Quote:
Originally Posted by O.city
Maclin needs to be as advertised, but alot of thag will be based on the qb
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A lot of what has hurt Alex in terms of receivers has been them being almost completely unreliable.
Even Bowe had to be pointed at where to line up and wasn't being reliable once the ball was delivered.
AJ Jenkins was terrible at everything.
Hemmingway was strictly a special teams stud and didn't offer anything at receiver. He had terrible hands, was slow, didn't run the best routes and just couldn't get on the field.
When Avery was healthy, Alex targeted him often...including downfield. He got open and Alex found him. Unfortunately for him, he just can't stay healthy or I bet they would love to have him back. Alex had 36 throws in 2013 that traveled 21+ yards in the air and that dropped to 18 last year with a lesser OL and no Avery.
Once Wilson got up to speed, Alex trusted him, too. That meant he was where he was supposed to be when he was supposed to be there and made the plays when they were there to be made...including down the field.
Once Avant got here, Alex had instant trust in him to be where he needed to be when he was supposed to be there and made the play.
Deanthony Thomas was basically a gadget guy, but he also got the trust of Alex when he shifted out wide or in the slot. He has that crazy speed and acceleration that isn't replicatable, too. I read the other day that he was only given a small amount of the playbook last year and is being given more this year, so I expect him to play a bigger role.
Then we get to Travis Kelce (quickly becoming my favorite player) who kicks defenders asses by owning while blocking and catching everything in site and turning the play upfield. Alex not only trusts him, he seems to want to feed him the ball as much as possible.
As it sits right now, we are bringing back the guys Alex trusted from last year and added a PERFECT receiver as the go to guy that has elite speed, route running ability and hands....and also has a few years in the system so he knows the playbook and should be able to contribute in a huge way right away.
That's 5 trustworthy weapons in the passing game that 3 of which have speed to consistently get open deep and on the shorter routes.
I think they will add another receiver through the draft and then also try to develop Rodgers...who is the dark horse for the #2 spot.
.....l
I think this is gonna be EASILY the most talented offense Alex has EVER been on and personally, I think they have done an amazing job at trying to find the exact kind of pieces to put around him to help him step up and put in performances like the playoff game, going forward.
I'm very excited to see Alex Smith operate in this offense this year and beyond...I think he's gonna ascend into the second tier of quarterbacks and lead us to the first playoff win in what seems like forever.