Hartline may or may not ever develop into a #2, but Marshall and Bess should be considered top 5 among #1 and slot WRs right now.
Not to discredit the two, cause I think they are both Championship calibur at their prospective positions, but how would you begin to create that list? Moss and Welker....errr well. I honestly cant think of any other active tandems to note right now?
I didn't mean as a tandem. I meant: #1 WRs Andre Johnson Larry Fitzgerald Brandon Marshall etc. Slot WRs Welker Harvin Bess etc.
Right, gotcha, and agree with what you're saying. I think Bess still ends up being a better slot than Welker. Just my 2cents worth. Welker's numbers are SURE to go down now that Moss is gone.
I shall certainly hope so, especially around week 17 when Miami is resting all of thier starters. He could burn our backups.
Wow. I don’t know if this is optimism or pessimism. Have to agree with rafael, Bess has to be placed somewhere in the top five in any ranking of slot WRs.
Marshall calls Bess top all-time route runner http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/20020/marshall-calls-bess-top-all-time-route-runner Here is another article on it that is pretty good.
Bess is sweet. I don't know about putting him up there with Marvin or Torry ever. Because they ran longer routes, and longer routes by necessity have to be that much more precise, but Bess is one good WR
Bess is the best possession WR this team has had since OJ. it's all about converting on third down. The Harrison/ Holt comparison
every day since sunday, I have thought about the flashes Davone Bess left all over the field that night, it was a truly memorable overall performance, and cemented himself as a major factor in this league and launched himself into the consciousness of Dcordinator's everywhere. His ability to glide through a route with such balance and control of his body is an art form at this point.. I could watch the guy practice for hours. He is the ''Black Ninja'' of the NFL...
i can't believe that Bess wasn't drafted. that's the steal of the century! Wake is too! got to credit the front office big time just for those two players.
I'm not sure if Welker's numbers will go down. I expect that some of Moss' targets will go to Welker. I don't think they will all go to Branch. I do think that Welker will have less space and be doubled more though. So maybe more play calls his way but a lower % of those thrown and for less YAC? I've said for a long time that I believed Bess would be a better all around WR than Welker, but I'm not sure he'll ever be a better slot guy. My argument is that they both have great feel for the holes in the zone. Welker has more experience but Bess should catch up to him there. They are both great route runners. Despite Bess having a short drop streak last season they are both very consistent and reliable targets. Neither one has the potential to ever be a consistent deep threat. The differences are that Welker has more short area quickness so he'll probably always have a slight edge in the slot. (I'm basing this on observation as I don't know their shuttle or 3-cone numbers). But Bess is bigger and more physical. He has a bit more value on the outside. He'll never be a true #2 but he can be flexed out there and be effective in spurts. Welker was always way below average as an outside guy. IMO having that flexibility is very valuable. In my dream scenario we'd add a TE that can threaten the seam and either Hartline shows enough effectiveness as a deep threat or we bring in a guy like Sims-Walker. I don't want or need these guys to catch a ton of passes. And they don't have to be pricey players or high draft picks. I just want them to be enough of a threat that the defenses have to cover those deep areas. That will create more space for Marshall, Bess and the running game and add to the potential explosiveness of the offense.
