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Old 02-14-2005, 11:22 AM   #5
FRPLG
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Join Date: May 2004
Age: 46
Posts: 10,164
Re: Disappointed with Gardner

If we were looking or a quality possession type guy I would want Gardner to stick with us. With some dedication he could be a great possession receiver in the mold of Keyshawn just better and without so much of the attitude. Problem is that I don't think he fits what we want to do even then. We're not a dink and dump team really. I know we threw countless WR screens and such but most of those were to Coles and are meant to be long handoffs to get the ball in the hands of our fastest most athletic WR so he can make one guy miss and break a big gainer. I think the true untapped potential in the offense is downfield where I cannot honetly remember Gardner ever being factor in his career. In fact I can vividly remember countless downfield jumpers thrown during Spurrier's reign that ended up with Gardner just being the defender rather han him getting position to catch the ball. He is a possession type guy because he seems to lack the speed to get past people and the discipline to use his body correctly to make seperation. So, seeing as how he is "50-50", that is not good for a possession receiver. I also think he has loads of talent and I am disappointed too in what he has given us. I don't question his work ethic or his motivation I just question his mental ability to perform at a high level with focus and determination. That being said I think at his best he still would not be the field stretcher that we need. When you look at the best WRs in the game you notice a few things. Most have game speed, and most have size. Moss and TO are the prime examples. Both are giant and bot can run like damn gazelles with the pads on. We're not talking sprint speed, we're talking game speed and both are among the fastest game speed players at WR. Both also use their bodies well for position since they are so big(this is one of the reason they seem to play at afaster game speed than their straight away speed would indicate). If you look at this years receivers you really only see one or two guys who ahve this potential. Edwards(who will be gone when we pick) and Williams. Williams isn't a burner but he consistently beat faster(straight away speed) CBs at USC. We're talking about good CBs too. HE seems to play at a faster game speed and to me he just exudes that feeling that he is going to be the stud of the draft when we look back in 4 or 5 years. We HAVE to take him at 9 if he is there unless we think we can trade down and get him still.
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