Comments on our Receiver Corps (6/15/06)

How nice was it to read this in the Post today:
One receiver, David Patten, enters minicamp highly motivated. Patten was limited to 22 catches last season and was put on injured reserve a week before Thanksgiving following knee surgery. He has been saying for weeks that he is healthy and ready to compete. During optional workouts over the past couple of weeks, Patten said he relished the idea of competition.

"If I'm the fourth receiver, then that tells you how good we're going to be," Patten said.


That doesn't sound at all like a guy trying to get out of town, does it?

How nice was it to read this in the Post today:


That doesn't sound at all like a guy trying to get out of town, does it?

I agree, that sounds like a man willing to work his ass off and to push the younger guys as hard as possible. I LOVE that competition because I feel like (at least I really hope) we have the type of players who understand that it's not about the politics; the coaches are going to play the best people no matter what.

Loved that quote.

Sounds like a guy with his head in the right place. Keep him there and he'll be bring great depth and competition to this team. Lets hope this doesn't sour if he isn't getting enough PT or balls in his direction. Right now he sounds an aweful lot like a Gibbs kind of guy.

"If I'm the fourth receiver, then that tells you how good we're going to be," Patten said.

If he ends up any higher on the depth chart and it's not due to injury, I'd have to say whoever he beats out I'd be pretty damn disappointed in.

We have a proven #1 WR in Moss, but the rest are all giant question marks if you ask me.

Lloyd seems to have incredible athleticism and great potential, but hasn't ever really produced (though we could blame alot of that on the San Francisco "system" or lack thereof, simple fact is he doesn't have a great track record.)

Patten strikes me as a questionable #2 WR, and much more along the lines of competing for the #3 job in terms of talent. In a 10 year career he has no more than 824 yards in a season, and no more than 7 TDs. In itself not a bad season, but that majority of his seasons look alot more like 200-300 yards and 0-1 TDs - not real impressive.

Randle El, like Lloyd, seems to have great athletic talent but hasn't proved himself as a solid, consistent WR.

We've also got Thrash who seems like a consistent contributor, though certainly he's not going to light up the field as a #1 or #2 WR any time soon.

From an athletic standpoint we're stacked, but you can look at someone like Antonio Brown from last season and see athleticism or speed doesn't make a great WR. Basically we still have one good WR that we can count on (Moss) - the #2, #3 and depth positions are all full of great potential and no track record or consistency.

I'm going to call them "people who can catch the ball" because we also have Cooley and Sellers and Portis, but we are going to be great at this position all year. All I can say is that Brunell should get dizzy this year looking at all of the receiving options he will have. No more of this " just look at Cooley and Moss. Somebody should be open every passing play IMO. Brunell or Collins or Campbell, are just going to have to learn were they are and how to get the ball to them.

patton has been around the block and knows what it takes to be sucessful. we now have 4 solid, legitimate nfl receivers. what a difference one off season makes

We have a proven #1 WR in Moss, but the rest are all giant question marks if you ask me.

Lloyd seems to have incredible athleticism and great potential, but hasn't ever really produced (though we could blame alot of that on the San Francisco "system" or lack thereof, simple fact is he doesn't have a great track record.)

Patten strikes me as a questionable #2 WR, and much more along the lines of competing for the #3 job in terms of talent. In a 10 year career he has no more than 824 yards in a season, and no more than 7 TDs. In itself not a bad season, but that majority of his seasons look alot more like 200-300 yards and 0-1 TDs - not real impressive.

Randle El, like Lloyd, seems to have great athletic talent but hasn't proved himself as a solid, consistent WR.

We've also got Thrash who seems like a consistent contributor, though certainly he's not going to light up the field as a #1 or #2 WR any time soon.

From an athletic standpoint we're stacked, but you can look at someone like Antonio Brown from last season and see athleticism or speed doesn't make a great WR. Basically we still have one good WR that we can count on (Moss) - the #2, #3 and depth positions are all full of great potential and no track record or consistency.
I think maybe you're being a bit hard on the WRs.

In 2005 Randle-El had 3 drops. Lloyd had 4 drops. Patten had two (in half a season). And Moss, he had eight. (Statisics courtesy of Stats.com (http://biz.stats.com/index.html)) What's all this mean? Nothing - I just like stats. Lloyd got his balls as the only viable receiver from such luminaries as Cody Pickett. I say, Cody Pickett. Patten and Randle-El have never been primary targets in their respective offenses.

I think it's important to determine what the expectations are for the 2nd 3rd and 4th WRs before we decide they aren't going to be met.

I think we also have to consider who will be covering these guys in certain situations. In the past a D probably had their best CB's covering Llyod, but now he could find himself being covered by a nickle or even a linebacker if he's lined up in the slot. This should create great matchups for us, especially if Cooley is involved in the play.
With the speed we have at WR opposing CBs should wear out rather quickly.