Will Witherspoon cover AJ?

[DoubleDeluxe]

He’s a competitor indeed. All-Pro player. However, he’s still only 185 lbs. AJ is 226+ lbs….difference of 40lbs of muscle. If Brown wants it, there’s not much DW can do..

I agree.
He could cover AJ man to man on limited snaps, but would definitely get overpowered if they tried that more than a few times.

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

At the same time, I'm concerned for the fan reaction if AJ doesn't come out like Moss vs Jets in 07 and light it up.
I don't want this offense to become suddenly AJ-driven. We all know what happens when QB's get stuck on 1 WR or pass catcher and a team figures out how to shut them down. Drake needs to start the season with a well-rounded approach. He can't lean on AJ like he did with Diggs - and then Diggs was essentially shut down in the playoffs and Maye struggled a lot.

I'm not worried about fan reaction.
I'm worried about winning, any way we can.
Now if AJ doesn't isn't heavily targeted throughout the year and he voices his frustrations, well then that would be something to worry about. I don't think that will happen, but it could.

I don't think Maye leaned too heavily on Diggs, he played one of, if not the lowest % of snaps for any #1 WR in the league.
Diggs played 56% of snaps. As a comparison JSN played 78% of snaps.
Diggs ranked 31st in target share % last year at 21%, JSN was 36%.

Diggs was not that effective in playoffs, but there's way more to it.
Weather
Defenses played
Injured/incompetent Oline play (this is the biggest factor by far)

I do agree 100% that a multi-faceted O is much better and is my preference.
However, if AJ were to have a target share of 30% (what he has last year), and our Oline is doing its part, I think the production and impact on winning would be a good thing.

 

[Football2007]

At the same time, I'm concerned for the fan reaction if AJ doesn't come out like Moss vs Jets in 07 and light it up.
I don't want this offense to become suddenly AJ-driven. We all know what happens when QB's get stuck on 1 WR or pass catcher and a team figures out how to shut them down. Drake needs to start the season with a well-rounded approach. He can't lean on AJ like he did with Diggs - and then Diggs was essentially shut down in the playoffs and Maye struggled a lot.

The worst loss in franchise history is what happens.

My fear is AJ will complain of he doesn't get the ball enough. Which in turn means Maye forces the ball to him. That's a recipe tor a disaster. The best option should be the open guy.

 

[ViperGTS]

I hope he does! AJ is reinvigorated here in NE and he looks like a man on a mission. Where AJ thrives is against press man.. Seattle isn't going to have the same benefits they had in the superbowl. I can bet you Vrabel and Josh have looked the game film on how Stafford carved them up in the NFCCG somehow that keeps going forgotten. I believe Josh will get rham and the running game going early to wear down Seattle's front and eat up clock. AJ will command double coverage this allows Doubs and Pop along with Henry and raridon to feast on thier LBs in coverage.

There real fact, and I haven't looked at the tape in months and months but Maye left a LOT of plays out there. The easy, 5 yard chain movesr, instead looking for the hole shots etc. Seattle knew that and had he dinked and dunked his way down the field...it might have been a different game.

****, Diggs at one point was jumping up and down while open 7 yards down field and Maye had no clue. I hope he has learned from that. Take what the defense gives you 90 percent of the time. The other 10, take your shots.

 

[jdlboot14]

The answer to the post question is: He will try, but no ever completely "covers" AJ - he has made a career being the more physical guy. So, Maye will clearly give him his targets. I just hope he doesn't force it unnecessarily in bad situations. I believe Maye (via JMD) will set things up, use his other weapons, and cause pressure on the D by spreading it around.

 

[50-yard-line]

MacDonald loves a Cover 6, and Cover 6 was Maye's Achille's heel last year. He sucked against that D - probably because of OL problems, but also because he's a deep-ball thrower.

Patience. Take what they give you. This is the step Maye needs to take. AJ is way more than a deep-ball WR. Take the short slants.

Patience. Frustrate them.

 

[TommyD4207]

At the same time, I'm concerned for the fan reaction if AJ doesn't come out like Moss vs Jets in 07 and light it up.
I don't want this offense to become suddenly AJ-driven. We all know what happens when QB's get stuck on 1 WR or pass catcher and a team figures out how to shut them down. Drake needs to start the season with a well-rounded approach. He can't lean on AJ like he did with Diggs - and then Diggs was essentially shut down in the playoffs and Maye struggled a lot.

If has one catch and they win by 14, you can count me among the few that would not give a rat's ass.

 

[Huckleberry1]

AJ is too physical for Witherspoon. DW is too frail..It would be like Emmanuel Forbes trying to cover Anquan Boldin.

Brown has a significant size advantage, but Witherspoon is definitely a tough player, he's not frail.

 

[Huckleberry1]

At the same time, I'm concerned for the fan reaction if AJ doesn't come out like Moss vs Jets in 07 and light it up.
I don't want this offense to become suddenly AJ-driven. We all know what happens when QB's get stuck on 1 WR or pass catcher and a team figures out how to shut them down. Drake needs to start the season with a well-rounded approach. He can't lean on AJ like he did with Diggs - and then Diggs was essentially shut down in the playoffs and Maye struggled a lot.

I don't care about fan reaction. They could win by 30 and the crybabies would still find something to cry about. I just want to see them fight their asses off for 60 minutes.

 

[Football2007]

There real fact, and I haven't looked at the tape in months and months but Maye left a LOT of plays out there. The easy, 5 yard chain movesr, instead looking for the hole shots etc. Seattle knew that and had he dinked and dunked his way down the field...it might have been a different game.

****, Diggs at one point was jumping up and down while open 7 yards down field and Maye had no clue. I hope he has learned from that. Take what the defense gives you 90 percent of the time. The other 10, take your shots.

This is something he really needs to start working on. Dink and dunk if it's there. Move the chains. Hopefully he is much better tonight than he was in the Super Bowl.

 

[n1997y]

There real fact, and I haven't looked at the tape in months and months but Maye left a LOT of plays out there. The easy, 5 yard chain movesr, instead looking for the hole shots etc. Seattle knew that and had he dinked and dunked his way down the field...it might have been a different game.

****, Diggs at one point was jumping up and down while open 7 yards down field and Maye had no clue. I hope he has learned from that. Take what the defense gives you 90 percent of the time. The other 10, take your shots.

Diggs should’ve known 7 yards downfield wasn’t enough to catch Maye’s attention!

 

[BennyBledsoe]

There was a lot that went wrong in the Super Bowl. The offensive line was limping along. And Maye couldn't put ANY snap into his passes. A QB doesn't always need to be able to launch 'em 70 yards downfield, BUT he still needs to be able to get torque and velocity on his throws in order to be accurate. With his injury, he couldn't put any snap on his throws, leading to balls that floated. Add that to a porous offensive line, and Maye was doomed. It wouldn't have mattered if he had Rice and Moss out there.

 

[Real fan 02]

There real fact, and I haven't looked at the tape in months and months but Maye left a LOT of plays out there. The easy, 5 yard chain movesr, instead looking for the hole shots etc. Seattle knew that and had he dinked and dunked his way down the field...it might have been a different game.

****, Diggs at one point was jumping up and down while open 7 yards down field and Maye had no clue. I hope he has learned from that. Take what the defense gives you 90 percent of the time. The other 10, take your shots.

Yes. The reason was because of the comprised OL.. Seattle's whole game plan was to attack the " Rookie side " of the OL and they did just that. Guys were open all over the place. Even though Drake played with a shoulder issue himself he still had no protection. They couldn't run anything on offense. No OL no offense.

 

[Real fan 02]

This is something he really needs to start working on. Dink and dunk if it's there. Move the chains. Hopefully he is much better tonight than he was in the Super Bowl.

Drake is a different mold of QB then that of the statue era QBs. That is true that he should take more 7 yard throws but the way he's able to keep plays alive with his athletic ability while keeping his eyes down field to find guys coming open is elite. Drake is a modern era QB. He did lead the league in completion %. Impressive