2020 Free agent & Draft Wide Receiver thread. (4 Viewers)

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

I'm fine with picking picking a more athletic Peat replacement in the first round, Austin Jackson out of USC is a good candidate he's an amazing foot athlete for his size, great first step in pass protection, plus young and moldable. No one suspects Corner, but it could absolutely be in play especially if Eli Apple walks in FA, and the team has to cut Jenkins because of his $ 11 mil cap hit. CJ Henderson out of Florida could be a good fit, a lot of people think of him as the 2nd best cover corner in this draft and he played in the same secondary as Chauncey-Gardner.

To your first point though...
I'm not so sure about that.. teams are having Rookie Receivers come in and establish themselves right away much quicker than in the past.
just this year we saw Deebo Samuel, AJ Brown, and DK Metcalf be huge contributors on contending teams.
the year before was: Calvin Ridley, DJ Moore, and Courtland Sutton.

this whole "3 year window to develop a WR" notion could be a thing of the past...

I'm fine with it but here's my argument for otherwise.

When we were a downfield team, we had better Guard play. The tackles weren't nearly as good now and the reason for that is/was the interior pocket needed to be as clean as possible for some of our deeper routes to develop/give time for Drew to throw it.

In our more west coast heavy style we don't rely on those shots as often thus you see that our Tackle Play is elite vs our Guard play being good enough. We forget that the Saints drafted Peat to be a RG or RT...obviously hinting at the value of those positions with RT being the preference. If he at least ball out at either spot you don't have to Draft Ram AND sign Warford..only one or the other. Because he failed so miserably at both he was slid over to LG and found a home. However a 1st rounder at LG is a luxury and I could totally see the Saints focusing on getting WR's that uncover quicker than a LG that pass blocks better/longer.

The new LG will be playing in between Armstead/McCoy so he'll get help and if WR's are getting open faster Drew won't have to hold the ball as long on some of the plays where Thomas/Kamara are doubled meaning less time for a weaker interior presence to be exposed.

 

[baarbogast]

Lamb supposedly is a party animal. It was noted on walterfootball.com , I will try to find the blurb when I get home.

Ye

 

[ANKOMA33]

Ruggs is expected to run a 4.25 and Jeudy is consensus #1.

The Saints likely have no shot at either.

Yikes.

That's Tyreek Hill, Olympic trials type wheels.

 

[Winsett]

When we were a downfield team, we had better Guard play. The tackles weren't nearly as good now and the reason for that is/was the interior pocket needed to be as clean as possible for some of our deeper routes to develop/give time for Drew to throw it.

In our more west coast heavy style we don't rely on those shots as often thus you see that our Tackle Play is elite vs our Guard play being good enough.

Correlation vs Causation. I think the current talent gap between OT and OG is as much due to chance as it is scheme fit. We got lucky Terron Armstead developed into an elite LT (sans injury) as a 3rd round draft pick. We also got lucky Ram's knee injury worried teams enough for him to fall all the way to the bottom of the 1st round, and that knee injury ended up being a non-issue.

I agree the west coast offense we currently run doesn't utilize the deep shots as often, but I don't think that makes elite tackle play more important than otherwise. I would argue the opposite. We now heavily rely more on the short/intermediate game, as well as more in breaking routes, to minimize Drew's arm strength decline issues. The best way to disrupt that sort of quick passing game is quick interior pressure. It is the fastest route to the QB and disrupts vision between the hashmarks. When Brees has a clean interior, elite edge rushers struggle to make an impact because he has too many options too consistently avoid pressure and find the open man. He gets the ball out too quick, chips you with the RB or TE, or steps up. If I'm the opposing DC, I want fast interior pressure so Brees is double clutching, bailing out of the pocket, and having to throw on the run, off base with floaters toward the sidelines. It's why Donald, Grady Garrett, and the Vikings new rush plan were so effected against our offense recently. If you compare the last few games vs each of those opponents, I think you'll see the Saints offense looked like a totally different unit when the interior was kept consistently clean. It's also why Brees and Brady have embarrassed some elite edge rush defenders like Von Miller, Mack, the Bosas, etc over the last couple years.

Additionally, the occasional deep shot is still vital for keeping defenses honest. Those shots are much more effective and risk averse when Brees can step up with proper timing, so it would still be nice to have that occasional luxury for efficiency's sake.

*I do agree with the rest of your post suggesting that more talented WRs getting open quicker helps too.

 

[baarbogast]

Sources say that Lamb is a good kid despite being known to be a big partier. It might help him to go to a team with a city and environment that helps him to focus on football.

 

[Snakehead]

Board Favorites

Name

Team

Round

Height

Weight

Relative Body Size

Hand Size

40 Yd Time

Vertical

Broad Jump

20 Yd Shuttle

3 Cone Drill

Grade

Aiyuk, Brandon

Arizona St.

1​

71.5​

205​

2.87​

9.75​

4​

Edwards, Bryan

South Carolina

74.6​

212​

2.84​

9.5​

2​

Higgins, Tee

Clemson

1​

75.5​

216​

2.86​

9.25​

3​

Jefferson, Justin

LSU

1​

73.2​

202​

2.76​

9.25​

3​

Jeudy, Jerry

Alabama

1​

73​

193​

2.64​

9.5​

3​

Lamb, CeeDee

Oklahoma

1​

73.5​

198​

2.69​

9.25​

3​

Raegor, Jalen

TCU

70.5​

206​

2.92​

9.5​

1​

Ruggs, Henry

Alabama

1​

71​

188​

2.65​

10.125​

3​

Shenault Jr., Laviska

Colorado

1​

72.5​

227​

3.13​

9​

4​

 

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

Correlation vs Causation. I think the current talent gap between OT and OG is as much due to chance as it is scheme fit. We got lucky Terron Armstead developed into an elite LT (sans injury) as a 3rd round draft pick. We also got lucky Ram's knee injury worried teams enough for him to fall all the way to the bottom of the 1st round, and that knee injury ended up being a non-issue.

I agree the west coast offense we currently run doesn't utilize the deep shots as often, but I don't think that makes elite tackle play more important than otherwise. I would argue the opposite. We now heavily rely more on the short/intermediate game, as well as more in breaking routes, to minimize Drew's arm strength decline issues. The best way to disrupt that sort of quick passing game is quick interior pressure. It is the fastest route to the QB and disrupts vision between the hashmarks. When Brees has a clean interior, elite edge rushers struggle to make an impact because he has too many options too consistently avoid pressure and find the open man. He gets the ball out too quick, chips you with the RB or TE, or steps up. If I'm the opposing DC, I want fast interior pressure so Brees is double clutching, bailing out of the pocket, and having to throw on the run, off base with floaters toward the sidelines. It's why Donald, Grady Garrett, and the Vikings new rush plan were so effected against our offense recently. If you compare the last few games vs each of those opponents, I think you'll see the Saints offense looked like a totally different unit when the interior was kept consistently clean. It's also why Brees and Brady have embarrassed some elite edge rush defenders like Von Miller, Mack, the Bosas, etc over the last couple years.

Additionally, the occasional deep shot is still vital for keeping defenses honest. Those shots are much more effective and risk averse when Brees can step up with proper timing, so it would still be nice to have that occasional luxury for efficiency's sake.

*I do agree with the rest of your post suggesting that more talented WRs getting open quicker helps too.

No arguments, FWIW I said earlier in the off-season the Saints best course of action is to mimic the 2009 team as much as possible and a sturdy interior would be the way to go. Also we/I get caught up in building around Brees but the future is still closer than it appears and Payton wants to be aggressive. Building the team for the next QB is important as well and going downfield more would suddenly be back in the cards.

Makes me wonder if the Saints would trade Armstead since it's the last year of his deal and sign a Joe Thuney + a swing tackle then draft a guy. Nahhhhhhhhh

 

[Snakehead]

Combine WRs with hands larger than 10":

Johnson, Juwan: 10.5"
Mack, Austin: 10"
Patman, Dezmon: 10.25"
People-Jones. Donovan: 10.125"
Ruggs, Henry: 10.125"
White, Cody: 10"

 

[Eman5805]

We need to turn our WRs from a weak position after Thomas into our strongest or one with the potential to be. Sign someone like Perriman or whomever and also draft one too.

 

[saint_drago]

I just heard that Daniel Jeremiah has 27 WRs graded out as 1-3 round prospects. There is so much depth at the position this year. Hopefully we can snag one or two.

 

[NOFALCONS10]

Shenault came in at similar measurements as A.J. Brown but he will probably time much faster.

Bryan Edwards very similar in size to Mike Thomas.

Large paws on Ruggs at only 188lbs.

Claypool came in at 238 and might be a candidate to move to tightend.

 

[NOFALCONS10]

Jalen Reagor definitely 15lbs bigger than Calvin Ridley too at a hearty 206lbs.

He is very close in size to Amari Cooper, just shorter.

Reagor actually outweighed Cedee Lamb who was only 198lbs

2020 NFL Scouting Combine weigh-ins and measurements: QBs, TEs, and WRs

The 2020 NFL Scouting Combine has begun with the first group of players arriving on Monday for their weigh-ins and measurements.

www.google.com

 

[NOFALCONS10]

Reagor was even 8lbs heavier than OBJ.

Odell Beckham Jr. Stats, News and Video - WR | NFL.com

Latest on WR Odell Beckham Jr. including news, stats, videos, highlights and more on NFL.com

www.nfl.com

Let's see how he stacks up vs his 39" vertical, 3 cone and 40.

I remember that there was controversy over OBJ's 40 and many really thought that he actually ran a 4.31.

If he matches all of those numbers than Reagor can potentially also set himself up to match all OBJ's historic rookie season numbers as well.

 

[NOFALCONS10]

There was controversy surrounding Amari Cooper's 40 too.

He ran closer to 4.35

 

[Bespoke]

Claypool came in at 238 and might be a candidate to move to tightend.

Word on the streets is that Claypool is fully embracing a move to Tight End, and is going to continue to try and add some weight and bulk up.