Quote
since68
Tom Brady made a career out of throwing 6 yard passes on 3rd and 5 to "small" quick receivers who knew the offense, understood defenses and had numerous quick moves they could use to get open - Welker, Amendola, Edelman, Brown, etc.
He also threw 5 yard passes on first down to the same guys knowing it was fairly automatic and kept drives going/got them into 2nd and shorts.
He also used them to win Super Bowls - remember Edelman catching pass after pass against us?
What type of receiver do you want with 2 minutes to go in the game/Super Bowl on 3rd and 4 from your own 45 yard line down by 4?
I would say one like Edelman or Kupp (healthy) who can be trusted to be open where your QB expects him to be.
I say this to point out the thought that WR who run 4.2whatever or 4.3whatever are the ones a team needs to draft highly.
Rarely is there a 4.3whatever WR who is the kind of WR you need in the afore mentioned scenarios.
Give me McConkey or Malik Washington instead of 4.3whatever.
What does everyone else think?
The wideouts who contribute most to winning big games, in my estimation, are the high-volume types who consistently put up big numbers. Some wideouts just have that ability, and it's sort of like a tip of the food pyramid type of thing, where below that are a lot of things that can get overlooked like intelligence and character both on and off the field. Strength, mental resilience, dedication to their craft. So on and so forth.
This is because moving the chains and giving the offense another set of downs leads to good things. And the players who provide that (also those who prevent it at a high rate) have additional value. From this metric I would say the Rams have TWO wideouts who are the types who win you Super Bowls. Now obviously only Kupp is proven. But I am of course a fan and anyone who doubts Puka can, well, I have to watch my language here which is not easy for me. And by the way this is the same rule for me with TEs. Can they put up consistent yards and move chains game to game even when teams are actively trying to scheme them out. There aren't a lot of guys who can do this, regardless of position.
Now that I have said all that, allow me to reverse course and say that is not what the Rams need more of. Because you start to deal with diminishing returns, and also because there is only one ball. It was hard enough to share the load between Kupp and Puka, and we saw Kupp's confidence take a hit I think on top of the fact that he also didn't look fully healthy. I suspect he returned too early but nobody really knows. Maybe he is slowing down, and if so then maybe we do need another super chain mover type. But for now and given my ignorance of Kupp's status I will trust he will return to a high level because I don't doubt Cooper Kupp. Not until he says he's done.
So. This means what we need is speed. Legit spinchter-spasming speed threat outside that hash that makes opposing DBs fear for their near term future on Sportscenter. What that will do is actually magnify our superior possession wideouts that drive our offense. And if we have a good ground game on top of that all season long and into the playoffs, well, that means any sort of reasonable defense and we are a true contender.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2024 09:42PM by merlin.
