Theilen to be the end all be all of our pass game.   I think that organically came about when Bryce and the O simply couldn't really make plays to the outside.  

I still worry that's largely going to be the same thing.  Outside of having Johnson running slants.  I'm not confident Bryce Young is going to be able to take advantage or maximize whatever we put on the outside. 

[shaq]

31 minutes ago, Tr3ach said:

Johnson definitely moved the needle but he may be gone after this season.  I dont think day 1 of the draft moved it much because I dont think a gadget player that you scheme touches for moves the needle much as far as overall wr corps.

Since when did receivers dropping 1255 yards in a single season become gadget lmao. Your hate of Leggette is absurd, gonna be fun to watch your take of Leggette age like milk. 

[Tr3ach]

4 minutes ago, shaq said:

Since when did receivers dropping 1255 yards in a single season become gadget lmao. Your hate of Leggette is absurd, gonna be fun to watch your take of Leggette age like milk. 

College isnt the NFL.  Shenault had over 1000 yards receiving in a season in college as well.

Edited April 26, 2024 by Tr3ach

[Kentucky Panther]

Johnson

Theilen

Mingo 

Legette 

TMJ

Moore

 

If we go with these six, and perhaps Im

missing someone, it’s without a doubt better than what we had last season  

 

[Chad_Cota]

I still think Theilen will make the biggest impact this year. Dionte will help him get open. 

[BrianS]

42 minutes ago, CRA said:

drastically?  I wouldn't say that.  Johnson IMO is a one year rental.   Leggette IMO is now the best long term hopeful. 

But I still think for Bryce Young, RB, TE and the slot trio is the bread and butter pass game for him to succeed and we haven't improved there at all. 

I agree regarding Johnson to an extent.  However, if the offense shows a dramatic turnaround it would be possible to simply resign him.

In looking at Canales offense last year, I don't think TE is an issue.  Their starting TE only caught 45 balls all year.  It's just not a feature of the offense.  RB on the other hand is something that may be an issue, as the Bucs starter caught 64 balls.  In fairness, Chuba caught 39 on only 44 targets, so maybe there is something there after a couple years of struggle.

Anyway, I think it's fair to say that our WR room is drastically different this year.  And that's a good thing.  We won't know if it's drastically better until the bullets start flying.

[MHS831]

7 minutes ago, SCO96 said:

DJ Clark and Jonathan Mingo were our #2 and #3 receivers behind Theilan. The two of them combined for 78 catches ,5 TDS , and 943 yards . Those are the type of number you should expect for a lone #2 receiver or a stud TE over the course of a 17 game season.

To match that production level in 2024 XL would need to average 4.5 receptions per game, a TD every 3 games, and 55.5 yards per game. If XL is used properly and if Bryce is competent enough to get him the ball he should have no trouble reaching (or surpassing) those totals which would be a huge improvement for our passing game. 

Theilan is still a dependable #3 and the addition of Johnson gives us a true # 1. On paper we are without a doubt better at WR. Whether or not it translates to the field remains to be seen.

 

Good post.   I expect Thielen's numbers to drop--and that means the ball is going elsewhere.  XL is a YAC guy and he should be a red zone threat. Johnson has averaged about 900 yards over the past 3 seasons with Pickett and Co.  at QB and he was not the X.  Expect 1000+ yards.  I will guess that we should be able to get 750 or so from Legette.  I also think they will use the TE more, Otton was not spectacular in Tampa but he had over 400 yards--more than all Panther TEs combined.