Our WR'ing Core is Desperately Lacking and Number 1

[DR RAM]

How the heck do you say "DUH" and add "but not all think so" at the end of it? Obviously that's not something you reply "DUH" to. In fact this isn't a recent development and not a done deal. We all hoped Quick would develope into V-Jack this year but it's obvious he's no where near that calibre of talent over a year and a half into his career. It's never been this telling.

Bottom line is we left some key opportunities on the field. If we insert a legit number one the the place of Givens, or anyone on the outside, then this could be a much different game. It's a problem that continues to resurface.

Not everyone thinks the same, and that's not a bad thing,. To me, it's freaking obvious how much that we need a #1 receiver. Any further clarification needed?

 

[RamEERS]

In most cases it doesn't take 3 years to know what a WR is going to be. I'm not saying get rid of the rookies. But a WR like Quick that hasn't show much progress should not be immune to criticism. He was the first pick in the 2nd round and he still can't produce. That's not acceptable in my book. He can't grasp NFL concepts, he looks lost, he can't catch with hands in his face, and he plays smaller than his size. With Givens, he's shown he's just a speed guy and that's about it.

Do you want to bet the future of this team on that group? If they don't pan out, you're back to square one. They have to keep searching until they hit. Also, competition should push the others to play better. Even if they all happened to pan out, there's nothing wrong with that. That would only mean a more potent offense.

using this logic can also backfire on you as well... if you keep drafting rookies.. yes, players that have no experience in the nfl are now expected to compete at a level they arent used to.. and if they don't within that year, draft someone else and kick them to the curb.. meanwhile another team will pick them up and develop them into the system and they turn out to actually produce more than the player that replaced him

i love Madden theory

 

[DR RAM]

using this logic can also backfire on you as well... if you keep drafting rookies.. yes, players that have no experience in the nfl are now expected to compete at a level they arent used to.. and if they don't within that year, draft someone else and kick them to the curb.. meanwhile another team will pick them up and develop them into the system and they turn out to actually produce more than the player that replaced him

i love Madden theory

And yet, we still don't have a #1, do we? Who is YOUR #1 on this team, and how many years do we give him to be a #1?
And producing a #1 compared to having a #1, won't you agree that they are different?

 

[RamEERS]

And yet, we still don't have a #1, do we? Who is YOUR #1 on this team, and how many years do we give him to be a #1?
And producing a #1 compared to having a #1, won't you agree that they are different?

first of all it is rare, though possible that a rookie WR make a huge impact... while there are the AJ Greens and the Calvin Johnsons who made a good impact in their rookie season, there are also good receivers that don't do much during their rookie seasons... look at rookie stats from Steve Smith, Brandon Marshall, Jordy Nelson to name a few... right now Tavon has more yards and TDs than they have and he's played in less games...

WR like most positions, takes time to learn... all the routes, plays, hot routes, cuts, and timing with the QB... doesn't help that bradford got hurt and now a noodle arm comes in either... nor does it help that we didnt have a running game in the first half of the season either and a mediocre offensive shot caller who doesn't know how to use a slot guy... you might be whistling a different tune had we figured out to put stacy and cunningham ahead of richardson and pead

drafting a WR could go either way... you could get a star like AJ Green right off the bat or you can get someone like Steve Smith that may take a while... and while everyone is high on watkins or evans, what if they dont produce next year? Kick them to the curb and draft another one next year with our number 1 and neglect our other positions?

In the end, the 3rd year is when most WR breakout.. (Dez Bryant, D. Thomas and Decker last year) which gives Quick and Givens (urgh) another shot next year....

 

[Rams and Gators]

The only receiver I'm willing to throw under the bus is Cook, everyone else is too young. The last thing I want to do is draft yet another receiver, if we're going to get a number 1 let's get a proven number 1 and actually invest in the position (my preference is Gordon, but anyone who has shown they can catch the ball will do).

 

[leoram]

I said it before the season started and will beat the drum as long as it takes...Stedman Bailey is the next Steve Smith. Sted does NOT drop passes. He attacks the football. I don't care if he's not the fastest or tallest man on the field. Guys like Steve Largent, Isaac Bruce, Henry Ellard, and Chris Carter lacked athletic measurables but had an unusually high competitive fires and honed their crafts daily. He and Tavon are the future of this team. Quick and Pettis are role players until they prove otherwise. Givens had flash plays last year but always frustrated me with his drops. I'm not opposed to getting a top receiver in the draft but I personally would prefer a couple DB's and OLinemen.

 

[mr.stlouis]

Not everyone thinks the same, and that's not a bad thing,. To me, it's freaking obvious how much that we need a #1 receiver. Any further clarification needed?

I don't care if you have an opinion that differs from mine. I tried to indirectly tell you that having some kind of attitude added into a post is irritating but obviously you like sounding like that... it's cool. It irritated me but I guess it takes all forms to make the world.

Clarification was never the issue...

 

[fancents86]

I'm not ready to give up on Givens yet. I think he was spoiled with having Bradford as his passer. I saw alot of passes where Givens had to jump or lunge for the ba yesterday. Now Cook imo had no excuse for his drops. Most were on the m.oney andh e also has alot more exoerience than Givens

 

[Thordaddy]

Tom Brady would tear the league up with these guys,book it, and IMO so can Sam Bradford, but they do need some more work.

 

[-X-]

Two schools of thought on this, obviously. I said earlier in the year (and this is always my stance) that I would personally draft one every year until one emerges as an immediate threat. That's just my philosophy on wide receivers in general. As it relates to a "true #1", I think there are a wide variety of definitions for what that really is. For me, it would be someone with Quick's frame and athleticism, coupled with the ability to run near perfect routes (and of course ... catch).

 

[V3]

using this logic can also backfire on you as well... if you keep drafting rookies.. yes, players that have no experience in the nfl are now expected to compete at a level they arent used to.. and if they don't within that year, draft someone else and kick them to the curb.. meanwhile another team will pick them up and develop them into the system and they turn out to actually produce more than the player that replaced him

i love Madden theory

I never said to throw them to the curb after one year. I do think that a team can get an idea of talent after two years, though, and even then I'd give them a third year if they've shown anything. We have a few of those players and I do think we have an idea of what they're going to be. Quick and Givens have pretty much shown what they'll be, IMO. So if the Rams drafted a WR high, they could let Pettis go and not have to cut anyone and still be able to see if any develop any further.

 

[Zaphod]

Cook is a disappointment for sure, but no way are they done trying to fit him in on this offense. I say this because if he can block like a tight end consistently and catch the ball things will be fine in two tight end sets with Kendricks in our power run game. A full time receiver he'll never make though, and I think we'll draft a more complete tight end in the not so distant future to create the mismatch for teams the way Fisher likes.

A few positives from the game that I saw regarding the receiver corps. First and foremost, Tavon Austin while still a rookie and still obviously not perfect sure is earning his time out there. I am impressed even if no one else is. It may not be what everyone else expected out of such a high pick, but it sure is more than I expected from a rookie. Sure, he's not the tallest or most physical receiver, but he runs his routes as good as anyone out there and I can see him lining up every where to create match up problems over time.

Quick is still out there, doing his job and earning more time. Considering the pass to run ratio and the amount they spread the ball around, that sure is good to see. I don't know if he'll necessarily break out next year but I totally expect the big receiver to continue to improve. He's another match up player.

Everyone likes what they see from Stedman Bailey and Austin Pettis, I think Bailey will eventually give us what we miss from Amendola departing. I didn't mention Givens, he had a bad day and he's had a bad season. Burner decoys don't work if they don't catch the ball from time to time to show that they can and will burn you. Anyway, Bailey may be the perfect receiver to exploit teams that focus on the run game, Kendricks, Cook, Austin and Quick depending on the formation.

Finally, we were forced to pass a lot at the end. Everyone knew it was coming and when the run first team abandoned their rushing attack it was all but over. In spite of that they still found a way to be successful and didn't give up. I liked that and I also like that we got to see more of Pead than in I can't remember.

All that said I can totally see why people look at what Crabtree did to us and say, yeah, we want that. We need that. That's why they won and we didn't. But the bigger problem was that our offensive line struggled to rush against the 49ers, they had their starting quarterback and we didn't, and our secondary put this team's most glaring weakness on full display.

 

[blackbart]

In most cases it doesn't take 3 years to know what a WR is going to be.

I disagree with this in most cases it does take that long the exceptions are those few that develop more quickly and those generally happen on teams that are more fully equiped.

 

[RamEERS]

hmm... how come nobody's mentioned about getting a WR through FA.... the 2014 class isnt stellar but we could pick up an experienced WR for our already inexperienced group...

 

[Zaphod]

hmm... how come nobody's mentioned about getting a WR through FA.... the 2014 class isnt stellar but we could pick up an experienced WR for our already inexperienced group...

I guess the only dilemma is that they over-payed for Cook last year when they really should have went after a free agent wide receiver? I think what they wanted was to upgrade at tight end and on the offensive line so in order to do so within the cap they went with youth at wide receiver and running back.

It will be interesting to see what they have with cap room as well as need in relation to where they spend their picks.

 

[V3]

I disagree with this in most cases it does take that long the exceptions are those few that develop more quickly and those generally happen on teams that are more fully equiped.

I'm not saying they're finished products. Just that you get an idea of what they could be. Most of the good WR's in this league had shown something by their second year. For example, if you look at the top 20 WR's in the NFL, all but Vincent Jackson, Jordy Nelson, and Harry Douglas had show they were really good by their 2nd year. Nelson didn't get to show as much in his first two years because he was behind two other great WR's in GB. Douglas is having a big year this year because Atlanta has lost both Jones and White so he's now forced to be their primary. Jackson is the only really good example of the top WR's in recent year that took more than two years to develop and I don't see Quick as being similar to him. The intelligence is night and day between the two. Jackson also has much better hands. Those are Quick's two biggest issues which is why I don't see Quick being nearly as good as Jackson in the future. Jackson is an anomaly. It usually doesn't happen like that. But go ahead and assume that Quick will be like Jackson. There's still nothing wrong with having two great WR's.

 

[V3]

hmm... how come nobody's mentioned about getting a WR through FA.... the 2014 class isnt stellar but we could pick up an experienced WR for our already inexperienced group...

I'm not a fan of this regime's ability in FA- at least their big money acquisitions. They're much better in the draft. Look at their big acquisitions in free agency: Finnegan, Long, Langford, and Cook. I'm not sure any of them are earning what they make. Long and Langford are at least serviceable but we're still not getting good value for their contracts. This regime seems to do better with their smaller money free agent pickups.

 

[RamEERS]

The ones that pop out to me is Nicks and Britt.... Britt won't get resigned by the titans.. even though he's a head case.. he still is that big body receiver as is nicks as well....
right now we need more experience... not talent..

 

[blackbart]

Not everyone thinks the same, and that's not a bad thing,. To me, it's freaking obvious how much that we need a #1 receiver. Any further clarification needed?

How do you know any of these guys coming out of college will develop into a #1 NFL WR whatever that is????

 

[-X-]

How do you know any of these guys coming out of college will develop into a #1 NFL WR whatever that is????

What's your definition? Just curious as to how people define it.