Rod Gardner released

that concerns me too.

 

He couldn't beat out Colbert. Let's not pretend he's TO. Neither he nor Colbert could get looks, but actual secondary targets did.

at times, sure.
And when Weinke was in, he did the same. Sure, Jake locks on a little more than I'd want. But he's shown more often than not to make it work. Making things work in the NFL doesn't equate to functionally retarded.

 

I don't know that what Gardner does well stacks up well with what we want to do here. That may be the big thing.

We seem to want a physical receiver that can stretch the defense, and block downfield.



Garner's gotta big body and has nice hands. He can set up and give a big target. But he doesn't block well and doesn't have deep speed that anyone can respect, and doesn't run great routes. He was somewhat productive as a possession reciever in Washington, but I'll point out again the same complaints were heard about him in DC


Now, Colbert doesn't do any of that well either, and he has the dropsies which isn't a big problem with Gardner, but given that he's younger and under contract past this season, to see if Carter could jump start us, Gardner had to go. I think that's all their is to it. Gardner may very well be better than Colbert, but not appreciably.

>>Take Proehl as an example, from what I recall this year, several times he would throw to Proehl in bunches.

I think you are reaching. The only time RP got a bunch of passes thrown to him in a row was vs Detroit. And that was Weinke.

The offense does try and force to Smith. We put him in numerous formations to try and get favorable matchups to feed our stud. We do design plays specifically to get the ball in his hands. So in that vein, you are right, but it is partly by design, and partly because of not having a consistent #2 wide reciever to take the pressure off in the base offense.

Jake's biggest problem is when his downfield progressions don't open up, he holds the ball. Even if the checkdowns are covered, I'd like to see him throw the ball away a few times with the offensive line struggling as it is.

 

Didn't I say something about Gardner NOT being an elite WR? So not sure why the TO comment to what I said. He has done more in his career than Colbert at this point. His 4 years prior to coming to Carolina were also more productive than Phroel.

Sorry, something still doesn't add up other than he was dumb or couldn't beat out Colbert. If you want to use the Colbert thing, then Proehl should be our #2 WR or even Foster for that matter.

 

When I say Proehl caught passes in bunches, I certainly don't mean 5 or 6 in a row several times this year. He doesn't have enough total catches to even think that.

 

>>If you want to use the Colbert thing, then Proehl should be our #2 WR or even Foster for that matter.

?

Ricky Prohel's been a slot reciever his entire career. He's a specialist. Good at what he does, but the last guy you want battling on the edges.

And Foster's a RB.


>>He doesn't have enough total catches to even think that.

Which is why it the post doesn't make sense.

 

figures the one catch Colbert made Sat was out of bounds. he one handed it too.

funny, I remember last year after he caught a TD, he put the ball down on the ground and used his foot to hold the ball down while he pulled his "sticky" hands off .....

 

I wish some of that carried over to this year. He had some drops last year, but was able to make some plays. I think that a big problem this year is that he has just lost confidence in himself.

 

I'd have figured him to be physical, but I didn't see it much. Hell, I didn't see much speed, either.

But he's never been an RAC guy, and we like that. Colbert wasn't, that much, last year, IIRC. We really don't run many stop routes or comebacks to anyone, much less WRs, other than the corner routes and the endzone fades (which he did run when in).

Probably, and he certainly doesn't seem to be the only one. Problem is, I don't know that we can decoy him if nobody cares what he's doing.

agreed. And he's done that some (most notably with Carter on the field, or for a longer range feel, when he's got Proehl on), but not quite as much as I'd want, but safeties don't seem to mind. Even with that being a big weakness (the back-foot thing not helping either), Jake's still not that bad.

I can't believe I have to defend our QB against being a retarded dumbass the week he's voted to the Pro Bowl.

Of course he's done more in his career. He was a starter on teams that couldn't put together a 2nd starter for a few years, and kept trying to replace him. And guess what? His career might be about over. Washington didn't want him anymore, we didn't want him anymore. He might not start again.

I read the "elite WR" thing after I noted TO. Still, I'm gonna stand by it, while we're pointing fingers in haste.

Both are playing better as receivers than our starter, yes. That's hard to deny. Hell, neither of them have played half the snaps Colbert has (guessing), and they've outperformed. People who bitched about "second-rate" seasons by Moose? Now they're longing for the glory days of Donald Fucking Hayes.

Actually, by now, I'd as well take Proehl at the flanker as Colbert. Proehl will catch the ball, he'll run his routes, and he'll get open in short space.

It'll be ugly as shit, it's not what we want, and he's way too old, but having Colbert develop into a #2 was apparently more than we could ask for. If we had to do this, I'd be allright with it. Give it a shot, at least Jake will throw to him.

 

Proehl has far fewer catches for fewer yards than he did last season (and was way behind until the Dallas game). Also, our RBs have collectively accounted for far fewer receptions for far fewer yards than they did last season.


Personally I do agree that Jake has made up his mind before the play this season as to which receiver he throws to, and there's no doubt about his alarmingly high propensity to make stupid, costly decisions. That said, I don't think it's a raw intelligence issue. Plenty of dumb quarterbacks have done quite well in the NFL, and I never got the sense that Jake was dumb.