Lets talk wide receivers
 

I'm a big fan of finding a cost controlled receiver via the draft v. trying to find one in free agency.

I liked the intent behind what we were trying to do with Benjamin, but he's a jag and never really opened things up for us in the red zone.

With that said, I was excited to see that 3 of the 4 receivers we talked with at the Senior Bowl are big bodied guys who sit at 6'2 and bigger.

I really like what I saw from Tyre Brady, Jakobi Meyers, and being a big XII fan have become quite familiar with David Sills the past few seasons.

A couple other guys whose game I really like are Hakeem Butler, JJ Arcega-Whiteside, and Lil'Jordan Humphrey.


Arcega-Whiteside and Humphrey especially stick out to me. Whiteside was a McDonald's All-American basketball player coming out of high school and Humphrey is a high point specialist.

With the exception to Butler, who I've seen some people have as high as the third WR in the draft, I think we could snag the rest of those guys in the 3rd or later.

I think we should definitely draft one if we can’t sign someone for extremely cheap late in FA. Never enough depth to be had.

I wanted UT’s Collin Johnson really bad but he’s returning for his senior year and will end up being an early-mid 1st next year.

Why would he do that? I haven’t paid attention too much but every time I’ve seen UT play, he’s just don’t nothing but make big time ridiculous catches almost always in leverage situations.

Dudes highlight film has to be otherworldly.

speed. With Mahomes' arm, we need speed and open field running ability.

**** the big bodies. Possession guys can be found anywhere.

We need another Tyreek.

If only Tyler Lockett were available, someone like that would be a perfect fit I think.

They need a slot wr to really move the chains.

Knowing that they have Watkins for probably only 1 more year, they'll need to do more than hunt for a slot WR. Especially if they don't also make a commitment to Robinson.

This system isn't terribly friendly to rookie WRs so they really should be looking for a legit #2 guy who pairs well with Hill. I know speed is all the rage and it obviously needs to be a high-end consideration, buy we forgot about how physical Watkins is and how ideal that makes him opposite of Hill.

Getting a guy they can count on to make some tough YAC yards underneath and/or go into high-traffic areas and emerge with the ball will be critical.

There are a TON of relatively big-bodies, similarly situated WRs in this draft and I think you could see one of them slide into the late 2nd or to our 3rd pretty easily. If a guy like Courtland Sutton fell to one of our 2s, you'd have to at least give him a long look.

Could Kelvin Harmon slide to the late 2nd? Probably not, but maybe. Riley Ridley in the 3rd? That's probably being hard on him so if he's there in the 2nd do you jump? Skills are there; he may be the best under the radar 'Watkins' type of WR in this draft.

And folks, keep an eye on Emanuel Hall. Some lower body injuries kept his production down but every skill you could possibly want is there apart from physicality - he's not a run through contact kind of guy. He WILL go over the middle and attack the ball, though. I don't think he'll get himself into the 2nd round but I'm betting the combine treats him well. If we haven't made a move at WR yet in the late 3rd and he's there, I'd consider him as well.

And if all else fails, pull up a spreadsheet of WRs that played college ball somewhere in the state of Florida, throw a dart at it and you'll hit SOMEBODY that's 6'1 with a 4.45 40 and character red flags that you can try to mold from the 5th round.

Yeah, I’d take Hall in the 3rd. No problem with that.

As a mu fan you will know better but is beckner an option for kc in round 2 to replace bailey?


Also, it sucks because he got hurt this year but Watkins is really a damn good player. If he can stay healthy (he can’t) he’d be a legit top 5 wr especially in this offense I think

I dunno what I think about Beckner. He's more of a poor man's Jones to my eyes. Could Jones play the strong-side DE in Spags 4-3 under? Yeah, but he's probably underutilized. And since Beckner is a less explosive version of him, he might not be dynamic enough. My best case scenario version of that player is Houston.

I like Beckner a lot as a kid; just a hell of a good worker. Very coachable, very likeable. I'd love to have him on this team but I don't know that I see a an ideal fit. Had we stayed in the 3-4 I could see him being a good Bailey replacement but in the 4-3 I don't think he works as well.

Would just depend where they can get him I guess.

They could move him and Jones around and really make some hay up front but there’s so many other needs on the back end I dunno

Absolutely. I actually think it's one of the bigger needs on offense. A Baldwin/Sanu type that can just get open and catch the ball on third down to move the chains.

Where is Renfrow projected to go? He showed he could do that in college so he may be able to do it the pros, too.

Or you just stop using as much 11 personnel with 3 WRs, move to a base 12 formation and run a lot more twin tight.

If your 2nd TE is a stud, that's gonna be a better 'chain mover' than a WR and a hell of a lot more versatile, especially if you're at/ahead of the sticks.

That could definitely help the run game some too

I wouldn’t be opposed to a tight end, but if it comes down to a tight end or a corner early I’d take the corner and try and get a wr later

Lil'Jordan Humphrey was the #1 receiver in the nation this year in yards on third down and first downs.

He was also top 10 in YAC and mossed guys on an almost weekly basis.

I'm a Texas homer, but to me he is the perfect compliment to what we are doing on offense right now. The dude knows how to work to get open and to come back to the QB when the play breaks down, is a monster after the catch, and is one of the best high point specialists in the game.

I feel pretty strongly that if it weren't for Texas being down the past few years leading up to this season he'd be an end of first/top of second selection.

Here's a full game clip of him from the WVU game this season. His catches at 1:17 + 5:29 in this video alone should sell folks for wanting him in our offense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqrUPR99gys

Imo Robinson made a step forward this season despite having a limited number of targets. He had a unique ability to find space in the N-Zone for Pat and also had the tendency to bust of a big play like he did against he Raiders home and away. IF he makes another step forward next season then he should be In prime position to take over from Sammy I think. Especially as he knows the system so well now.

As for this topic, well I definitely think we need a slot receiver. Having that small, slippery guy In the middle of the field would just cause mayhem for opposition defenses, wouldn't it? Have someone like this against the Pats and we're In the super bowl today, it's just that simple because the middle was wide open at times but nowhere was there.

The problem with Humphrey...well, there are 2.

1) There are literally a DOZEN WRs built just like him that run just like him in this draft. I mean you can't swing a !@#$ing cat without hitting a 6'4'' WR w/ solid but unspectacular speed. From a pure physical skills perspective, there's just so very little that helps him stand apart from everyone else, including problem #2....

2) The Conley problem. Conley just can. not. get. out. of. his. breaks.....He's just not built for this offense. And there are some places where I think he may excel, but you really need a guy with an explosive 1st step and/or at least a premier 2nd gear to let him pull away on crossing routes. Humphrey is...fine. I don't think he's quite as bad as Conley in that regard, but it definitely isn't an asset either.

I think this is just the wrong place and the wrong time for a guy like him. I could be completely off and maybe his skills in space are enough to make up for all of that. Maybe Andy is confident enough in his ability to scheme him open that he will think that Humphrey's size and plus vision will be a massive asset on screens and quick hitters.

Just not the kind of guy that I would be targeting. To me what will be the most important is short shuttle and 3-cone times.

Apparently you can win Superbowls with a white WR. What about Renfrow?

Yeah but do you really want to draft a guy who's playing for his 3rd contract? You hate bringing a guy in for his decline years.

I'm pretty sure Charlie Whitehurst was his first quarterback at Clemson...

Lol, he just turned 23.

Speaking of white wide receivers, does anyone know anything about Isabella out of UConn? Apparently the Chiefs met with him at the Senior Bowl. He had a nice SB and looked pretty quick with decent hands.

He looks like a typical Pats pick, so we'd have to grab him with our third round pick probably IF we really want him.

Two players that looked good in the East-West Shrine Game this year (low draft cost, good value).

Terry Godwin II, Georgia - Caught everything thrown at him and had 2 TDs in game. Smaller at 5-11, 185. In 4 years at Georgia has had 134 catches, 1,800 yards, and 11 TDs. In this game he wore #4 in the red East team but at Georgia he wore #5.

Ron'quavion Tarver - Good size, 6-3, 215 and displayed good hands. In this game he wore #3 for the blue West team. In 3 years at Utah State he has 160 catches, 1,880 yards, and 18 TDs.

If either are available in the 5th round for the Chiefs, they look to be of value.

I was impressed with what I saw of Tarver in that game. He made a couple of impressive catches on off target throws. However, I don't know anything else about him, though, like how fast he is.

Just some guys I like. I'll let you guys really formulate your own opinions.

Gary Jennings Jr, West Virginia
Andy Isabella, UMass (slot)
Tony Pollard, Memphis
Darius Slayton, Auburn
Terry Godwin, Georgia
Scott Miller, Bowling Green (slot)
Jamarius Way, South Alabama
Tony Brooks-James, Oregon (collegiate RB, slot)

From what I saw and then read, Andy Isabella did not look all that good in the Senior Bowl practices. In the actual game though, he looked very good, good routes, good catches, and ran through some tackles. Sites list him at 5-10, 190. At the Senior Bowl his true measurements were - height 5-8 7/8, weight 186, hand 8 1/2, arm 29 3/4, wingspan 71.

Isabella definitely intrigues me

Isabella definitely looks like a prototypical Patriots WR.

I really think Pringle is the reason why I prefer a bigger bodied receiver if we take one this year.

That would be fantastic.

I wanted Coutee last year.

Hall is the type of guy I’d like to see them target.

His injuries this year will drop his stock (FTR, he hurt himself in the game against Purdue and came back out for the last drive because he wanted to win the game. He had a big catch and run, aggravated the injury, and was never 100 percent after that).

He is a good fit as someone who could slide into the outside receiver slot to replace Watkins after this season.

He has good hands and is effective on slants and digs. Good initial quickness (we’ll see what he shuttles at pro day). And he’s a great deep ball receiver who can track the football and just has a knock for shaking loose deep.

He reminds me a lot of Emmanuel Sanders, actually. That would be his “everything hits” upside.

It doesn’t have to be Hall, but that’s kind of the template I’d like to see.