Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

[DW Toys]

re: Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

You've mentioned Blackmon, and he'd be a very interesting option (IMO) to explore if he were available, but I haven't seen anything about JAX looking to move him. Have you got a link about it, or anything like that?

"Despite his apparent drug-related struggles, Blackmon did release a statement that conveyed all the right messages, saying, “I want to sincerely apologize to Mr. Khan, my teammates, my coaches and to the Jaguars fans for not utilizing the resources that I was provided to overcome my challenges.” Blackmon also said, “I will address these matters with the type of intensity I usually direct toward my on-field play so that I can be ready to be a productive member of the team and community next season.”

Unfortunately, this is a line we’ve heard before, and now it’s a case of, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

With the loss of Blackmon, the Jaguars offense will likely fall backwards, if that’s at all possible. In just four games, Blackmon accumulated 415 yards receiving (about half of his 16-game total from a year ago), including one touchdown reception. Despite missing the first four games of the year, Blackmon was easily on pace to break through the 1,000 yards receiving mark.

Moving forward, the Jaguars will have a difficult decision to make regarding Blackmon. Because of his contract, the Jaguars may cut ties with him and move on without owing him a single cent more. During the former regime, the Jaguars’ mantra of only employing role-model players (which may have been a cover for only signing cheap player) would have dictated his release, but David Caldwell may wish to be patient with Blackmon".

"Fortunately for Blackmon, both alcohol-related incidents happened before he signed his rookie contract, therefore avoiding punishment under the auspices of the league. With two arrests as well as two substance-abuse violations since 2010, the Jaguars will undoubtedly take a long, hard look into their relationship with Blackmon going forward.

But should the Jags front office decide to cut ties in the future, there will surely be no shortage of teams looking to give Blackmon another chance. Because when he hasn't been serving a suspension, Blackmon has been quite the productive wide receiver:

Comparing Justin Blackmon's Stats to Other Top WRs (Since 2012) Catches Per Game Catches Per Target Yards Per Catch Yards Per Game
Justin Blackmon 4.65 .51 13.8 64
Torrey Smith 3.47 .46 18.55 64.5
Jordy Nelson 4.63 .69 15.8 73.3
Vincent Jackson 4.91 .56 17.2 87.2
DeSean Jackson 4.73 .56 15.2 72.2
Stevie Johnson 4.86 .53 12.7 62.3

ESPN

In essence, he's emerged as one of the top 15-20 wideouts in football during a time in which the Jaguars arguably had the league's worst quarterback situation and one of the most porous offensive lines.

At 6'1'' and around 210 pounds with a solid frame and sub-4.5 speed, Blackmon is undoubtedly an upper-echelon receiving talent."


"Jacksonville’s GM reacts (Farrar): This week, our team’s owner, Shad Khan, said that he wished he’d blown things up before he did to make the Jags a viable NFL team. To that end, we’re blowing it up now by offering up skill players who can have positive effects on other teams in exchange for the draft picks we’ll need to rebuild."

All rumors but viable

DW Toys

 

[Aßßynormal]

re: Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

.

I'm not crazy about Blackmon and his suspensions, now and in the future.

Dobson was getting separation until around mid-season.

Finally, on Blackmon: Can a suspended player be traded?

 

[kennyb]

re: Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

On a team with real wrs those guys wouldn't have seen the field. KT would be lucky to make a practice squad. He can't catch the ball in stride. He stops and leaps awkwardly.

 

[mgteich]

re: Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

????, Amendola, Dobson, Thompkins, Boyce, Harrison, Moe

Do we need ONE or TWO additions?

And is one of them Edelman?

 

[Nuh-uh!]

re: Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

On a team with real wrs those guys wouldn't have seen the field. KT would be lucky to make a practice squad. He can't catch the ball in stride. He stops and leaps awkwardly.

Can't catch the ball in stride if the ball misses the target or is poorly thrown. Brady and KT just need work on their chemistry.

 

[RayClay]

re: Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

I think Dobson should become a good receiver if healthy. The other two rooks, fight for a job. I think they acquire a vet and bring others to camp. Add Gronk and a rookie TE and that's a pretty good bunch with Amendola and maybe Edelman.

 

[Hael]

re: Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

On a team with real wrs those guys wouldn't have seen the field. KT would be lucky to make a practice squad. He can't catch the ball in stride. He stops and leaps awkwardly.

Don't agree. I think KT is ultimately more of a talent than Dobson and would have been a solid 3 on almost any team in the NFL outside of Denver. I suspect he'll be a bonafide 2 for years to come and could easily become a one.

From a talent standpoint he doesn't have the Height or straightline speed that Dobson has, but he has a completely elite release and quite a bit of explosion. If you watch the tape against Revis, he was ritualistically getting off the line of scrimmage and getting open (and almost every receiver in the game struggles against Darrel's press). That's usually the hard part for NFL receivers, so right there people ought to be very enthusiastic.

His ball catching skills were a little problematic, but he made almost every hard catch and missed almost every easy one, so i'm not quite as worried about his ceiling as others are. Further, his route running moves were excellent, although he didn't show as much poise in the actual spacing as Dobson.

Boyce is the unknown quantity. He didn't really wow me with anything he did all season. Dobson had some flashes, but i'm not sure if he'll ever be an elite 1 receiver

 

[supafly]

re: Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

I think Dobson should become a good receiver if healthy. The other two rooks, fight for a job. I think they acquire a vet and bring others to camp. Add Gronk and a rookie TE and that's a pretty good bunch with Amendola and maybe Edelman.

I agree with your thoughts, and think there's no doubt that additional WRs should be pursued. That said, I also agree that Dobson has potential and hopefully will make a nice leap in year two. As Deus said though--I'm not sure why anyone would seriously be okay with him as our WR1 this year either?

We've all seen their contributions post Amendola/Gronk/Vereen being injured, which was basically nothing at all. I'm not quite as sure that their year would be considered as "good," or that we even know any more than we did last year.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

re: Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

Yeah these three need to stay healthy. Inexperience & drops were killing us early in the season. Later all three missed time.

 

[supafly]

re: Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

Dobson showed nothing which should lead us to thinking he's a WR1. Thompkins and Boyce showed nothing which should lead us to thinking they are more than WR4/WR5.

Exactly. No one is coming remotely close to suggesting to "give up" on anyone (although I have my personal doubts about Thompkins being anything other than a depth guy).

That doesn't mean that we all need to buy into the crap being thrown around that we witnessed rookie receiver history either. There was a whole lot of "meh" throughout the season, and over the course of the past 3 months they were pretty much non-existent, aside from one good game for Dobson vs the Steelers.

Considering that the position was there for the grabbing to basically anyone who really stepped up and yet no one did, it's perfectly fair to be cautiously optimistic.

????, Amendola, Dobson, Thompkins, Boyce, Harrison, Moe

Do we need ONE or TWO additions?

And is one of them Edelman?

That is the million dollar question, mostly depending on what happens to Edelman, in my opinion. One way or another, the position still needs to be addressed. How exactly, Belichick chooses to address that will develop by the late spring. I wouldn't assume much of anything, but that's just me.

Don't agree. I think KT is ultimately more of a talent than Dobson and would have been a solid 3 on almost any team in the NFL outside of Denver. I suspect he'll be a bonafide 2 for years to come and could easily become a one.

Boyce is the unknown quantity. He didn't really wow me with anything he did all season. Dobson had some flashes, but i'm not sure if he'll ever be an elite 1 receiver

Thompkins may have served his purpose (at times...) in the 2013 season, but he'll have to do a LOT of work to make the team as anything other than a depth chart guy around WR4-5, and that's if he even ends up making the team.

He couldn't beat man coverage to save him life, ran horribly rounded routes a lot of the time, and did nothing to set himself apart from many other WRs we've seen over the years. He had a total of 11 catches once Gronkowski returned over the past 3 months of the season, so those 20 or so catches that he had in games 1-6 came at a time when all of Gronk, Amendola, and Vereen were hurt and there were no other options.

 

[DarrylS]

re: Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

While there is a lot of focus on what might happen next year, I prefer to look at what did happen... in our TE/slot offense which was intact up to June blew up, and our rookie receivers were expected to do more than they were ready for.

Instead of being a complimentary receiver, they became the focal point of this offense.. a role that many rookie WR's are not ready for.

 

[RIpats88]

re: Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

I just think you guys are being too pessimistic on the rookies...I'm not saying they had "historical years" but they had pretty good years for rookie receivers. had dobson not fractured his foot against Denver we might not be having this discussion.

they had their ups and downs. but ultimately I think brady working with these guys will pay dividends next year.

I could easily see dobson becoming a 70catch, 900yard guy next year BUT we need Gronk healthy

 

[40yrpatsfan]

re: Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

Exactly. No one is coming remotely close to suggesting to "give up" on anyone (although I have my personal doubts about Thompkins being anything other than a depth guy).

Thompkins may have served his purpose (at times...) in the 2013 season, but he'll have to do a LOT of work to make the team as anything other than a depth chart guy around WR4-5, and that's if he even ends up making the team.

He couldn't beat man coverage to save him life, ran horribly rounded routes a lot of the time, and did nothing to set himself apart from many other WRs we've seen over the years. He had a total of 11 catches once Gronkowski returned over the past 3 months of the season, so those 20 or so catches that he had in games 1-6 came at a time when all of Gronk, Amendola, and Vereen were hurt and there were no other options.

Thompkins wasn't the same after the hip injury. He showed enough prior to that to see he's a keeper - just the game winner against NO was enough to see that. He can get open against the press, which Brady values. He does need to add strength.

 

[shmessy]

re: Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

Welcome in Mark Harrison and TJ Moe off the IR to the 3 young 'uns. Hope Edelman can re-sign at a decent price and let 'em all battle it out in TC.

Then spend the addditional resources on a complementary TE a big, hard hitting monster Safety and a Center - - either through the draft or FA.

If Talib is unreasonable, let him walk. Ryan and Dennard at CB isn't a bad scenario at all - - and the new monster Safety would change things dramatically.

 

[Sicilian]

re: Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

Welcome in Mark Harrison and TJ Moe off the IR to the 3 young 'uns. Hope Edelman can re-sign at a decent price and let 'em all battle it out in TC.

Then spend the addditional resources on a complementary TE a big, hard hitting monster Safety and a Center - - either through the draft or FA.

If Talib is unreasonable, let him walk. Ryan and Dennard at CB isn't a bad scenario at all - - and the new monster Safety would change things dramatically.

I'm on board with this plan, except I also really want to see two pieces added to the DL if possible. I want a DT to make sure we're not relying on Wilfork/Kelly carrying the load post injury, and I want a DE better than Carter to create a real rotation on the edge.

 

[IllegalContact]

re: Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

Dobson showed nothing which should lead us to thinking he's a WR1. Thompkins and Boyce showed nothing which should lead us to thinking they are more than WR4/WR5.

As rookies, they showed plenty to me......as much as any other rookie WR group here in a very long time including Deion branch.

A veteran offseason program will have these guys taking the next step next year

 

[IllegalContact]

re: Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

If Talib is unreasonable, let him walk. Ryan and Dennard at CB isn't a bad scenario at all - - and the new monster Safety would change things dramatically.

there are cheaper vets available.......

The defense needs more Jamie Collins type physicality all around

 

[Hael]

re: Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

In years past we had some great athletic specimens. Butler and Merriweather for instance. It takes much more than speed to be good in this league.

As far as rookies go, these guys are great. Keep in mind they aren't designed to be do it all receivers on day 1 like AJ Green or Julio Jones. These are 3rd round+ players that are projected to be number 2s and number 3s. I feel like they are all more than viable in that regard, but would obviously take a lot of work and luck in order to break through into something that looks like number 1 receiver production.

These guys are the future Dennard's of the world, not the Aqib Talibs. For certain plays (the go route for Dobson, or some of the midrange cutbacks for KT) they might actually be in the elite category, but I don't think you'll ever see them breaking every record in the book, they just don't have that type of athletic potential.. However being very good in certain things is just the type of player that BB likes to utilize and to save on salary cap space with.

 

[RIpats88]

re: Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

TO be honest, If I'm bill i'm not worried "too much" about WR, but in the draft I DEFINITELY want to get an athletic pass-catching tight end to compliment Gronk. that is what we need.

then in the endzone you could have 6 3' Dobson, 6 '6 Gronk, 6'something Rookie TE, 6'0 thompkins

all guys who have size and can jump for the ball

 

[RIpats88]

re: Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce – rookie WRs over the past 5 seasons…

As rookies, they showed plenty to me......as much as any other rookie WR group here in a very long time including Deion branch.

A veteran offseason program will have these guys taking the next step next year

considering what we've seen from guys like brandon tate, taylor price, chad jackson and other failed Drafted WR's I cant see how anyone can really say our rookie WR's have showed us "nothing". they had OK years for rookies. and at least showed they can be NFL players.

If they can take the next step, Brady has some nice athletic options on the outside with speed. how little people forget 2 years ago people were calling Vereen a bust. and now in his 3rd year he is the teams 3rd down back