Fansided has a preview piece up for Greg at Miami. I know there's a few out there, Alex13 being one, who want to see more recognition of, and focus on, Jennings. Here you go. "Greg Jennings has never been an elite receiver in terms of raw talent. During his best years as a Green Bay Packer, Jennings was known as a reliable target on third down and an all-around productive member of a deep receiving corps. Furthermore, his best year was in 2010 when he hauled in 76 receptions for 12 TD’s and over 1,200 yards. Since then, Jennings has seen a steady decline in production due to a combination of injuries, old age, and ultimately a huge step back in terms of quarterback play. After all, it’s hard to blame a receiver in the NFL for poor production when they downgrade from a future Hall of Famer in Aaron Rodgers to the young, inexperienced Teddy Bridgewater. The Miami Dolphins will be Mr. Jennings third NFL team of his career–and I’m pretty sure he would like Miami to be his last. 2014 Review The 2014 NFL season was below average for Greg as he totaled 59 receptions for 742 yards and 6 TD’s. While he did start 13 out of the possible 16 games, Jennings showed a lack of burst, strength, and cutting ability he once had as a GB Packer. However, the veteran still has solid hands and a decent catch radius, which makes him another asset for the Dolphins heading into 2015. 2015 Preview During the 2015 NFL season, I would expect Jennings to contribute early and often, especially if the rookie Parker has any lingering injuries after his foot surgery. Additionally, Kenny Stills is coming from a different style of offense and has been known to be more a deep threat than a West Coast wide-out. A proven leader in the locker room, Jennings will provide a veteran presence to a young Dolphins receiving corps. Don’t get too excited about Jennings, but don’t count him out either."
I had posted the highlight video before. I've taken a look at several games of Jennings' in 2014 and was impressed. A lot more so than I was when I looked at Michael Crabtree. [video=youtube;f6LABfiCUbc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6LABfiCUbc&feature=player_embedded[/video]
The thing to remember about these players now...between Jarvis Landry, Greg Jennings and now DeVante Parker...is their pure catching ability. All three are guys that are going to catch everything that comes into their zip code. That may be an exaggeration but there's truth behind it. All three of those players are particularly well known for their hands. We know about Jarvis Landry and his big hands and the things he can catch. We're learning about DeVante Parker and how much of a strength that is for him as a player. But let's not forget that Greg Jennings has been building that reputation since both players were looking for prom dates: [video=youtube;K7RJfQZn2GU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7RJfQZn2GU[/video] This is the wide receiver unit Joe Philbin has been asking for since he got to Miami. He's always put a premium on pure hands, and on ability to beat man coverage. This handsy WR unit could make Tannehill's job a lot easier in 2015.
I did not include Kenny Stills in there but it isn't because he has bad hands. He catches the football very well. I just don't know that it's at the particularly high level of the other three. But only 5 drops in two years with the Saints is impressive. The pure percentage would tend to put Stills in upper echelon company among NFL wide receivers.
I was going to say that Stills fits the profile as well in terms of catch percentage. I don't have the numbers in front of me but IIRC Stills was just behind Landry and they were both top three in the league. And if Parker's catch percentage from college translates then he could be in the same class as well. Stats-wise Jennings was good last year but not top 3. Obviously stats aren't the whole story, but the argument could be made that the top four Miami WRs have the best hands in the league (as a group).
I'm evaluating the pure skills though, not the catch percentages. I've seen guys with incredible hands drop a few easy ones. Jennings for example dropped two in the last game he played with the Vikings. Doesn't change the fact he's got great pure catching skills which you can see in that Sports Science video when he simultaneously one-hands two balls at once a total of three times. Stills does not have the pure catching skills of Jarvis Landry, DeVante Parker and Greg Jennings. The film shows that.
Even so the fact he caught that many balls compared to Landry, while Landry's passes were 4 yards from the LOS, is impressive.
Yeah but impressive for who? A catch percentage isn't really a measure of a player's hands. A drop rate is. Stills having that high a catch percentage despite being way off the line of scrimmage is probably a testament to his quarterback, as well as Kenny's ability to get open.
Exactly that. Impressive for both parties involved. I don't see catch percentage as indicative of him getting open. Assuming Breesy is relatively careful, he's not even throwing it to Stills unless Stills is open or has a very good chance of getting open. But it's impressive production for that QB/WR pairing.
Important stipulation. I think people often believe a quarterback only throws to a guy if he is open, and will get on a quarterback if he throws it to a guy that isn't open. But then those same people will turn around and lament a quarterback that "needs to see it before he throws it". In the NFL you're throwing with anticipation and to me that means that while you should have an abort switch to where you can tuck the ball back down if you see something wrong, really you're starting your throwing motion before you could have checked whether the guy was open or not. In other words if Kenny Stills should be open because you trust him against single coverage with certain spacing and route combinations, then you need him to actually execute and get open. Whether receivers actually do that will dictate catch percentage. And how much separation they create will dictate it as well because there is such thing as a correctly decided, accurately thrown pass that is neither caught nor dropped.
I knew you'd catch that and included it midstream. So partially how good he's open. Sometimes the pass has to be made before the guy is open. So the wr needs to be reliable in that regard yes. And I trust you when you say Stills is great at getting open. We'll watch it firsthand this year. Did you notice any drop off with grass/dome? Always a concern of mine, even if unwarranted (had them with Reggie Bush and he was mmkay)
