Can we take a second to appreciate Michael Thomas’ catch percentage?

[RobertWeathers]

Ok so no one’s close. Got it.

And what’s so special about the Saints offense which makes this possible? He has Drew Brees? No one else on that offense is catching passes at the same rate as Thomas.

What about offenses with quarterbacks that are doing just as good this year, like the Chiefs and the Rams? None of their playmakers are catching the ball like Thomas is.

You’re basically using the “Tom Brady is a System QB” argument and applying it to Thomas.

BTW he caught 8/8 passes today so now he’s 78/87 and back up to 90%.

I think Thomas is a helluva player but system, Brees and dome really help him.

Christ Ted Ginn caught 75% of his passes in this offense last year and he sucks

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Patriots had no draft pick prior to when Thomas was selected due to PSI-gate.






Wide receivers drafted in rounds 1-5 in 2016:

Corey Coleman (Cleveland); 1st round, 15th overall
Career Stats: 56 receptions, 5 TD
2018:
Aug 5: traded to Bills for 7th round pick
Sept 1: cut by Bills
Sept 11: signed by Patriots
Sept 17: released by Pats to make room for Josh Gordon
Sept 20: signed to Practice Squad by Patriots
Sept 29: released by Patriots
Oct 19: signed to Practice Squad by Giants
Oct 25: promoted to 53-man roster
2018 snap counts: zero

Will Fuller (Houston); 1st round, 21st overall
Career Stats: 31 games, 30 starts; 107 receptions, 14.6 ypc, 13 TD
On Injured Reserve and done for 2018 due to torn ACL

Josh Doctson (Washington); 1st round, 22nd overall
Career Stats: 25 games, 19 starts; 56 receptions, 758 yards, 13.5 ypc, 7 TD

Laquon Treadwell (Minnesota); 1st round, 23rd overall
Career Stats: 34 games, 12 starts; 48 receptions, 468 yards, 9.8 ypc, 1 TD

Sterling Shepard (Giants); 2nd round, 40th overall
Career Stats: 35 games, 34 starts; 164 receptions for 1,946 yards, 11.9 ypc, 12 TD

Michael Thomas (Saints); 2nd round, 47th overall
Career Stats: 39 games, 34 starts; 266 receptions, 3262 yards, 12.3 ypc, 19 TD

Tyler Boyd (Bengals); 2nd round, 55th overall
Career Stats: 34 games, 11 starts, 125 receptions, 1448 yards, 11.6 ypc, 8 TD

Braxton Miller (Texans); 3rd round, 85th overall
Career Stats: 21 games, 9 starts; 34 receptions, 261 yards, 7.7 ypc, 2 TD
Waived in final 2018 preseason cuts; now on Philadelphia practice squad

Leonte Carroo (Dolphins); 3rd round, 86th overall
Career Stats: 30 games, 2 starts; 10 receptions, 98 yards, 9.8 ypc, 1 TD
Waived in final 2018 preseason cuts; re-signed to Practice Squad
Promoted to active roster Oct 24; zero offensive snaps, 31 ST snaps

Chris Moore (Ravens); 4th round, 107th overall
37 games, 4 starts; 37 receptions, 422 yards, 11.4 ypc, 3 TD
2017 snap counts: 376 offense (43%), 176 ST (45%)

Malcolm Mitchell (Patriots); 4th round, 112th overall
32 receptions, 401 yards, 12.5 ypc, 4 TD
NFL career derailed due to knee injury

Ricardo Louis (Browns); 4th round, 114th overall
32 games, 12 starts; 45 receptions, 562 yards, 12.5 ypc, 0 TD
Will miss entire 2018 season due to neck injury

Pharoh Cooper (Rams); 4th round, 117th overall
25 receptions for 190 yards; 2017 Pro Bowler as a KR; now on IR (ankle)

Demarco Robinson (Chiefs); 4th round, 126th overall
28 receptions, 263 yards, 1 TD

Tajae Sharpe (Titans); 5th round, 140th overall
58 receptions, 744 yards, 3 TD

Jordan Payton (Browns); 5th round, 154th overall
1 reception, 3 yards, 0 TD
Suspended for final four 2016 games for PEDs
Waived 9/2/2017

Trevor Davis (Packers); 5th round, 163rd overall
8 receptions, 94 yards; 33 punt returns, 34 kickoff returns

Tyreek Hill (Chiefs); 5th round, 165th overall
184 receptions, 2550 yards, 13.9 ypc, 20 TD
53 carries, 387 yards, 7.3 ypc, 3 TD
76 punt returns, 971 yards, 4 TD
2-time Pro Bowl, 1-time All Pro

Rashard Higgins (Browns); 5th round, 172nd overall
52 receptions, 652 yards, 12.5 ypc, 3 TD



The draft is a crapshoot.
Expectations for getting these picks right tend to be way too high in comparison to reality by both fans and the media.

The draft is not a crapshoot. It's not a lottery ticket or going on a blind date.

Teams, sites & people track these guys since high school. We know background, both personal & player. We know what their good at & what their flaws are. We know how fast they are. How agile they are.

By the time the draft comes around no one is a sleeper. Yes there's some unknown to the process but it's far from a crapshoot.

Not tryna nitpick just a pet peeve. It's almost 2019 the amount of information we have has never been greater.

 

[glm]

I think Thomas is a helluva player but system, Brees and dome really help him.

Christ Ted Ginn caught 75% of his passes in this offense last year and he sucks

WRs besides Thomas on the Saints with at least 10 targets are catching at a 63% clip.

Alvin Kamara is the second most targeted player on the team and he’s catching passes out the backfield at a 77% clip.

Michael Thomas has the most targets on the team and he’s catching at a 90% clip.

So it’s not just offense/Brees/dome helps him a lot. Literally no one else on the team is on his level.

He’s just playing that good.

 

[RobertWeathers]

WRs besides Thomas on the Saints with at least 10 targets are catching at a 63% clip.

Alvin Kamara is the second most targeted player on the team and he’s catching passes out the backfield at a 77% clip.

Michael Thomas has the most targets on the team and he’s catching at a 90% clip.

So it’s not just offense/Brees/dome helps him a lot. Literally no one else on the team is on his level.

He’s just playing that good.

I think Thomas is a All-Pro.

...but I'm slamming the breaks on him being THE reason he is catching 90% of the balls thrown his way

 

[jmt57]

The draft is not a crapshoot. It's not a lottery ticket or going on a blind date.

Teams, sites & people track these guys since high school. We know background, both personal & player. We know what their good at & what their flaws are. We know how fast they are. How agile they are.

By the time the draft comes around no one is a sleeper. Yes there's some unknown to the process but it's far from a crapshoot.

Not tryna nitpick just a pet peeve. It's almost 2019 the amount of information we have has never been greater.

You are correct in everything you stated. Crap shoot was in retrospect a bit of hyperbole.

Let me clarify.

Many people expect teams to hit 100% on their team's draft picks, that every selection will go on to be at minimum a solid 10-year starter, with half the picks becoming pro bowl caliber players.

The point I was making is that level of expectation is completely unreasonable due to a wide variety of factors.

Baseball players that get a base hit 35% of the time go on to the Hall of Fame.

Hockey goalies that save fewer than 90% of the shots on goal get benched.

Whatever criteria you use for a hit or a miss, the NFL draft is somewhere in between - not north of the goalie example, though many seem to believe it should be.

For whatever reason many fans seem to think that if any one of the hundreds of players selected later in the draft has a better career than that of the player their team selected, then that is evidence that their team botched the draft.

That is my pet peeve.

 

[Doctor DDS]

The Brees/Thomas connection has been incredible this year as has their entire offense. Their OL is having an all time season and from the games I have watched I rarely see Brees under pressure. How many "throw aways" to avoid pressure has he had all year and how many of them were directed at Thomas? Seems like 25% of Brady incompletions have been pressure related this year.

 

[captain stone]

Frankly my dear, but who really gives a feckin damn about Michael Thomas & his feckin catch peercentage?

 

[primetime]

You are correct in everything you stated. Crap shoot was in retrospect a bit of hyperbole.

Let me clarify.

Many people expect teams to hit 100% on their team's draft picks, that every selection will go on to be at minimum a solid 10-year starter, with half the picks becoming pro bowl caliber players.

The point I was making is that level of expectation is completely unreasonable due to a wide variety of factors.

Baseball players that get a base hit 35% of the time go on to the Hall of Fame.

Hockey goalies that save fewer than 90% of the shots on goal get benched.

Whatever criteria you use for a hit or a miss, the NFL draft is somewhere in between - not north of the goalie example, though many seem to believe it should be.

For whatever reason many fans seem to think that if any one of the hundreds of players selected later in the draft has a better career than that of the player their team selected, then that is evidence that their team botched the draft.

That is my pet peeve.

I think it's reasonable to say that we have a great deal of information about players in the draft, but they're still just names on pieces of paper in large part. And then they deal with injury, scheme fit, etc. when they get to the pros. While I understand BGC's objections to calling it a crapshoot, I think the level of uncertainty effectively makes it to a large degree random as to which players develop as you expect, which players surprise, and which ones never make it. It's more art than science, and some people are slightly better artists than others.

 

[captain stone]

If that's ^ the case, then Little Billy is finger-painting.