Let's talk about WR.

[DeadRinger]

We haven't had much talk about WR here simply because most people don't think it's a major problem for the team. After watching the horrific mess our offense was lasts year, I have to disagree with that assessment.

First and foremost, the job of a WR is to catch the ball. Yes, there are many other factors to the job like route running, selling fakes, yds after catch, etc. But CATCH THE FUCKING BALL has to be the #1 rule, right?

That being the case, we have GOT to bring in some guys who can actually do that. We all know about Cooper's struggles. But what about the rest? Everyone used to tout Crabtree's hands. "Some of the best in the league." That fucker couldn't catch a cold in 2017.

And forget about Seth Roberts. Worthless.

Many people are saying Carr's overrated because of what he "failed to do" last season. I contend that if we'd cut the drops even just in half, we very well could have won 2, maybe 3 more games. Because Carr was putting it RIGHT ON guys. His accuracy was DAMN fine last season. The ball hit the receiver, then it hit the fucking turf. Or worse, got intercepted.

There were 101 guys in the NFL who caught 40+ balls last season. If you rank them all by best catch %, you'll find that the first Raider to show up on the list is Seth Roberts. His rank? 50th. Our BEST receiver in terms of catch % ranked 48 out of 101. Where do Crab and Coop rank? Crab was 81st. Cooper was 100th. Just for the hell of it, let's average that. our top 3 WRs - the "full time' guys - had an average rank of 77th out of 101.

THAT'S DOG SHIT! Our TWO STARTING WRs ranked 82 and 100 out of only 101 guys!

And that's NOT on Carr. He threw well last season.

[DeadRinger]

And yet Carr's completion rate was still over 62%, with 3500 passing yds.

How the fuck he managed to do that, I'll never know. Really, that's magic.

[DeadRinger]

The best guys in terms of catch % - with 70% or better - are predominantly TEs and RBs. Not surprising, they're catching the short high-percentage shit all the time.

Some of the WR names at 70% or higher are kind of surprising.

Golden Tate was BY FAR the best WR in terms of catch %, ranked 9 at just under 77%. That's pretty fucking amazing.

Ted Ginn, of all fucking guys, ranked 12 with 76%. Figure that one out.

Some other WRs 70% or better:

Amendola
Tyreek Hill
Tarick Cohen
JuJu Smith-whatever
Sterling Shepard

NO has a REALLY good one in Michael Thomas. That kid has golden hands.

[DeadRinger]

What we really need to do is get into the Jarvis Landry chase. He caught just under 70% of his targets. From dog shit QBs.

[silver & black]

I'm hearing Martavis Bryant may be up for trade. I'm not sure I'd take the chance on him, though. He's a problem child that's one toke away from a season long suspension.

I agree that our WR's sucked balls last year. Cooper better fucking show up this year! Fuck Crabtree...... another problem child we don't need.

I wish we could get Josh Gordon from Cleveland, but I'm sure they won't let him go.

[DeadRinger]

I'm hearing Martavis Bryant may be up for trade. I'm not sure I'd take the chance on him, though. He's a problem child that's one toke away from a season long suspension.

I agree that our WR's sucked balls last year. Cooper better fucking show up this year! Fuck Crabtree...... another problem child we don't need.

I wish we could get Josh Gordon from Cleveland, but I'm sure they won't let him go.

LOTS of problem children around the league at the WR position, unfortunately. Josh Gordon has to be the worst of them.

[PHXR8R]

Last season was such an anomaly that no one really knows who was good and bad dilute to skill set or deteriorating physical stature. It was an outlier for bad performance for Crabtree and Cooper. Dropperts has always dropped balls and fumbled in the RZ against NE when the game was still in question. Holton fumbled two times in 2 games and had a potential TD bounce off his hands in the KC 2nd game. Patterson is still a gimmick return man.

I think we need to put Cooper in the slot where his route running skills will kill the lesser DBs trying to cover him. Landry for the 6th we got from SEA, and pick up a receiver in the 3rd. We need some speed to take the cover off the defense. Crabtree is getting smothered once the D rolls their coverage to him due to Cooper’s ineffectiveness. I think his attitude went south with the bull shit game calling by Dowing and as the losses mounted. We need a TE to take the heat off the wideouts, and with Alowale getting back in the game plan. Cook should have been targeted more, but he can’t block.

They say the game is 90% mental at this level. Drops are a mental issue as we saw Cooper’s drops improve in 16’. Crabtree has at least 1 year left, and if he weren’t fucked in the head by Downing’s game plan, he might not be dropping as many balls. Our running game didn’t do squat until after the bye. We virtually had no play action and DC was under constant fire. All these factors contribute to dog shit passes and mounting frustrations as games go by and the losses added up. That definitely affects the mental part of the game and the dropsies.

Move Coop to the slot. Keep Crabtree, add speed either through the draft and/or trade for Landry. Pick up the TE from OU or South Dakota. Utilize Olewale on wheel routes. That should cure our ails. We’ll get less drops just from Downing not fucking up the players’ metality with his dip shit 1 page play book.

[DeadRinger]

Any trade for Landry is highly problematic. There's the issue of the franchise tag and working out a long-term deal that takes into account BOTH his skills AND his off-field bullshit. How do you compensate MIA for that? So it's a big can of worms but IMO it's what needs to be done.

We can't stand pat on offense, we need to bring in at least one total stud at a skill position. And there's no way we can afford to spend high draft picks on anything but defense IMO.

[PHXR8R]

Any trade for Landry is highly problematic. There's the issue of the franchise tag and working out a long-term deal that takes into account BOTH his skills AND his off-field bullshit. How do you compensate MIA for that? So it's a big can of worms but IMO it's what needs to be done.

We can't stand pat on offense, we need to bring in at least one total stud at a skill position. And there's no way we can afford to spend high draft picks on anything but defense IMO.

I agree. Landry is rumored to be in the 4 year $68 mil range. MIA can’t afford to keep him. They franchised him in the hopes of getting something rather than nothing. They can rescind the tag and cut him in June if they can’t get anything in trade. Given we have 6 6th rounders, dumping one for him is a gift to MIA. Everyone knows they can wait until MIA cuts him and not worry about giving up compensation. The risk of course is some one would give up a pick for him. Everyone is playing chicken in my opinion. Landry is fortunate that the WR class and FA is meh this year. We’ll see how the combines go. The kid from Maryland is reminiscent of Steve Smith Jr., the FSU kid is 6’ 5” 220, he’s a match up nightmare in the RZ. The burner of the class is the kid from WAS, these guys may fall due to the overall lackluster WR class of WRs this year.

We need to get a Vea and a corner in th first 2 rounds at the very least. That DL is bull shit and wasting Mack’s productive years. Mata’afa would be greatin combinatuon with Vea. Vea can switch to DE in a 3-4 set and Mata’afa would be perfect as Mack’s bookend. That would be my dream draft in the first 2 rounds. Ain’t gonna happen but man it would be nice.

[DeadRinger]

If Landry was smart he'd sign off on the tag so MIA can't rescind it. He can't afford to sit around on an unsigned tag and be held out of the FA market. He either needs his freedom in the next week, or sign the tag and completely freak MIA out and set the bar for his new deal with any team that trades for him.

He would fucking KILL IT for us catching balls from Carr.