Final Grades: Wide Receivers

I certainly don't have rose colored glasses on. I'm certainly not over reacting. What I'm doing is looking at the real story as to what happened. I'm very much aware that all of the receivers under performed. I didn't need to read McGinn to realize it.

McGinn, in this article, made an arbitrary decision to say that guys who have been performers for an extended period of time "suddenly" lost it all, because of a birthday, or because they "slowed down." Neither statement is backed by facts, just personal opinion, and in no way accurate.

What really happened was Aaron Rodgers got hurt. As a result, Hundley became the QB, and the coaching staff cut the playbook considerably, because they had a QB who wasn't capable of running the team. Since he couldn't make plays that Rodgers could, his play makers at WR were no longer a factor. What was a factor, to Hundley, was Adams, whom he'd worked with on a regular basis in practice, when both were secondary players. Hundley threw to him more than anyone else because he felt comfortable with him, and knew his moves. Cobb and Nelson were not secondary players, therefore not receivers that Hundley trusted. It happens all the time. If you watch teams, whose QB goes down, you'll see a major change in who primary receivers are, because of that trust factor.

Nowhere in McGinn's article did he even touch on this fact, and it's the real reason the entire WR group's production went down. He may have had some views about "giving people a chance," but I think it should be that all these guys deserve the benefit of the doubt, based on the poor coaching decisions, and the lack of a decent QB.

I'll continue to read McGinn, and if I agree with him, I'll say so. If I disagree, I'll also say so. It's all a matter of opinion, and that happens to be mine.
 
I think the state of the WRs right now is a perfect example of the roster decay under TT in recent years. Right now, in 2018, we have one very good ascending player (Adams), one specialized productive vet (Cobb), one rapidly aging former star (Jordy) and then a bunch of UDFA and later round picks. Compare that to as recently as 2012, when we had Greg Jennings, Jordy, Cobb, James Jones, the aging Donald Driver and Jermichael Finley at TE fighting for receiver reps. TT always seemed determined to not make the same mistake with Rodgers that Ron Wolf made in letting the receiver group dwindle under Favre, but in the end it happened just the same. Gutey needs to take a WR high this year, first three rounds, and no return specialists or tweeners like Montgomery.

As for Jordy, the games speak for themselves. In 2013 when Rodgers went down Nelson was still productive. He averaged almost 5 catches for 62 yards per game, and that's with the likes of Seneca Wallace, Scott Tolzien and Matt Flynn as the QB. In 2017 he averaged 3 catches for a paltry 20 yards per game without Aaron. Compare that to Adams, who mirrored Jordy's 2013 non-Rodgers production with ~6 catches for 70 yards per game without Rodgers. It's nothing to be ashamed of - Adams is a younger, ascending player and Jordy is well past the point when WR typically lose their legs. Donald Driver was considered an ageless wonder but the wheels started coming off rapidly at around age 35, and Jordy is not far behind (plus the bum knee). There's no way of knowing for certain without letting it play out until he retires, but McGinn's analysis of Nelson's present and future production is much more likely to be spot on than not.
 
Totally agree with that rpiotr. People talk about the decay of the defensive side of the ball, and rightly so. But, recently here, we've seen the WRs/TEs go from a position were all 5 WRs were considered capable of playing well at an NFL level to a position group that doesn't even resemble the same cast as a few years ago.

Jennings
Jordy
Driver
Finley
Cobb
Jones


Adams
Jordy
Cobb
Richard Rodgers
Janis
Davis

It's an insane drop off.
 
To be blunt I think it's you who are overreacting in this case. Take the ggg( off and understand that the whole group underperformed. GB didn't can a bunch of coaches and make changes in the organization based on success they did so because everyone underperformed last season.

Those of you who keep whining about McGinn... just don't click on the story. Simple as that.
I don't think it's whining, but McGinn has kinda gone Skip Bayless on the Pack. He'll take a legitimate point and stretch it as far as he can.
But, you're right, if you don't like him- don't read him. He's a lot of sour grapes ever since TT cut his access. Must be a little jealous that there seems to be a GM willing to talk again.
Bob's just in the business of generating clicks now.
 
I certainly don't have rose colored glasses on. I'm certainly not over reacting. What I'm doing is looking at the real story as to what happened. I'm very much aware that all of the receivers under performed. I didn't need to read McGinn to realize it.

McGinn, in this article, made an arbitrary decision to say that guys who have been performers for an extended period of time "suddenly" lost it all, because of a birthday, or because they "slowed down." Neither statement is backed by facts, just personal opinion, and in no way accurate.

What really happened was Aaron Rodgers got hurt. As a result, Hundley became the QB, and the coaching staff cut the playbook considerably, because they had a QB who wasn't capable of running the team. Since he couldn't make plays that Rodgers could, his play makers at WR were no longer a factor. What was a factor, to Hundley, was Adams, whom he'd worked with on a regular basis in practice, when both were secondary players. Hundley threw to him more than anyone else because he felt comfortable with him, and knew his moves. Cobb and Nelson were not secondary players, therefore not receivers that Hundley trusted. It happens all the time. If you watch teams, whose QB goes down, you'll see a major change in who primary receivers are, because of that trust factor.

Nowhere in McGinn's article did he even touch on this fact, and it's the real reason the entire WR group's production went down. He may have had some views about "giving people a chance," but I think it should be that all these guys deserve the benefit of the doubt, based on the poor coaching decisions, and the lack of a decent QB.

I'll continue to read McGinn, and if I agree with him, I'll say so. If I disagree, I'll also say so. It's all a matter of opinion, and that happens to be mine.

I think your right Hundley is a factor but not enough so that 2-3 of these WR couldn't do better. In at least 3 of those games they basically quit on routes at times it looked like. Yes, McGinn can be an overbearing meathead but I still think our WR deserved a low grade,

Funny thing about this thread TW, Mark is the biggest Nelson homer on this forum LOL. "White lighting " signature forever.
 
I hope nobody got me wrong. I didn't imply these guys did a good job. I even pointed out during the season, that there were times I thought Nelson was either injured, or dogging it, not finishing routes. I said the same about Cobb, and Adams. There was something missing. I was pretty sure the problem went beyond these guys and their skills.

What I saw, and it bothered me most, was Hundley throwing late on so many routes. He'd throw when he saw the guy get open, not before. In essence, the receiver ended up dead meat for anyone who wanted to put a barely legal hit on them. Many of the hits weren't legal. They were, for all intent and purpose, defenseless. After a couple of shots like that, anyone would be gun shy, even the best in the pros.

Nelson, Cobb, and Adams, were all hit that way, and all three ended up on the sideline, because of it. To me, that's on the coaches. If you can't teach the QB how to throw the ball at the right time, you have a serious problem. Obviously, our coaches never got around to that with Hundley. They should have seen that in preseason. It was there, over and over, but they ignored it. That was just pure arrogance, believing they could "tell him not to do it," and it would stop.

Think of all of it what you will. I choose to believe that you look at all of it, not just pick out bits and pieces of what happened, to make a point. That's what McGinn did. Maybe he just doesn't understand how to use different perspectives.
 
A lot on this forum have been saying much of this about the Wr's for the past couple years. We've seen the same problems with AR at the helm. It's time to use an early pick on a decent WR. I have no problem with his assessment.
 
A lot on this forum have been saying much of this about the Wr's for the past couple years. We've seen the same problems with AR at the helm. It's time to use an early pick on a decent WR. I have no problem with his assessment.

Depth has been an issue ever since 2013 when we lost Jennings to FA and then Finley to injury. 2014 was an aberration because Jordy and Cobb both had MONSTER seasons and Rodgers was playing at an insane level, but behind them there really wasn't much. Jordy's injury in 2015 exposed the group and they've never been dynamic or really threatening since.

I agree we need new blood there but looking at the draft class now, doesn't seem WR is a particular strength.
 
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