WR

I wish we would just teach an undersized OT how to catch a few passes and move him to TE.

Gaines blocks like a girl.

 

biddle

 

I still say Carter to start. For all his explosiveness- Smith is one of the premier possesion receivers in the game. The best way to take the defense away from him is to stretch the field. Carter will do that better than anyone else on the roster. He has been inconsistent but with some PT his confidence and his route running will improve. Bottom line- He'll give us the best chance to put points on the board.

 

I understand what you're saying, but there isn't anything we could do to take the defense away from Smith.

 

Everybody is going to come in game-planning to stop Smith. It's a given. A possesion receiver across from him getting 6 or 7 yd gains won't change that game plan unless they are consistently successful for a couple of quarters. Two or three long completions or a long TD completion can change the game plan in a series or two. Carter gives us the best hope to do that. Not that they are suddenly going to double or triple Carter and leave Smith open. But he has the skills to scare the hell out of a D-coordinator. Whether he starts or not he'll get a lot of looks this year. I hope for Smitty's sake he steps up.

 

Carter doesn't scare coordinators because he isn't explosive, just fast. As long as the safety recognizes his deep route, they don't need to change a game plan even if he has a successful catch or two. Rather than thinking about drawing coverage away from Smith, which we can't, what we need is just someone who can reliably get first downs. Unfortunately I'm not confident in the hands of Carter or Colbert, nor in Jarrett's ability to get open. That's what bothered me so much about Keyshawn being released. It's like being back in that Seattle NFCCG where we had no secondary option.

In any case, I have more hope that Jarrett will be better than I expect than I do about Carter developing into a well-rounded receiver. I'll be satisfied if he can just give us something of a deep threat, as it still doesn't seem like he runs many other types of routes effectively.

 

Mitchell and Reyes probably had the worst games of their respective careers that day. And our defense couldn't get them off the field.

But, yes. One would prefer Keyshawn.

 

Most had their worst days that day. Jake included, and he'd still have a stellar pass rating in the playoffs for his career had he been able to be competent.

Of course, Carter led in receiving yards, but two deep balls being your receiving yardage leader (and a 4th string RB leading in receptions) isn't a good sign.

 

I do agree that being better on the line, having fresh legs and having a scheme that is supposedly better fit to our personnel, will help ease the loss of Keyshawn.

It's unlikely that we go down this path, but I wouldn't mind us showing interest in one of New England's extra wideouts. I'd give up a second day pick for Reche Caldwell.

 

In Madden '07 I addressed Keyshawn's retirement the following year by trading for Chad Jackson.