To heck with X's & O's; WE NEED PLAYMAKERS

If we're going to open it up on offense (spread it out or more 3+ WR sets), then I say we should temporarily screw the X's and O's along with trying to nitpick perfection and exact execution. We need playmakers and scoring threats who can all turn an 8 yard pass into a 40 yard TD. You don't need precise execution on every play when you have guys who can create big plays on their own or score at any given moment. We have a bunch of guys who can dribble down the court but no one who can take it to the hole outside of Marshall.

(Example: Davone Bess can turn a 6 yard pass into a solid 12 yard gain, where as Jerrel Jernigan (WR Troy) can turn that same 6 yard pass into a 60 yard TD. Bess gains 16 yards on a quality punt return, where as Jernigan takes that same return to the house. Hartline is a possession WR who OCCASIONALLY gets deep, cant juke anyone, cant run over anyone, isn't a redzone threat, and is mediocre at playing a ball in the air, where as Santonio Holmes is a deep threat ALL the time; DeSean Jackson & Titus Young can track everything while juking guys out of their uniforms; and Greg little can out-jump/highpoint virtually every guy on the field while plowing over DBs with ease, breaking arm tackles from LBs, or spinning around them. Ronnie is dead at WC, where as Tyrod Taylor could rejuvenate it while doubling as a returner/future playmaking WR. This is what this team is missing. Currently, we can NOT "create" plays within each play. Bluntly, we're f****** boring.)

IMO our offense needs a virtual complete overhaul at the skill positions outside of Marshall, while keeping Bess as a 3rd down specialist and using Hart as a utility guy in the rotation. Fasano doesn't fit the mold of a do-it-all TE who can be truly effective in an opened-up offense. We should be looking for dynamic guys who can ALL get open quickly, ALL pick up YAC, and ALL offer the potential of scoring at any given moment. I'm tired of this "move the chains 10 yards at a time offense" b/c we have zero playmakers outside of Marshall.

IMO we need guys who can ALL be moved around to create mismatches as well as versatile enough to create different packages w/o them having to leave the field so that we can capitalize on whatever defensive personnel is playing (IE: with the same 11 guys-- go from a 4 WR set on 1 play to 2 WR/2TE the next or to 2 WR/1 TE/2 RB....... or 5 WR sets to 3 WR/1 TE/1 RB....... or 5 WR to 2 WR/2 TEs/1 RB).

A rotation of Marshall, Jerrel Jernigan, Santonio Holmes, and Greg Little would be a nightmare for defenses b/c these guys can gain quick separation, can score at any moment, are dangerous in the redzone, and are serious weapons when given space to operate. In a spread offense, they'd be provided this extra space, not to mention they'd be seeing more single coverage..... and with their ability to create quick separation, they'd be impossible to be covered as a unit. With this kind of unit (and Bess in rotation), we could still run short, high-percentage passes to move the chains while having the ability to pick up chunk yardage..... and our ground game would greatly benefit from it.

Personally, I'd rather do it this way, and then worry about nitpicking on the X's and O's afterward.

I'm not saying to ignore Oline or RB.... but I think we can address these spots in FA w/o having to throw our entire draft etc at it. Gardner will be back and Jerry will be a year seasoned..... and hopefully Incognito can be wrapped up b/c I liked his potential at C. Both he and Berger should at least be serviceable. If we cant grab Mankins, then I'd entertain the possibility of throwing Odrick at New Orleans for Carl Nicks to keep from having to use a draft pick for his tender.

Debate away.

 

Added:
There are 11 players on offense. 5 of these are capable of scoring (6 if you include QB). I look at it as: if these 5 spots are "capable" of scoring TDs, then these 5 spots should all be maximized as far as their scoring potential goes.

I think of it in business terms. I have 5 products. If I want a successful business, I need to see a maximum return on as many of my products as possible. Hartline, Bess, Fasano, and Ronnie are nice and all...... but they don't max out production.... and they account for 4 of our 5 products.

 

As long as it's a vertical threat, it wouldn't matter IMO. Jackson or Rice would suffice competely. I only use Holmes as an example b/c most of us have seen the kind of damage a playmaking vertical threat like Santonio can inflict (and impact the game). How many wins are he and Edwards responsible for that really had little to do with Sanchez?! Holmes loves NY and is too important to their offense, so I'd be shocked if they let him leave.

 

The only "franchise hopeful" QB I like in this draft is Gabbert. I'd consider trading next year's 1st, 2nd, Hartline, and Carey to move up for him (with us keeping this year's 1st of course). I'd love to trade Carey to free up his salary to use on Nnamdi..... then trade Sean Smith for a 2nd to use on a Carey's replacement (or on a Safety). If we can't trade back our 1st pick, then I'm with you on taking Ingram. He'd be awesome paired with Ahmad Bradshaw or DeAngelo Williams.

Personally, I'd grab Bradshaw and pray that we can trade back our 1st pick b/c I'd rather end up with Kyle Rudolph in the 1st and Jernigan in the 2nd instead of just having Mark Ingram alone. Delone Carter or DeMarco Murray could be added in the 3rd to pair with Bradshaw....... then Greg Little in the 4th and Tyrod in the 5th.

 

Sure. Why not simplify things?

When you break it down to its bare essence, it really can be less complex than this regime has forced it to be. IE: "Guy throws the ball to the other guy..... Other guy catches it....... Then other guy scores a TD." We have parts 1 & 2 down, but we're depleted in the "scoring department". It can be quite simplified really if you have the guys who allow it.

Look at the Jets---- Snachez can look like crap half the game and then all of a sudden he hits a quick pass to Holmes who turns it into a huge TD...... or Mark throws a deep pass to Edwards who outplays his defender and then takes it to the house..... or finding Keller wide open over the middle b/c he has the speed to split the seam. It shouldn't have to be this BS garbage that we have with Bess, Hartline, and Fasano.

Hey, we handled the Packers b/c they were dismantled with injuries.... and they still kept it close. When we were injury plagued vs Chicago, they destroyed us. IMO If we had playmakers, we probably beat the Stealers without the crap call at the end mattering.

 

I'd like to get a LG and #1 RB in FA, trade back our 1st pick and go TE, WR, WR, RB with our 1st 4 picks..... or WR, WR, RB, OLine...... or WR, WR, RB, Safety. I think with this year's FA market and draft, we could end up with our entire defense and most all of our offense established outside of QB so that we can use our entire 2012 draft to move up for an elite QB while having the offense in place for him to succeed.

I'd like to see something wide open like:
WR Marshall---WR/KR Jernigan---TE Kyle Rudolph- LT Long-LG Mankins(or Nicks)-C Incongnito(or Berger)-RG Jerry-RT Gardner (or a Rookie)---- WR Little--- WR Sidney Rice, V Jackson, Holmes, or Titus Young------ WR/WC QB/PR Tyrod Taylor

RB Ahmad Bradshaw & Mike Tolbert

3rd down specialist/rotational guy- Bess

 

Henne completes more passes to his WRs than virtually every QB in the NFL. Actually, the guys I mentioned would be perfect for him b/c he can still complete his short, high-percentage passes..... only these guys can turn them into chunk plays.

Hartline is by no means a true vertical threat. Vertically, he's night and day different than a Santonio Holmes, DeSean Jackson, or Vincent Jackson.

Hartline can make a move to get by his defender, but the ball needs to be placed almost perfectly b/c:
A. he doesn't have the speed to run under a pass.
B. he's lacking in the ability to really track & adjust to passes in air.
C. he lacks the ability to consistently outplay defenders like a larger & more physical Braylon Edwards (which makes Hart less reliable to throw it up to).
C. faster defenders can recover on Hart's 4.5 speed.
D. if it's underthrown, DBs with better ball-skills can outplay Hart (as we saw with Joe Haden)

GB didn't have Matthews when they played us.... and Sam Shields has improved into a coverage stud as the season has progressed.

 

I agree on most points here, and if we didn't have less talent at the QB position than Pitt or GB, then I'd pay less priority to hitting on all 5 spots. IMO until we find "the QB", Henne can play pitch and catch all day long with some of the guys I mentioned...... only they'd allow us to turn these 5-12 yard passes into big plays and help nullify us not having an elite QB.

I haven't seen Anderson yet, so thanks for the plug. The late round Hback I like is Charles Clay from Tulsa. 6'3 239, 4.67 forty, solid frame with room to gain another 10-15 lbs..... caught over 1000 yards as a freshman receiver and was moved to Hback. Has 38 TDs and seems to be a good teammate and does whatever the coaches ask of him. Will be keeping an eye on him all Senior Bowl week.

If we cant grab a vertical threat in FA, then Titus Young would be ideal. The kid has some of the most impressive ball skills/tracking ability that I've ever seen (for a guy under 6 foot). A QB can misplace a pass by 10 yards and Titus will track it down..... and unlike Ginn, he has good elusiveness to go along with his speed..... and more confidence & swagger at WR, too. lol.

I really like Little b/c he's a steal in the 3rd or 4th round and allows us the ability to trade Marshall in a few years to recoup at least a 2nd rounder (while also freeing up a ton of cap room).

Jernigan is just too darn fast, quick, and elusive to not want in a spread out offense IMO. If we had Titus Young, a seam busting TE, and Jernigan stretching the field, then Marshall, Little, and an explosive COP back could have tons of space underneath to turn short passes into quality gains rather than being tackled as soon as the ball hits their hands...... or send Little deep and have Marshall and Jernigan making plays underneath. The opportunities would be endless.

 

that just makes me cringe. Ireland seems great at identifying defensive talent but so far lacks the eye for offense. This team should be virtually set on both sides of the ball right now to where we could be trading the farm to move up for Gabbert....... that is if we didn't botch the 09 draft on the offensive side. We could have the ideal 3 WR set right now: Marshall, Mike Wallace, and Mike Thomas in the slot..... with any number of the playmaking TEs as our #2..... actually, Connor Barwin would be our starting OLB (instead of the White pick) and the Misi pick could've in turn been Rob Gronkowski. Then we take Spitler in the 7th b/c he "might" be a good STer when a stud of a running back (LeGarrette Blount) was there for the plucking. And this isn't hindsight stuff either.

I just don't understand the thinking of this regime when it's come to us passing up on every offensive playmaker during the past 3 drafts. EVERY damn one of them.

 

Agree...... there's no excuse if he f's this draft/FA up given our obviously apparent needs. And I just saw that we even have guys like Mike Mayock recognizing we need speed at WR & HB and mentioned Jernigan & Titus Young. If Irish goes after more possession type dink & dunk guys, then I'll be extremely pissed.

Buffalo has a good secondary; the Jets have 3 great cover corners; the Pats have a very promising young secondary. We played the Jets close w/o Revis the first time around....... but with Revis their secondary was too much for our weak receiving corps. If we're going to win our division, then IMO we need a virtually revamped WR-TE unit who can actually give our rival secondaries some fits.

For instance: If the Jets have 3 great corners, then IMO we need 4 receivers who can ALL get open quickly and make plays, with at least 1 of them being a legit vertical threat, and at least 2 of them being physical WRs who can score in the redzone. Their 3 corners can nullify 3 decent receivers with proper game-planning like we saw them do against NE....... but I'd like to see them try it against Marshall, Jernigan, Little, and a vertical threat like Holmes or Titus Young, especially if we had a stud like Ahmad Bradshaw in the backfield. If they blitz, then you can trust throwing it up to a single covered Little or Marshall on the outside, or you can hit Jernigan or Young on a quick slant who then splits the defense for a huge gain. IF they drop more into coverage, then you can dump it off to Bradshaw who makes them pay.

I'd like to see a package of Marshall--Jernigan--Kyle Rudolph--Tyrod Taylor--Greg Little spread out 5 wide......... and if a defense brings in extra coverage, then switch them up to 2 wide (Marshall with Jernigan in the slot) with Rudolph in tight, Tyrod at WC QB, & Little lined up in the backfield. You can run the option to Little...... or an end around option with Jernigan as the motion guy (instead of Ricky)..... or a true option-pass (that Ronnie simply can not perform)..... I'd even like to see the option run with Jernigan on the end around and Little on the dive. The fake to Little can suck people in tight while Tyrod can pitch it or keep it based on the DE/OLB. If Marshall stomps on his corner, then you could have Jernigan going 1 on 1 with a safety and I like those odds.

Heck, even Marshall, a playmaking RB like Jordan Todman, Rudolph, Tyrod, and Little on the field together. Depending on what defensive personnel is playing, you could go 4-5 wide on one play...... and 2 wide the next with Todman & Taylor lined up in the backfield behind Henne and Rudolph in tight blocking. The only time we've done something like this is with Fasano, Polite, Bess, Ginn, and Haynos IIRR (frantically biting my nails here--- someone call the police b/c this group is too darn scary).

The possibilities and mismatches are endless if we bring in dynamic playmakers who can be moved all over the field.

 

I was wrong about McCluster, too, so don't feel bad. lol.

 

Why is it a pipe dream? Can only teams like NE grab a handful of playmakers in 1 offseason? I'm not sure why you think it's so difficult, especially when you can find some form of playmaker in virtually every round of the draft. Or is it a pipe dream b/c we're the Miami Dolphins and we have no concept of what playmakers are?

If our first pick is traded back we could very easily draft Kyle Rudolph 1st, Jerrel Jernigan 2nd, Greg Little 4th, Tyrod Taylor 5th..... and the 3rd pick could be used where ever you like: RB, LG, QB or another playmaking WR like Titus Young. Throw in Free Agency and that could easily be 5 playmakers in one offseason. It's only a pipe dream if you make no effort to accomplish it.

 

It all depends on whether or not there's a new CBA in time. If FA happens after the draft, we could go 2 approaches.

A. Pick up our needs (G, RB) early in the draft and go something like:
1. LG- Pouncey or Wisniewski
2. WR/KR- Jernigan
3. RB- Jordan Todman, DeMarco Murray, Delone Carter
4. WR- Greg Little
5. WR/PR/WC QB- Tyrod Taylor

B. Or we could take a backwards approach and go after BPA/playmakers early in the draft and let the OTHER TEAMS in need of Guards and RBs draft them early, leaving the FA market in less demand for Mankins, Nicks, Ahmad Bradshaw, and DeAngelo Williams.

I know we need a LG, but in the grand scheme of things, I'd have to think that a potential franchise TE (like Rudolph) holds more value than a left guard..... so even though LG is an immediate need, how do you take it to the next level when you're passing on elite talent at an important skill position, especially when quality guards can be picked up in the mid rounds w/o having to use a valuable 1st on one? If we're talking a Center, then I'd gladly take a late 1st on one b/c it's the 2nd most important position on the Oline........ but a 1st round guard is tough to swallow.

 

How do you mean? As a QB? As a player? As a future WR/Xfactor?

 

it would be pretty close on a few guys, but I think it's entirely possible. The only one I'm really worried about is Greg Little moving himself into the 3rd round after he blows up the combine.
Either Pouncey or Wisniewski should be there in the late 1st. Jernigan will hopefully be there in the 50's. I would guess that at least 1 of those backs will be there in the 3rd. I really like Tyrod's talent level and potential as an xfactor, but I could go QB with that pick if you prefer.

 

Does he remind you of a young Ahmad Bradshaw?

What do you think our chances are of trading back our 1st pick 2 times to ensure getting Todman (or Ryan Williams) & Jernigan in the 2nd while adding an extra 3rd?