I felt there was no better time than now to discuss the pink elephant in the room. Yes….I’m talking the wr’s. I had a big part in creating this narrative in early spring. At that time me and a certain poster had a disagreement about the wr group , the poster mentioned he had heard the wr’s were balling. I told him it’s more like the opposite , they’re struggling, we had quite the battle lol. So since I had a small hand in creating this narrative figured it’s only right I pull everyone back off the life boat…..FOR NOW!!
First let’s fact check….are some wr’s dropping balls ? Yes….too many and it’s unacceptable. Are guys having issues picking up the offense ? Yes. Is there concerns about this group going into the season? YES!! Is X far and away the most consistent performer since spring? Yes.
Now let’s get to the part that doesn’t add up, these same guys that are dropping passes now wasn’t doing it last year. At practice or in games. JG was returning punts as a true Fr and was the most consistent guy the entire year. You don’t put guys with suspect hands back for the most hectic , dangerous play in football. Theres literally eleven guys flying down hill and you only have a split second to make up your mind.
So the question I have his why did this suddenly become a major issue? Here’s some of my theories.
1. Guys are thinking more than playing. They went from a elementary style offense which is known for easy route concepts and even easier playbook to learn. The whole point of that O was to not think, just play and fast. This year it went to a college level playbook and it’s busting their asses. Instead of just running a route , putting your foot in the dirt breaking that thing off you’re unsure, maybe even looking at hashes so know where to round it off or just not confident in the assignment / play call.
2. They’re actually facing a really good defense every day, I’ve been told by too many people to count this is as legit of a defense we’ve had in a minute. Big , fast and very physical. Especially a secondary who’s finally allowed to rough up wr’s off the line , which is hurting clean get offs. That leads to no separation. That’s not a good equation for success when most of the wr’s are kinda light in the ***. The one guy giving the D issues is X who’s 5’10 200.
3. Young guys pressing. We forget majority of these guys are getting their first real serious burn and are being asked to be more than role players. JG, RB and BS was the core that was being expected to take this group into the future. It’s different when you aren’t the fourth , fifth or sixth option.
4. Maybe they just aren’t as good as their ranking or as good as we thought they were. The rankings and us as fans overvalued this group.
So now the question is can coaches do anything to take the pressure off or put them in better situations?
@LuCane and myself both mentioned that maybe Gattis could implement a little bit of what Lashlee was doing towards the end of last season. Ease up the playbook ,possibly throw in some of the route concepts and wider splits, which gives them more space to work with. I’m willing to bet they’re pressing at this point and as I said it’s likely mental. Simplifying things has been known to work, I’ve seen it too many times to count.
I’m not ready to throw the season away just yet even though I know wr is a concern. Confidence is a weird thing after guys make some plays when bullets start flying. They won’t face a better defense during the season , so it’s all down hill week one.
All we need is this group to be consistent, thats it. Not Andre J, Santana or even Rambo. Consistent Everyone play their role.
Imo we won’t see any 18 % drop rates this year like a couple guys who are no longer here.
