Johnny Z said:
I guess I'm just stunned to see this on a Pats board. The Pats have won 3 Super Bowls with a lot of tiny WR's on their roster. The Pittsburgh Steelers just won a SB with Cedric Wilson and Randle EL and Hines - 5'11" - Ward.
Good point. I wanted the Pats to grab Cedrick Wilson. The Pats have changed the way I view WRs.
BTW, Hines Ward is listed at 6'0" 215 lbs
http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/12795
Johnny Z said:
Getting rid of Pepsico Burden opened the way to the promised land.
Agreed. But there were more reasons for the Steelers winning than than that. Miami's shocking upset at San Diego and SD's fluke loss at Philly enabled the Steelers to get in the playoffs. KC's 14-3 loss at Buffalo helped too.
Johnny Z said:
Who did they draft? Santanio Holmes and Willie Reid - think they're worried about small WR's beating the jam? Watch some football. Small WR's usually slide through the jam like it's not there.
"Watch some football" is a trollish thing to say. You sound like Colts fans defending Addai.
Johnny Z said:
Tampa Bay had big receivers in 2003. They're history.
That is also due to a variety of reasons.
Johnny Z said:
St Louis had skinny Bruce and "I'm 6' with my fingers crossed" Holt.
Agreed. Holt and Bruce are future HOF'ers and have one SBC and 2 SB appearances between them.
Johnny Z said:
Baltimore's leading SB WR was Brandon Stokley.
The Ravens allowed an amazing 165 points in the 2000 regular season. That and the 2000 Giants were the worst team ever to represent the NFC.
Johnny Z said:
When is this big WR insanity going to go away, because it's largely balogna. The first round of the NFL is a garbage bag stuffed full of failed big WR's. Most of them suck.
7 of the top 10 WRs in receiving yards are listed at 6'0" and over...
http://www.nfl.com/stats/leaders/NFL/RECYDS/2005/regular
Excluding Antonio Gates, 6 of the top 10 WRs in receiving TDs are listed at 6'0" or higher...
http://www.nfl.com/stats/leaders/NFL/RECTDS/2005/regular
Excluding Antonio Gates, 7 of the top 10 WRs in receptions are listed at 6'0" and over...
http://www.nfl.com/stats/leaders/NFL/REC/2005/regular
Many of the recently drafted big WRs have been stuck with bad QBs: Alex Smith, Michael Vick, Kerry Collins, Joey Harrington, and in 2005, a depleted Eagles QB corps.
Johnny Z said:
If Chad Jackson ends up able to escape the jam as well as Santonio Holmes does, it will be because he can make the same athletic moves that Holmes can make. It will have very little to do with his bench press, or his pounds, or his height.
I agree. Then again you're assuming that Holmes will have little or no trouble adjusting to the NFL. Actually rookie WRs are more likely to have a tougher transition than most other positions.
Johnny Z said:
Somebody in NE had better wake up because big WR's, which the Pats have shown a recent bent toward having, have been watching Deion Branch play football from their big WR couches. They've been Watching Troy Brown play football. What happens when Randy Moss and Troy Brown compare rings?
I don't see a recent bent. The Pats don't deliberatey target WRs because they are small or big.
This explains much of the Pats rationale.
Jackson has obviously already taken steps to impress the coaching staff and earn the draft day call. Belichick and his assistants worked him out in Florida, leaving the star receiver parts of the New England offense to study. When Jackson visited Foxboro he was re-quizzed on his homework.
“They gave me the offense a little bit and I came back and broke down for them what they gave me,” Jackson said. “I ran it back to them on the board and film. They were the only team that did that for me. I thought that they were pretty interested in me. I had at least four or five visits with the Patriots and I felt pretty good on all the visits.”
Chad Jackson was a consensus 1st round pick by every major football media outlet. I still can't believe we got him the 2nd round.
Johnny Z said:
Your flirtations with David Terrell, Donald Hayes, Andre Davis, etc. are disturbing.
You're way off. The first WR the Pats targeted last year was 5'10" Derrick Mason, who went to Baltimore for less money. After being spurned by Mason, the team picked up Terrell, who cost the Pats nothing. When Terrell turned out to be a bust, the Pats traded a 2006 5th rounder for Davis, perhaps out of desperation. BTW, Davis is a "skinny" WR (6'1" 195). Hayes had 52 catches in 2001 with Carolina. The Pats whiffed on Hayes but hey, even BB and Pioli are human.
Johnny Z said:
Forget those losers. Right now, I have my doubts Chad Jackson will be any better than Jabar Gaffney.
You just touched upon
my reason for Chad dropping out of round one. I assume that you didn't pull Jabar Gaffney's name out of a hat. Can you say "Anti-Florida bias"? Look at UF's recent WR track record...
Reidel Anthony
Ike Hilliard
Jabar Gaffney
Reche Caldwell
It reads like a Who's Who of busts. Though, in fairness to Hilliard, he played well when he was healthy, but he never lived up to his #7 overall pick status. In fact, there hasn't been a successful Florida WR in the NFL since Wes Chandler in 1978. Today, Florida WRs have the same reputation as RBs from Penn State.
Chad spent 2 years in the Spurrier/Zook system before playing in the conservative Urban Meyer offense in 2005, which brought his YPC and total rec yards down. Yet, he still led the Gators in receptions.