Here's a premature look at the QB's and RB's in the draft

I'm with you on most of this.

As far as The Marshall debate: "your guy at the game" would just make me shake my head at his ignorance and lack of football understanding.

The reason Bess & Hartline are so productive is thanks to Marshall. They'd still be productive, but Brandon draws much of the coverage so that Bess & Hart have an opportunity to make even more plays than normal.

Lets really examine Marshall, Bess, & Hartline as if they played the same role: If you put Bess as the #1 and defenses draped 2 or 3 guys on him, you wouldn't see him with 20 catches this year. Example: we saw what happened when Cleveland did this exact same thing to Bess in the 2nd half when Hartline was out. He was rendered useless. Now on the other hand, if you put Marshall in the slot while Bess is drawing extra coverage outside, you'd see Brandon leading the NFL in receptions and yards this year with probably 10 TDs.

This same thing goes for Hartline: if you put him in double coverage as a #1, he'd be lucky to have 20 completions for 200 yards. Now compare that to Marshall's 58 catches for 693 yards in heavy coverage despite missing 2 games.

When receivers reach Brandon's elite status, DCs become scared of them and have to gameplan to stop them or else a "Brandon Marshall" WILL make you pay for it!!! Hartline and Bess are afterthoughts in that regard, which is why their production appears greater. Brandon draws all the attention so these guys can make more plays in single coverage etc.


If fans want to get our money's worth from Brandon, then we need to get at least 2 of the following 3:

1. An upgrade at the #2 WR spot who will take some of the coverage away (preferably someone with speed who can draw a safety deep so Marshall has more space in short to intermediate routes to catch the ball and pick up YAC, which is what he does best. He cant really do that with defenders right on top of him). Keeping Hartline as a #2 does nothing to maximize all the talent that Brandon has. Hartline should be a jack of all trades type WR whom we can move around the field.

2. A TE who can threaten the deep middle and help draw the Safeties so that he, too, can help give Brandon more precious space to work with.

3. A COP back who can help draw the LBs attention <and then some> so, again, Brandon can be afforded as MUCH SPACE to work with as possible.
(#1 from above should be a priority.... and then adding either 2 or 3.... or both)


*****When you trade for a Brandon Marshall, you should be prepared to do what's necessary to maximize his performance.******

What Marshall needs to be effective is SPACE. That's why he's so great..... b/c he can catch a pass in space and turn it into something special. If he's not given any space, then he's nothing more than a possession WR who gets tackled within 5 yards. We see it every game..... and if we don't address any of the 3 needs above, the idiot at the game is gonna seem like he knows what he's talking about. LOL.

Anyone who is saying that Hartline is fine as our #2 is basically asking for Marshall to remain exactly how we see him this year. That's a bunch of BS in my opinion. We don't pay him $47 million to just be good. We pay him that to be elite. As such, finding a stud to play #2 should be the biggest priority this offseason IMO...... and not just for Brandon, but for Henne too..... as well as for the depth of our WR corps. And I really do feel that Hartline would be our biggest asset as a guy who could come in and play all 3 positions and especially that hybrid slot receiver that Collie & Shippley play so well.

 

Not a fan of Marlon Moore. I don't think he's quick enough out of his breaks and other than the physical talent, I just don't see it with him. JMHO.

 

I agree too. Wallace, I can take some time waiting on b/c of his upside if he's not required to get on the field .

 

I'd like to see them develop, but it could take another year or 2 to do so, if they do develop at all (which has to be considered).... hence being undrafted.

IMO one of their spots needs to be addressed with either someone in FA who will make an immediate impact or a stud rookie who will come in and see early playing time like AJ Green or Juston Blackmon (Or Julio Jones/Jon Baldwin).

Complicated for no reason isn't good..... but if we could get the right guys in here to open up this offense, then "being complicated" due to diverse schemes and formations could be a great thing. I hope we can get to the point soon where it's not so easy to defend us.

 

Alen, do you think Greg Little could be lined up in the backfield (and used there occasionally) to give some extra looks since he was a decent RB?

Have Little and maybe Kendall Hunter in the backfield together...... then either run out of it OR send one (or both) out in motion depending on what the defense shows. Could we create some fun packages and mismatches with something like that?

 

Yeah, I think so. We've seen wide receivers over the years used like that, motion in the backfield and really all over the field. Anquan Boldin did some of it in Arizona, Terrell Owens did some of it in Dallas and now we've seen Brandon Marshall line up into the backfield on a couple occasions as well as Wes Welker and Julian Edelman in NE.

 

You could have saved some time and just written, "Replace the entire team." In essence that's what you just wrote.

And I think you are nearly 100% wrong about everything you just wrote.