Smitty's OTA observations

[DaveThePanther2008]

Humor me here, why would the WRs not be open?  Could it possibly be that they aren't good enough to get open consistently against NFL Corners?

 

 

It Could or Could not be the case.  I would have to watch hours and hours worth of film to make that assessment.

 

And unless you have, then your assumption is only as good as mine. 

 

Depends on how you look at it.   I don't stress the numbers as bad as you do.  

 

Two things for me.  One I think this years FA WR crop is going to find someone.

Two, as long as we continue to rack up 4K or close to 4K per season I am not going to stress it.

 

Would I like to see 2 - 1000 WRs on our team. ABSOLUTELY would I be happy with 3 WR with 5-600 per and a Tight End with 8 or 9 hundred to go along with Smitty 1K.  Would be pefectly fine with it too.

 

OK here are some numbers for you.

 

Of the WRs last year only 2 tandems were over 1000 yds  New Orleans and Atlanta and Tampa was short by 4 yds.  (Pass happy NFC South I guess)

 

So out of the NFC as Tandems go we were 7th out of 16 in yards.

 

Chicago 1508 Marshall and 378 Bennett = 1886 (3033 Cutler #12) 62.1%

Tampa 1384 Jackson and 996 Williams = 2380 (4065 Freeman #6) 57.1%

Atlanta 1351 White and 1198 Jones = 2549  (4719 Ryan #4) 54.0%

Carolina 1174 Smith and LaFell 677 = 1851 (3869 Newton #8) 47.8 %

Dallas 1382 Bryant and 943 Austin = 2325 ( 4903 Romo #3) 47.4%

Detroit 1964 Johnson and 383 Titus Young = 2347 (4967 Stafford #2) 47.2%

NY Giants 1092 Cruz and 692 Hicks = 1784 (3948 Manning #7) 45.1%

New Orleans 1154 Colston and 1041 Moore = 2195 (5177 Brees #1) 42.3%

Green Bay 954 Cobb and 784 Jones = 1738 (both under 1K) (4295 Rodgers #4) 40.4%

 

Based on percentage of passes thrown to the #1 and #2 receiver Carolina was forth in the NFC with 47.8%

 

Anyway you crunch the numbers we weren' that bad.

 

Just my two cents.

 

****No. are #1 Rec Name, #2 Rec Name, 1&2 total, total QB NFC Rank. % passed to tandem.

[csx]

Notice I said I would have made different choices in Free Agency? As in not giving both running backs huge deals and signing a Mike LB with an achilles injury to a contract with monster guarantees.....

Beason had his Achilles injury after the contract extension.

[TheRumGone]

Beason had his Achilles injury after the contract extension.

 

Marty knew he had issues with it, signed him anyway.

[C47]

Beason had his Achilles injury after the contract extension.

 

The injury didn't occur till after the contract, but he had issues with the achilles in May of 2011 (signed the contract in July of 2011), and even had surgery on the achilles less than a month after signing the deal.....

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/08/24/jon-beason-undergoes-surgery/

 

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/4192/jon-beason  (contract info that shows date signed)

[C47]

Marty knew he had issues with it, signed him anyway.

 

Thanks, I was looking for exact dates but I knew this was the case....

[csx]

I'm not defending Hurney, he was terrible for years.

[prowler2k8]

I'm not defending Hurney, he was terrible for years.

 

Understandable, but I can't agree that Marty was terrible. He usually struck gold in the first round as Peppers, Gross and Davis could attest. A few of the later round picks like Munnerlyn have worked out also. Hurney's failures appear to be 1) an inability to plan for the future, as he too readily traded away valuable draft picks to win now; 2) his loyalty to veteran players, which prompted the outrageous contracts handed out to Delhomme, Williams and Beason although they have handicapped the team's finances; and 3) his relationship with JR may have been more of hinderance in the long run, as it has been suggested that JR's concern about public perception during the lockout is what prompted the spending spree in 2011 and Hurney was hesitant to do anything to slow down the process.  

 

Its obvious with Gettleman there is much needed changing of the guard and it will take time to clean up the mess created by the former regime.

[Snake]

What we have isn't comparable to what those teams had on the field as receiving threats last year.

GB - was the best corp top to bottom - big edge

NE - Welker and there TEs - slight edge

We are setup to be a running team? I agree we have a surplus of RBs....but we aren't a running team. We have a franchise QB and are a Newton lead attack....not a RB reliant and focused team.

 

The only reason GB has the best WR corp is because of a man named Aaron Rogers. That team only has role players on it and there is no true dominate WR, only a dominate QB.  Same was said in Indy when Manning was there and when Manning left no WR dominated with Painter a QB. NE has no slight edge on the Panthers that just your bias and you trying to fit a round peg into a square hole. As far as a running team goes, yes we are. We still have a Oline that is better at punching holes in the ground game than a line that will hold there blocks on passing downs. You could argue we do not have FB but they are a dieing breed and so is the I-form.

[Snake]

The way you get two receivers with over a thousand yards is to not feature a good TE or not have a running QB while showing a lot of option plays. There are only so many plays in a game.

 

Or not have a ground game. In that instance the TE becomes your 5-6 yard back while your WRs are clearing out for him.

[CRA]

The only reason GB has the best WR corp is because of a man named Aaron Rogers. That team only has role players on it and there is no true dominate WR, only a dominate QB.  Same was said in Indy when Manning was there and when Manning left no WR dominated with Painter a QB. NE has no slight edge on the Panthers that just your bias and you trying to fit a round peg into a square hole. As far as a running team goes, yes we are. We still have a Oline that is better at punching holes in the ground game than a line that will hold there blocks on passing downs. You could argue we do not have FB but they are a dieing breed and so is the I-form.

Greg Jennings is legit.  Jordy Nelson is legit.  Cobb has GREAT talent.  Driver was a rock.

 

....and Aaron Rodgers doesn't own many single game Packer records.  Matt Flynn has a few....throwing to that stud cast.  

 

as far as NE goes....Welker is a beast in the slot.  Was a beast even w/ Cassel.  And Gronk and Gonzalez poo all over our 2nd and 3rd options.

 

We are a Cam Newton lead attack...not a RB attack.  We have talent to be one if we wanted to be one...but we haven't been under Rivera.  Not in terms of a running means you rely on your RBs to be your offense.

[Fox007]

It's ok guys it's just OTAs. I mean if they can't be good in shorts, they will definitely be good when the real games start. /huddle logic

[Montsta]

Last year...

Packers have has arguably the most praised and deepest WR corp in the NFL the past few seasons. There was some shakeup this offseason....but they had what many dubbed the best group in the NFL. Most NFL fans could come up with Jennings, Nelson, Driver at a minimum. Cobb and Jones as well.

The Pats are always slightly ahead of the curve. Gronk and Gonzalez are basically recievers, Welker, Elderman, Lloyd, Branch.

Ravens...Boldin and Smith.

The other two are running teams that added mobile QBs on top of it....

I wouldn't say those teams just had role players....outside of the running teams

You could argue Greg Olsen is basically a receiver. He's not always lined up at the end of the line. Having two phenomenal receiving options plus role players is what I'd like in an ideal offense. The Panthers have that in Smitty and Olsen IMO. The rest is icing on the cake.

[MHS831]

Look at WR from Gettlemen's perspective.  The Panthers had to take Star when he was there at 14--a player who has been out of the league since about 2010 was probably topping the depth chart and Star had top 5 talent. And there was no quality depth behind Dwan Edwards--a player the Bills waived last year, so we were not loaded at under tackle either.  Short was criticized because he took plays off, causing his stock to drop into the second round.  He was ALWAYS on the field for Purdue, fighting double teams--Gettlemen thinks he had first round talent, which he did in 2011.   Yes, a WR would have been nice, but at least we have players with experience and upside there--DT had nothing.

 

DTs are involved in every play, rushing the passer or stuffing the run. WRs might impact 6-7 plays a game.  Inside out is a smart approach. 

 

Having stated that, lets get off the "Why didn't we draft a WR?" question.  We had 5 picks.  Two to address the biggest 2 needs on the team: Nose and under tackle.  They are not the same position.

 

So the fourth round of the draft was unlikely to produce a WR who could beat out Gettis/Hixon/Ginn/Pilares.  So we should have grabbed one in free agency.  WRs in free agency are overpriced--the good ones usually do not get there.  Besides, we had huge needs in the defensive backfield and we were $16 million over the cap.   WR in free agency was not an option either, if you think about it.

 

So, if you are the GM, you build the DT and DB positions, keeping you in games.   NOW, we have $10 million to spend, but there is not a single player who upgrades the position.  We will watch the wire, but the smart move is to let the players you have compete.

 

How many of our WRs are on the last year of their contracts?

Edwards

LaFell

Gettis

Hixon

Ginn

 

That leaves Smitty, Pilares, and Adams. 

 

Gettlemen will go after a #1 WR for 2014 because Smith will drop to the #2/slot as he ages.  This should bother Lafell.  If Lafell has the same kind of year he had in 2012, he will not get a second contract from us--he shouldn't.  Compare his numbers with the rest of the league and in relation to the number of yards Cam has thrown for since he got here.  Underperformance for a #2 WR.

 

We will go with these WRs and cream needs to rise.  If not, WR will have a different look in 2014. 

 

 

[MHS831]

Look at WR from Gettlemen's perspective.  The Panthers had to take Star when he was there at 14--a player who has been out of the league since about 2010 was probably topping the depth chart and Star had top 5 talent. And there was no quality depth behind Dwan Edwards--a player the Bills waived last year, so we were not loaded at under tackle either.  Short was criticized because he took plays off, causing his stock to drop into the second round.  He was ALWAYS on the field for Purdue, fighting double teams--Gettlemen thinks he had first round talent, which he did in 2011.   Yes, a WR would have been nice, but at least we have players with experience and upside there--DT had nothing.

 

DTs are involved in every play, rushing the passer or stuffing the run. WRs might impact 6-7 plays a game.  Inside out is a smart approach. 

 

Having stated that, lets get off the "Why didn't we draft a WR?" question.  We had 5 picks.  Two to address the biggest 2 needs on the team: Nose and under tackle.  They are not the same position.

 

So the fourth round of the draft was unlikely to produce a WR who could beat out Gettis/Hixon/Ginn/Pilares.  So we should have grabbed one in free agency.  WRs in free agency are overpriced--the good ones usually do not get there.  Besides, we had huge needs in the defensive backfield and we were $16 million over the cap.   WR in free agency was not an option either, if you think about it.

 

So, if you are the GM, you build the DT and DB positions, keeping you in games.   NOW, we have $10 million to spend, but there is not a single player who upgrades the position.  We will watch the wire, but the smart move is to let the players you have compete.

 

How many of our WRs are on the last year of their contracts?

Edwards

LaFell

Gettis

Hixon

Ginn

 

That leaves Smitty, Pilares, and Adams. 

 

Gettlemen will go after a #1 WR for 2014 because Smith will drop to the #2/slot as he ages.  This should bother Lafell.  If Lafell has the same kind of year he had in 2012, he will not get a second contract from us--he shouldn't.  Compare his numbers with the rest of the league and in relation to the number of yards Cam has thrown for since he got here.  Underperformance for a #2 WR.

 

We will go with these WRs and cream needs to rise.  If not, WR will have a different look in 2014.