Henne was in his first year as a starting QB.
And where's the guarantee that he'll get better? Dolphins fans act like he's a young QB who will be a star in the future. He hasn't shown anything that suggests that. In fact, he was more reckless with the ball in the second half of the season than the beginning.
Oh, Marshall "only" had 3 consecutive 100 catch seasons because he led the league in targets? So? Doesn't that come with the territory?
Leading the NFL in targets doesn't necessarily make you good. Doing something with those targets does.
For example, Welker was targeted 4 more times than Marshall last season (in fewer games, but that's irrelevant). With those 4 more targets, he caught 22 more passes (and had 228 more yards). High targets plus high catch rate makes an elite receiver.
Andre Johnson was targeted 3 more times than Marshall and had the same number of catches, but had 449 more yards. High targets plus high YPC makes an elite receiver.
Targets are only worth as much as what you do with them. Plenty of receivers are more efficient with their targets than Marshall. Plenty of receivers are more efficient with their catches as well.
Marshall needed a 18 or 21 catch day to get over 100 each year? So? Should we take away all extroardinary statistical days for all skill players then? Chris Johnson needed 228 yds in week 8 last year. Without that, he wouldn't have gotten to 2000 rushing yards.
If you feel the need to insult my post, then I'll feel free to insult your analogy. It sucks.
Other than Johnson's 228 yard game, he averaged 111 yards per game. That's still far better than any RB did last season and better than any RB since 2006. Other than Marshall's 21 catch game, he averaged 5.7 catches per game. Eight receivers averaged better than that last season alone. So you're comparing Johnson's rushing yards total, which is still the best average in the last THREE years after taking out his best performance, to Marshall's catch total, which is 8th best LAST SEASON alone when taking out his best game.
In addition, Johnson had his 228 yard game on 24 carries. That's just over his average of 22.3 carries last season excluding that game. Marshall caught 21 passes on 27 targets. In his other 14 games, he averaged 8.7 targets. Johnson did it on 7% more carries than his average game, Marshall did it on 3.1 times as many targets.
Marshall was only a little better than average at catching the ball (77.8% catches per target in that game compared to 65.5% in the other 14 games), and had a lower YPC compared to his other 15 games (9.9 compared to 11.1). Johnson averaged 5.3 yards per carry in his other 15 games, compared to 9.9 yards in his best game.
Summary: Marshall was given far more opportunities and was only a little more efficient than average with those opportunities. Johnson was given less than 10% more carries and was nearly twice as effective with those carries. When removing Marshall's best game from his highlight stat (catches), he is an average #1 receiver. When removing Johnson's best game, he is still the best HB over the last few seasons. There's no comparison there at all.
