Wide Receiver Outlook

[CWood21]

On 6/4/2018 at 12:27 PM, packfanfb said:

First, rookie RBs are night-and-day different than rookie WRs, you know this. Much much easier to have an impact as a rookie RB in this league. Second, no one is saying to "throw out" the younger guys. In fact, say we had kept Jordy and still drafted three Day 3 WRs. Would anyone be saying "we need to cut Jordy or Randall so that these young guys can get more opportunities right now..." Wouldn't happen. Adding a vet will have absolutely no impact on these young guys overall development except maybe ensure that the worst one out of the entire group doesn't make the team. 

I would also disagree with your apparent lack of concern about the WR3 position. That is a starter on this team more often than not in our offensive formations, not merely a depth player. 

I'm not disagreeing that it's easier to transition to the league at the RB position instead of the WR position.  But the Packers took the "let's throw a bunch of picks at the wall and see which sticks" mentality last year, and clearly they repeated that attempt this offseason with the WR position.  They took 3 very impressive athletes and hoping they can develop them as WRs.  I'm not even arguing against adding a veteran WR, I'm simply arguing that adding a vet for the sake of adding a vet isn't necessarily the case.  If one of the young WRs comes out and balls, why would I want to bury him on the depth chart?  Let's at least wait until we get to camp before we clamor about needing another WR.  I don't need a great 3rd WR.

[Cheesehawk]

3 hours ago, CWood21 said:

I'm not disagreeing that it's easier to transition to the league at the RB position instead of the WR position.  But the Packers took the "let's throw a bunch of picks at the wall and see which sticks" mentality last year, and clearly they repeated that attempt this offseason with the WR position.  They took 3 very impressive athletes and hoping they can develop them as WRs.  I'm not even arguing against adding a veteran WR, I'm simply arguing that adding a vet for the sake of adding a vet isn't necessarily the case.  If one of the young WRs comes out and balls, why would I want to bury him on the depth chart?  Let's at least wait until we get to camp before we clamor about needing another WR.  I don't need a great 3rd WR.

Too many other teams across the league getting production out of rookie draft picks at the WR position. Make it work with what we got. If we can get JuJu type production out of our 3rd WR, whoever it is, I'll call that a booming success

[Joe]

@CWood21, you say throwing "...a bunch of picks at the wall and see which sticks" as if it's a bad thing. How's that working out with RB and now CB for that matter? Let's hope we're able to do that at EDGE next year. 

[AlexGreen#20]

2 hours ago, Joe said:

@CWood21, you say throwing "...a bunch of picks at the wall and see which sticks" as if it's a bad thing. How's that working out with RB and now CB for that matter? Let's hope we're able to do that at EDGE next year. 

RB is a low impact position with an over abundance of competent athletes who can play it.

That strategy has worked terribly at CB over the last few seasons. 

[CWood21]

6 hours ago, packerrfan74 said:

Too many other teams across the league getting production out of rookie draft picks at the WR position. Make it work with what we got. If we can get JuJu type production out of our 3rd WR, whoever it is, I'll call that a booming success

They are?

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/play-index/draft-finder.cgi?request=1&year_min=2017&year_max=2017&draft_round_min=2&draft_round_max=7&draft_slot_min=1&draft_slot_max=500&pick_type=overall&pos[]=wr&conference=any&show=all&order_by=default

WR production as rookies isn't very good, which is why I think it's unreasonable to believe that any of our rookie WRs are going to grab that WR3 spot immediately.  They might develop into one by the end of the season, but I think expecting them to be immediate contributor is really unrealistic.  And JJSS was arguably the most productive rookie WR last year.

[CWood21]

5 hours ago, Joe said:

@CWood21, you say throwing "...a bunch of picks at the wall and see which sticks" as if it's a bad thing. How's that working out with RB and now CB for that matter? Let's hope we're able to do that at EDGE next year. 

Worked out pretty damn well at RB.  Outside of the 2015 draft, did we really throw a bunch of picks at the CB position?  Either way, I'd argue that the position is arguably the hardest to play in the NFL.

[Shanedorf]

13 hours ago, CWood21 said:

 I think it's unreasonable to believe that any of our rookie WRs are going to grab that WR3 spot immediately.  They might develop into one by the end of the season, but I think expecting them to be immediate contributor is really unrealistic. 

Fans don't like Geronimo, but AR does and that's part of why it will be hard for the youngsters to have a big impact early. Tough to knock off the incumbent. Learning the position is really hard, learning it well enough to handle it at light-speed in the AR Go- Fast offense is another level up.

But they'll get their chances and they'll be facing CB3 or CB4 when they do.

[Cadmus]

To be fair. 

We brought in Robby Anderson for a pre-draft visit. This FO always had an eye for WR talent. 

There's reason to believe at least one of these WRs can become productive at the NFL level. 

[MacReady]

19 hours ago, packerrfan74 said:

Too many other teams across the league getting production out of rookie draft picks at the WR position. Make it work with what we got. If we can get JuJu type production out of our 3rd WR, whoever it is, I'll call that a booming success

As Cwood said, rookie receivers are NOT productive.  Since 1997, 5 percent of rookie receivers had over 50 catches.  That includes all rookie receivers.  1st - undrafted.  6% had more than 3 touchdown receptions in their rookie season. 

In the HISTORY of the NFL, there have been 26 receivers drafted from the 4th to 7th round who have had more than 40 catches in their rookie seasons. 

Expecting anything more than 20 catches from any of our rookie receivers is extremely unrealistic. 

[MacReady]

Just now, Cadmus said:

There's reason to believe at least one of these WRs can become productive at the NFL level. 

Absolutely, but not as rookies.  They've got NFL history against them, and they've also got Aaron "wrong blade of grass" Rodgers against them. 

[Joe]

14 hours ago, CWood21 said:

Worked out pretty damn well at RB.  Outside of the 2015 draft, did we really throw a bunch of picks at the CB position?  Either way, I'd argue that the position is arguably the hardest to play in the NFL.

We threw a ton of picks at CB the last couple years in particular. Only 3 of our CB's have 4 or more years of experience with the exception of Goodson who has 4 years of experience on paper but will be cut. Unless some of these guys wimp out when the pads come on, I suspect that Aaron's word of CB becoming a "strength" will take hold and we can focus on shoring up the EDGE.

 

Also, I wish people would stop dogging Geronimo Allison. He's a cheap possession receiver that can get open and make plays during clutch time, why would you want to get rid of that?

[skibrett15]

22 hours ago, packerrfan74 said:

Too many other teams across the league getting production out of rookie draft picks at the WR position. Make it work with what we got. If we can get JuJu type production out of our 3rd WR, whoever it is, I'll call that a booming success

You're hoping to get the one of the best rookie seasons of all time out of your receiver?

[OneTwoSixFive]

It's better to look for a jump by Allison/Davis (3rd year) or Yancy/Clark (2nd year) than hoping for a big year from Moore/Scantling/St.Brown. The rookies are the guys to root for next year, when they have more understanding and practice, to be effective. Getting locked into high expectation for the latest shiny toy (the rookies), is unlikely to end well.

If you want to root for rookies, look for them on ST this year.

[Joe]

Let's not forget that the Juju was pressed into duty last year with Martavis Bryant's suspension and Sammie Coates not living up to expectations. With Jordy out of the picture, it could become realistic that one of those rookies could sneak into the WR3 or even the WR2 position; especially if Allison doesn't step up and/or Cobb disappoints. We can't really count Monty as a receiver, nor a RB at this point IMHO. I think we've seen enough of Davis and apparently Yancey sucks so....idk...*shrug*

[OneTwoSixFive]

41 minutes ago, Joe said:

 I think we've seen enough of Davis and apparently Yancey sucks so....idk...*shrug*

You could have said the same thing of Adams in his second year.........and where would the Packers be now, if they had dumped him (his second year was 13GP, 50 receptions 483 yds, 9.7 av). If a WR still cannot make a mark in their 3rd year though..........it's almost always time to cut bait.