Van Jefferson

[ramsplaya16]

Obviously he’s had a decent season, but there’s something about his game that bugs me, and I’m curious if any of y’all noticed it as well…

It seems he always catches with his body, rarely attacks the ball with his hands. I’ve noticed it all year with multiple drops he’s had, and bobbles after the ball hits his body.

It stuck out to me last night when he made that catch in the middle of the field, it was clearly a ball he should have attacked with his hands, but caught it with his body and it bobbled a bit, with his dad being an NFL WR coach I would think he would attack the ball more.

I know some people may not care, but I have definitely realized it is caused him to drop a few. I know all catches can’t be with the hands, but it’s something I hope is addressed.

That’s all,
Go rams!

 

[Faceplant]

Yeah, I've noticed this as well. He's even caught one off his face, lol....

 

[Q729]

Shoot, we'll fix that.

 

[TexasRam]

Agreed. I don’t see how he becomes a top WR the way he body catches so often.

But it’s possible he doesn’t have strong hands and finds he is more consistent using his body. I would guess that is the case based on his skinny arms and hands.

Also, you can coach someone all you want but some things they have to be born with.

 

[Selassie I]

He's a gator, so....

We're not gonna be able to expect too much.

 

[RamFanWA]

Well... the passes have all been so accurate, they hit him the numbers.... LOL!!!

 

[Merlin]

He is a solid possession type wideout. Would be nice if he had more dog in him but he isn't done growing.

Main issue right now is we need Kupp to stay healthy the rest of the way. And we need Odell to be a good #2 threat i.e. master the offense quickly. Given those things Van is fine and will win plenty in the pattern.

 

[ramsplaya16]

He's a gator, so....

We're not gonna be able to expect too much.

I’m a Cane so those are magic words to me lol

 

[oldnotdead]

He's caught passes with his hands when the pass is a bit off target. This is his second year so he's still learning how to run routes at this level. Also, he's now running a lot of new routes, i.e. many of Woods' routes. Body catching many of his passes is just his comfort zone at this point. The finer points of being a WR will come as he develops. The main thing is he's catching the balls. To expect him to be a finished product before his second year is done is asking a bit much. Most players take 3-4 years to become anywhere near a finished product.

Stafford's passes are thrown far harder than with Goff. He was fine with Goff's passes but now he's got to adjust to a stronger armed Stafford. Even Kupp and OBJ have dropped a few because of how hard Stafford throws. All the Ram WRs are possession receivers and all are deep threats including Jefferson. To say he's strictly a possession receiver isn't accurate considering how many deep passes he's caught.

 

[RAMSinLA]

He's young the NFL is still a little fast for him. He will be a big name player. The guy is tough.

 

[den-the-coach]

Excellent observation @ramsplaya16 Jefferson seems to catch with his body and tends to bobble the ball from time to time, however, on his long catches, they've been better. The Rams have an upper echelon WR Coach in Eric Yarber, so I expect Jefferson to continue to improve, but overall, he does seem to be MIA from time to time in games.

I do like the way he runs on the jet sweep and believe the Rams should utilize him more in that regard.

 

[FrantikRam]

He is a solid possession type wideout. Would be nice if he had more dog in him but he isn't done growing.

Main issue right now is we need Kupp to stay healthy the rest of the way. And we need Odell to be a good #2 threat i.e. master the offense quickly. Given those things Van is fine and will win plenty in the pattern.

Most people read "possession receiver" and think "not a deep threat".

Jefferson IMO is the fastest guy on the field in most games.

When Cooks was here, 95% of the time when he was "NFL open" deep - someone was ALWAYS on his hip. With Jefferson, he actually creates more separation than Cooks did (or anyone else we've had in a looooooooong time).

His speed more than offsets the body catching IMO. The drops are annoying, but that was something that Kupp also struggled with for YEARS, and honestly, if Kupp tried to "body catch" that 4th and 2 last night, he might have held onto it

 

[Angry Ram]

I thought this was gonna be a praise thread for a 2nd year guy having 700 yards + 6 tuds as the #3 receiver.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Obviously he’s had a decent season, but there’s something about his game that bugs me, and I’m curious if any of y’all noticed it as well…

It seems he always catches with his body, rarely attacks the ball with his hands. I’ve noticed it all year with multiple drops he’s had, and bobbles after the ball hits his body.

It stuck out to me last night when he made that catch in the middle of the field, it was clearly a ball he should have attacked with his hands, but caught it with his body and it bobbled a bit, with his dad being an NFL WR coach I would think he would attack the ball more.

I know some people may not care, but I have definitely realized it is caused him to drop a few. I know all catches can’t be with the hands, but it’s something I hope is addressed.

That’s all,
Go rams!

Agreed. He is not an adequate replacement for Woods, as many suggested when he was drafted.

 

[So Ram]

Obviously he’s had a decent season, but there’s something about his game that bugs me, and I’m curious if any of y’all noticed it as well…

It seems he always catches with his body, rarely attacks the ball with his hands. I’ve noticed it all year with multiple drops he’s had, and bobbles after the ball hits his body.

It stuck out to me last night when he made that catch in the middle of the field, it was clearly a ball he should have attacked with his hands, but caught it with his body and it bobbled a bit, with his dad being an NFL WR coach I would think he would attack the ball more.

I know some people may not care, but I have definitely realized it is caused him to drop a few. I know all catches can’t be with the hands, but it’s something I hope is addressed.

That’s all,
Go rams!

Interesting,will check it out & pay attention to it.

I do recall a missed catch with his hands though. Higbee a couple of times as well.Ben Sko’s was bad not cool for Stafford’s head.

OBj using one hand instead of 2 hands.I don’t know if Stafford led him to much though. The DT had an easy Int.

Van Jefferson was good with getting OBj in the right position & play call.
His toughness showed which I think will go well in the film room.

Those dropped passes are killer though when a defense is playing soft coverage.It only takes 1 play to put extra pressure on the Offense.

 

[Merlin]

Most people read "possession receiver" and think "not a deep threat".

Jefferson IMO is the fastest guy on the field in most games.

When Cooks was here, 95% of the time when he was "NFL open" deep - someone was ALWAYS on his hip. With Jefferson, he actually creates more separation than Cooks did (or anyone else we've had in a looooooooong time).

His speed more than offsets the body catching IMO. The drops are annoying, but that was something that Kupp also struggled with for YEARS, and honestly, if Kupp tried to "body catch" that 4th and 2 last night, he might have held onto it

Yes obviously he can get deep, I've always said he's got the speed for it but he also gets opportunities due to his route technique where he's really smooth. In fact last season I put up some stills showing him open deep, he just didn't get read or he would have had some more last year. And he's got good hands and can track that deep ball. But that doesn't make him a deep threat type wideout, at least not to me.

His niche is possession. And he isn't particularly aggressive, which is why I like the way Yarbs is always in his ear reminding him to attack and be physical. I just think what will keep him from being elite is he doesn't have enough dog in him. But that's not the worst thing. Good possession wideouts who you have to respect deep are very valuable in today's NFL.

Odell you see a ton more threat for example, even though he's not fully versed yet in this offense. Coverages adjust to him, safeties jump on him, etc. On that deep pass to Jefferson the reason that safety was out of the play was the threat of Odell on the underneath. This is why players like him get paid, they can give you wins even when they're not open. And btw he was open on the underneath on that play, just gotta credit Stafford for taking the riskier throw for a TD and hitting it.

 

[ramsplaya16]

I thought this was gonna be a praise thread for a 2nd year guy having 700 yards + 6 tuds as the #3 receiver.

By no means am I saying he’s been bad, just a quirk I’ve thought to myself for weeks and wondering if I was the only one thinking it.

He’s been great for us, I just want to see him ball out even more!

 

[ramsplaya16]

View: https://youtu.be/uET9yGFm6OI


At 1:32 is the clip I was referencing in my OP. On the replay he bobbled it a bit, it’s hard to really see from that angle, but IMO that’s a hands catch, especially a shoulder height throw.

 

[Merlin]

At 1:32 is the clip I was referencing in my OP. On the replay he bobbled it a bit, it’s hard to really see from that angle, but IMO that’s a hands catch, especially a shoulder height throw.

I think you are correct. But one thing I really like about Van is he seems like the type of guy who will keep working every year and trying to improve. Conscientious young man right there. So I'm sure he'll work on using his hands out from his body more, even when he's across the middle where some guys get "alligator arms."

 

[socalrams90]

Met Van randomly in public after the jags game. First thing he said to me after acknowledging who he was mentioning “Good game but I had that big drop”.

Mind you he had a TD and they kicked ass that day. Made me realize the pressure these guys play under and how embarrassed he was still just speaking to a fan.

Super nice guy. Rooting for him.