Re: Who will be our #1 WR
Posted: 30 Dec 2024 22:52
It’s funny because it’s true…
The Way a Packers Forum Should Be
https://packers-huddle.com/phpBB/
YUPLombardiTime wrote: ↑30 Dec 2024 14:20The most concerning part for me is that not one of the WRs appears to have progressed in 2024. If anything, they've regressed.
Watson appears to be tougher and more mature this year, but he still gets dinged repeatedly and has just 29 catches for 620 yards on the season.
Doubs may have the best hands of the group but he is not big or athletic enough to be a true number one, and he gives off vibes that he doesn't want to be there.
Wicks gets open and flashes but his hands are subpar.
Reed has the best stats of the quartet (other than rivaling Wicks when it comes to drops) but he may be the the biggest disappointment this season.
There is an old saying that if you have 2 quarterbacks you don't have a quarterback. I think the Packers have a number of OK wide receivers but not one of them stands out.
I'd love Gutekunst to move one of these guys, preferably Doubs, and add a WR prior to next season.
Watson has indeed improved, not leaps and bounds but still. And Kraft already has doubled his rookie production.lake shark wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 03:24Watson has improved. Reed is Deebo 2.0, the coaches need to continue to figure out ways to get him involved. Doubs has improved on contested catches but has missed games and is kinda like a James Jones. Melton and Heath have been the same. The only regression is really Wicks. Keep in mind the offense is a bit different this year with a lot more running. Kraft is also commanding touches. Love was hurt and still has his accuracy issues with the deep ball. Probably only Reed and Watson have enough value to trade and I doubt they would bring equal value to their original draft slot.
that's why the best way to eliminate that is to have not one, but two (2) alpha receivers, Rodgers focused on tae like he did because the drop to the next receivers was such a steep dropoff, MVS rarely caught 50% of targeted throws, Lazard would stumble or otherwise blow the timing of routes.
I like Watson. But he has just 29 catches on the season and 2TDs. Watson had 41 catches and 7 TDs as a rookie 2 years ago. If folks want to argue he's shown improved maturity, toughness, and leadership, I agree when it comes to all of those intangibles. Unfortunately, he has also again had multiple injuries that have forced him to miss time. Three years in, not even Christian's dad could legitimately argue he is a #1WR and his stats show he has not progressed this season when it comes to on the field production.lake shark wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 03:24Watson has improved. Reed is Deebo 2.0, the coaches need to continue to figure out ways to get him involved. Doubs has improved on contested catches but has missed games and is kinda like a James Jones. Melton and Heath have been the same. The only regression is really Wicks. Keep in mind the offense is a bit different this year with a lot more running. Kraft is also commanding touches. Love was hurt and still has his accuracy issues with the deep ball. Probably only Reed and Watson have enough value to trade and I doubt they would bring equal value to their original draft slot.
And when we had 2 alphas with the Jordy/Cobb or Adams/Cobb that too wasn't good enough.Yoop wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 04:58that's why the best way to eliminate that is to have not one, but two (2) alpha receivers, Rodgers focused on tae like he did because the drop to the next receivers was such a steep dropoff, MVS rarely caught 50% of targeted throws, Lazard would stumble or otherwise blow the timing of routes.
we needed a healthy Watson, and for one of the others to step up and take that 1B roll, cept none can hold onto the ball, or lack separation ability, just look at the 3 NFL teams above us, all have a 1A and 1B receiver.
of course it worked with just Nelson and Cobb, do I have to go dig up stats? (is this retard bingo ( Ridick on tv this morn ) the two had close to 2800 yrds inb 2024.go pak go wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 09:21And when we had 2 alphas with the Jordy/Cobb or Adams/Cobb that too wasn't good enough.Yoop wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 04:58that's why the best way to eliminate that is to have not one, but two (2) alpha receivers, Rodgers focused on tae like he did because the drop to the next receivers was such a steep dropoff, MVS rarely caught 50% of targeted throws, Lazard would stumble or otherwise blow the timing of routes.
we needed a healthy Watson, and for one of the others to step up and take that 1B roll, cept none can hold onto the ball, or lack separation ability, just look at the 3 NFL teams above us, all have a 1A and 1B receiver.
What we have is fine. It worked in 2009 - 2010. Only material difference between this group and the 2010 group was a veteran in Donald Driver.
Our players just need to catch the ball like we know they can.
And yet we still are going to win 12 games. Something Cobb/Nelson did only once and Adams/Cobb did only once.Yoop wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 09:39of course it worked with just Nelson and Cobb, do I have to go dig up stats? (is this retard bingo ( Ridick on tv this morn ) the two had close to 2800 yrds inb 2024.go pak go wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 09:21And when we had 2 alphas with the Jordy/Cobb or Adams/Cobb that too wasn't good enough.Yoop wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 04:58
that's why the best way to eliminate that is to have not one, but two (2) alpha receivers, Rodgers focused on tae like he did because the drop to the next receivers was such a steep dropoff, MVS rarely caught 50% of targeted throws, Lazard would stumble or otherwise blow the timing of routes.
we needed a healthy Watson, and for one of the others to step up and take that 1B roll, cept none can hold onto the ball, or lack separation ability, just look at the 3 NFL teams above us, all have a 1A and 1B receiver.
What we have is fine. It worked in 2009 - 2010. Only material difference between this group and the 2010 group was a veteran in Donald Driver.
Our players just need to catch the ball like we know they can.
why is it you and others defend the inequities at WR like you do? why do you not want a receiver that gets clean off the los runs precise routes, and catches everything in a 6 ft radius?
our passing offense is a lesson in futility, Love is beyond inconsistent, our receivers are inconsistent, don't get clean off the los, don't run great routes, and drop to many targeted throws, it seems we can't have two great phases to our offense, we have run well, only to have the pass fail us game after game, is it coaching, are our run schemes so simple that every DC knows them, or is it that Love takes 3 fourths of every game to settle in? whatever, it is needs to get fixed, it's went on the whole season, the excuses are tiring.
that's all out of context, the advantage Nelson and Cobb brought was the DC had to account for that ability, and that could be the same now if Watson would stay healthy and another would demand more attention than 1x1 coverage consistently, but they have not.go pak go wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 09:55And yet we still are going to win 12 games. Something Cobb/Nelson did only once and Adams/Cobb did only once.Yoop wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 09:39of course it worked with just Nelson and Cobb, do I have to go dig up stats? (is this retard bingo ( Ridick on tv this morn ) the two had close to 2800 yrds inb 2024.go pak go wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 09:21
And when we had 2 alphas with the Jordy/Cobb or Adams/Cobb that too wasn't good enough.
What we have is fine. It worked in 2009 - 2010. Only material difference between this group and the 2010 group was a veteran in Donald Driver.
Our players just need to catch the ball like we know they can.
why is it you and others defend the inequities at WR like you do? why do you not want a receiver that gets clean off the los runs precise routes, and catches everything in a 6 ft radius?
our passing offense is a lesson in futility, Love is beyond inconsistent, our receivers are inconsistent, don't get clean off the los, don't run great routes, and drop to many targeted throws, it seems we can't have two great phases to our offense, we have run well, only to have the pass fail us game after game, is it coaching, are our run schemes so simple that every DC knows them, or is it that Love takes 3 fourths of every game to settle in? whatever, it is needs to get fixed, it's went on the whole season, the excuses are tiring.
What we are doing is fine. At some point you just have to let your players play and be accountable to their play. You can't go from "I love that we don't have a #1 WR!" to "we clearly need an alpha at WR" in 4 weeks because we we went 2-2 with our losses totaling a 5 point deficit.
Because by the way, if this team does play to its potential and does do a January run...everyone is going to revert back to how great it is we have all these weapons and how that is the magical blueprint.
Right. A month ago you thought we had them and now you don't due to an emotional response of having a bad month of games.Yoop wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 10:08that's all out of context, the advantage Nelson and Cobb brought was the DC had to account for that ability, and that could be the same now if Watson would stay healthy and another would demand more attention than 1x1 coverage consistently, but they have not.go pak go wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 09:55And yet we still are going to win 12 games. Something Cobb/Nelson did only once and Adams/Cobb did only once.Yoop wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 09:39
of course it worked with just Nelson and Cobb, do I have to go dig up stats? (is this retard bingo ( Ridick on tv this morn ) the two had close to 2800 yrds inb 2024.
why is it you and others defend the inequities at WR like you do? why do you not want a receiver that gets clean off the los runs precise routes, and catches everything in a 6 ft radius?
our passing offense is a lesson in futility, Love is beyond inconsistent, our receivers are inconsistent, don't get clean off the los, don't run great routes, and drop to many targeted throws, it seems we can't have two great phases to our offense, we have run well, only to have the pass fail us game after game, is it coaching, are our run schemes so simple that every DC knows them, or is it that Love takes 3 fourths of every game to settle in? whatever, it is needs to get fixed, it's went on the whole season, the excuses are tiring.
What we are doing is fine. At some point you just have to let your players play and be accountable to their play. You can't go from "I love that we don't have a #1 WR!" to "we clearly need an alpha at WR" in 4 weeks because we we went 2-2 with our losses totaling a 5 point deficit.
Because by the way, if this team does play to its potential and does do a January run...everyone is going to revert back to how great it is we have all these weapons and how that is the magical blueprint.
obviously, my point when I said this was a perfect scenario a month ago was that Watson was healthy, and Reed was our leading receiver, I couldn't care less about having a ultra alpha receiver, what I do care about is having at least 2 that can lay claim to that title of being a 1A or 1B, you know like other great passing teams have.
Watson is a 3rd year receiver and has never been consistently healthy, that's the biggest issue here, we need his ability to stretch the field, and Reed is getting double covered because of Watson's injuries, hence a production decline, and all the others rely on Watson's presence even more than Reed.go pak go wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 10:39Right. A month ago you thought we had them and now you don't due to an emotional response of having a bad month of games.Yoop wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 10:08that's all out of context, the advantage Nelson and Cobb brought was the DC had to account for that ability, and that could be the same now if Watson would stay healthy and another would demand more attention than 1x1 coverage consistently, but they have not.go pak go wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 09:55
And yet we still are going to win 12 games. Something Cobb/Nelson did only once and Adams/Cobb did only once.
What we are doing is fine. At some point you just have to let your players play and be accountable to their play. You can't go from "I love that we don't have a #1 WR!" to "we clearly need an alpha at WR" in 4 weeks because we we went 2-2 with our losses totaling a 5 point deficit.
Because by the way, if this team does play to its potential and does do a January run...everyone is going to revert back to how great it is we have all these weapons and how that is the magical blueprint.
obviously, my point when I said this was a perfect scenario a month ago was that Watson was healthy, and Reed was our leading receiver, I couldn't care less about having a ultra alpha receiver, what I do care about is having at least 2 that can lay claim to that title of being a 1A or 1B, you know like other great passing teams have.
The answer is simple. Watson is showing he is that guy and frankly the health has improved. The outlier here is Reed has fallen off the tracks. Get Reed back on the tracks and all of this is moot.
I trust that our 2nd year player can get back to his dominant form. You have to trust your players. We have the pieces. They just need to execute like we know they can.
lol. Every argument you make is "X player is getting double covered"....well then the other players should be open!Yoop wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 10:54Watson is a 3rd year receiver and has never been consistently healthy, that's the biggest issue here, we need his ability to stretch the field, and Reed is getting double covered because of Watson's injuries, hence a production decline, and all the others rely on Watson's presence even more than Reed.go pak go wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 10:39Right. A month ago you thought we had them and now you don't due to an emotional response of having a bad month of games.Yoop wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 10:08
that's all out of context, the advantage Nelson and Cobb brought was the DC had to account for that ability, and that could be the same now if Watson would stay healthy and another would demand more attention than 1x1 coverage consistently, but they have not.
obviously, my point when I said this was a perfect scenario a month ago was that Watson was healthy, and Reed was our leading receiver, I couldn't care less about having a ultra alpha receiver, what I do care about is having at least 2 that can lay claim to that title of being a 1A or 1B, you know like other great passing teams have.
The answer is simple. Watson is showing he is that guy and frankly the health has improved. The outlier here is Reed has fallen off the tracks. Get Reed back on the tracks and all of this is moot.
I trust that our 2nd year player can get back to his dominant form. You have to trust your players. We have the pieces. They just need to execute like we know they can.
first off let me say, if we can get healthy and hot, then we can beat anyone, problem is we only seem to be able to do that is against weaker teams.go pak go wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 11:28lol. Every argument you make is "X player is getting double covered"....well then the other players should be open!Yoop wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 10:54Watson is a 3rd year receiver and has never been consistently healthy, that's the biggest issue here, we need his ability to stretch the field, and Reed is getting double covered because of Watson's injuries, hence a production decline, and all the others rely on Watson's presence even more than Reed.go pak go wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 10:39
Right. A month ago you thought we had them and now you don't due to an emotional response of having a bad month of games.
The answer is simple. Watson is showing he is that guy and frankly the health has improved. The outlier here is Reed has fallen off the tracks. Get Reed back on the tracks and all of this is moot.
I trust that our 2nd year player can get back to his dominant form. You have to trust your players. We have the pieces. They just need to execute like we know they can.
Watson has missed one game in 2024 - last week. So what is the real reason of Reed's decline? Some (like the MIA game) is a Love overthrow. Others is no attempts his way and when they do come...he has dropped them.
I have been hearing lately that the detail in our route tree in the intermediate passing game is lacking. That certainly seems like a smoking gun to me. I don't know if experience will fix that but lack of detail is a big reason why it takes so long for us to adjust when the opposing defense plays the opposite of what we expect (like Flores played man when MLF predicted and game planed for zone).
It's like we don't have a good Plan B or Plan C until it is too late.
Watson did not just miss last week's Vikings game, he also missed the week 5 game against the Rams because he went out early in the previous game against the Vikings.go pak go wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 11:28lol. Every argument you make is "X player is getting double covered"....well then the other players should be open!Yoop wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 10:54Watson is a 3rd year receiver and has never been consistently healthy, that's the biggest issue here, we need his ability to stretch the field, and Reed is getting double covered because of Watson's injuries, hence a production decline, and all the others rely on Watson's presence even more than Reed.go pak go wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 10:39
Right. A month ago you thought we had them and now you don't due to an emotional response of having a bad month of games.
The answer is simple. Watson is showing he is that guy and frankly the health has improved. The outlier here is Reed has fallen off the tracks. Get Reed back on the tracks and all of this is moot.
I trust that our 2nd year player can get back to his dominant form. You have to trust your players. We have the pieces. They just need to execute like we know they can.
Watson has missed one game in 2024 - last week. So what is the real reason of Reed's decline? Some (like the MIA game) is a Love overthrow. Others is no attempts his way and when they do come...he has dropped them.
I have been hearing lately that the detail in our route tree in the intermediate passing game is lacking. That certainly seems like a smoking gun to me. I don't know if experience will fix that but lack of detail is a big reason why it takes so long for us to adjust when the opposing defense plays the opposite of what we expect (like Flores played man when MLF predicted and game planed for zone).
It's like we don't have a good Plan B or Plan C until it is too late.
Wow, this entire paragraph is just dead wrong.Yoop wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 11:50Lafleur new Flores would play mostly man coverage, that was in the news all week, (as though that even makes sense) who told you that our receivers run different routes in zone versus man, that is such over blown hype it's beyond my comprehension, the routes don't change dependent on coverage schemes as much as some of these social media bloggers want people to believe like this Pete Buttkoski guygo pak go wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 11:28lol. Every argument you make is "X player is getting double covered"....well then the other players should be open!Yoop wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 10:54
Watson is a 3rd year receiver and has never been consistently healthy, that's the biggest issue here, we need his ability to stretch the field, and Reed is getting double covered because of Watson's injuries, hence a production decline, and all the others rely on Watson's presence even more than Reed.
Watson has missed one game in 2024 - last week. So what is the real reason of Reed's decline? Some (like the MIA game) is a Love overthrow. Others is no attempts his way and when they do come...he has dropped them.
I have been hearing lately that the detail in our route tree in the intermediate passing game is lacking. That certainly seems like a smoking gun to me. I don't know if experience will fix that but lack of detail is a big reason why it takes so long for us to adjust when the opposing defense plays the opposite of what we expect (like Flores played man when MLF predicted and game planed for zone).
It's like we don't have a good Plan B or Plan C until it is too late.
Good points, I guess I wasn’t answering the thread topic exactly as just responding with the status of our WR progression this season. No one is a true No. 1 and that’s OK. Watson has been open a ton deep and Love hasn’t been able to hit him near enough. The Reed situation is on coaching. The other guys are good value for what they are doing on rookie contracts and there is some good redundancy as Doubs is not vastly superior to Melton or Heath. In 2023 the Packers were 22nd in team rushing attempts. In 2024 they are currently 6th.LombardiTime wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 09:12I like Watson. But he has just 29 catches on the season and 2TDs. Watson had 41 catches and 7 TDs as a rookie 2 years ago. If folks want to argue he's shown improved maturity, toughness, and leadership, I agree when it comes to all of those intangibles. Unfortunately, he has also again had multiple injuries that have forced him to miss time. Three years in, not even Christian's dad could legitimately argue he is a #1WR and his stats show he has not progressed this season when it comes to on the field production.lake shark wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 03:24Watson has improved. Reed is Deebo 2.0, the coaches need to continue to figure out ways to get him involved. Doubs has improved on contested catches but has missed games and is kinda like a James Jones. Melton and Heath have been the same. The only regression is really Wicks. Keep in mind the offense is a bit different this year with a lot more running. Kraft is also commanding touches. Love was hurt and still has his accuracy issues with the deep ball. Probably only Reed and Watson have enough value to trade and I doubt they would bring equal value to their original draft slot.
I would have agreed with the notion that Reed was progressing in his second year halfway through the season, but he now has just 17 catches for 189 yards over his last 7 games. Those are not even close to WR1 (or even WR2) levels of production. His drops are now also officially a problem, but I am even more concerned by his seeming inability to get open against man coverage. Furthermore, where you see a Swiss-Army knife Deebo Samuel type player, I see a guy who has 91 TOTAL yards rushing over the last 14 games. I am more confused about his role than ever.
Doubs has 46 catches for 601 yards and 4 TDs this season. He had 59 catches for 674 yards and 8 TDs last season. He has not progressed on the field and has definitely regressed off the field. Listening to Packer beat writers, podcasters, etc., Romeo apparently gives off a Jaire-like vibe. That ain't good. Many Packer fans were hopeful that after last season's suspension everything would be fine with Jaire in 2024 and we see how that turned out. Next season is a contract year for Doubs. I foresee further issues.
I did not think Melton or Heath were relevant to a discussion about #1WRs/WRs progressing this season, but since they were brought up, Melton had 16 catches for 281 yards last season and has just 8 for 91 yards this season. Heath had 15 receptions for 125 yards in 2023 and has 7 catches for a whopping 44 yards in 2024. The ideas of Bo Melton and Malik Heath as contributing WRs are much stronger in the minds of some Packer fans than the reality of their play.
Thus, while I definitely keep in mind that there is more running this season, I also know that Love specifically and the offense collectively was spinning its wheels during the first half of 2023 (Jordan's first year as a starter). Perhaps foolishly, I did expect progression at the WR position this season and, in my view, that did not happen.
My takes remain that there is no WR on the roster who, to date, resembles a #1 and that not one of the WRs meaningfully progressed this season.
no it is not , while it is true, some routes work better against zone versus man, Lafleur didn't have our receivers running those routes specifically, Lafleur isn't some idiot as some bloggers suggest and he sure as heck knows what Flores is doing, again the routes don't drastically change dependent on coverage.Pckfn23 wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 13:51Wow, this entire paragraph is just dead wrong.Yoop wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 11:50Lafleur new Flores would play mostly man coverage, that was in the news all week, (as though that even makes sense) who told you that our receivers run different routes in zone versus man, that is such over blown hype it's beyond my comprehension, the routes don't change dependent on coverage schemes as much as some of these social media bloggers want people to believe like this Pete Buttkoski guygo pak go wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 11:28
lol. Every argument you make is "X player is getting double covered"....well then the other players should be open!
Watson has missed one game in 2024 - last week. So what is the real reason of Reed's decline? Some (like the MIA game) is a Love overthrow. Others is no attempts his way and when they do come...he has dropped them.
I have been hearing lately that the detail in our route tree in the intermediate passing game is lacking. That certainly seems like a smoking gun to me. I don't know if experience will fix that but lack of detail is a big reason why it takes so long for us to adjust when the opposing defense plays the opposite of what we expect (like Flores played man when MLF predicted and game planed for zone).
It's like we don't have a good Plan B or Plan C until it is too late.
Yoop, a major tenet of the west coast offense is that receivers will very often determine what pattern they run on a play based on the defense they see on that play. This is one of the learning issues that can impact how quickly receivers learn the nuances of the offense.Yoop wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 14:12no it is not , while it is true, some routes work better against zone versus man, Lafleur didn't have our receivers running those routes specifically, Lafleur isn't some idiot as some bloggers suggest and he sure as heck knows what Flores is doing, again the routes don't drastically change dependent on coverage.Pckfn23 wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 13:51Wow, this entire paragraph is just dead wrong.Yoop wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024 11:50
Lafleur new Flores would play mostly man coverage, that was in the news all week, (as though that even makes sense) who told you that our receivers run different routes in zone versus man, that is such over blown hype it's beyond my comprehension, the routes don't change dependent on coverage schemes as much as some of these social media bloggers want people to believe like this Pete Buttkoski guy
and they don't change one iota at the level you coach.