I wonder if we gotten word that Jerry is a fatass this offseason...cut him if he isn't going all out in the weight room, just cut him mick.
If you click on the full article.. "especially since we’re hearing that Lance Louis’ visit last week was in regard to potentially replacing John Jerry "
I like Thigpen in that role. He played WR in the CFL, and has the speed/quickness to motion and create mismatches... Plus... he's WAY cheaper than Reggie...
Slot? Yes. Carries? Not necessarily. Didn't line up as a true tailback even one time in 2012, preseason or regular season.
I'm all for getting him the ball in space, not necessarily interested in him trying to run in between the tackles.
Did Sherman even get half the playbook in the first year? I know I heard the offensive playbook was not fully implemented. With these current additions can we expect an expanding of the plays available within Sherman's offense?
Agreed. I think he'll end up getting some carries on draws a stuff... maybe like a reduced Woodhead role if you will... but I too see his role being more in the passing game.
I would venture a guess by the way they used him that the bulk of any carries he gets will be on jet sweeps and end-arounds.
TBH, suspect either Thigpen takes on more roles or he will be gone. As much as I like his game, a pure returner is a rare beast in the NFL today.
You missed the point. If you're going to make a legitimate case for keeping a guy, it needs to be more than "Oh he's a good returner". It's the easiest position to replace on the roster, because so many people are capable of doing it (some at a higher proficiency than others), and most of the returners throughout the league have other roles on the team, or at least are encouraged to. For example, the Bears tried Hester at CB and WR, the Browns put Cribbs at WR, the Redskins put Banks at WR, the Seahawks had Washington as their third down back and now are presumably planning to give Harvin some return work, etc, etc....Oh not to mention, Rainey got quite a few carries with the slew of injuries that the Steelers had. If Thigpen wants to stay on the team, he needs to show that he can be an asset on offense, too, otherwise it's too costly to dedicate a roster spot to a guy that will get 1 or 2 extra yards on returns than your average UDFA. I'm, in essence, agreeing with Padre and the foundation of the article.
Cutting a serviceable (and I am putting that lightly) player at a position where no other starter is eligible to play the position in a decent fashion (Incognito would start at LG) with someone coming off an injury is a bad idea. I could see signing him to a 1 year deal ala Dustin Keller to prove his health, but not a straight cut lol... In terms of Thigpen, teams often struggle to find a good returner and Thigpen did just fine. Getting him offensive snaps would be nice to see if he could offer more once resigning time comes around.
Didn't think this needed a separate thread, as the WR position is usually a staple for special team players and Thigpen of course was a good return guy , how do we see this breaking down this season? Do we maybe keep 6 WR's ? with one as core special team guy , plus Thigpen (or another wr ) as the key returner? The makeup right now seems to maybe be missing a bit here, no? Wallace Hartline Bess Gibson Thigpen ???????? Is Bess perhaps moved as speculated by some? Sure he can return punts , but not exactly the dynamic player even Thigpen was and not a coverage guy. Is one spot going to be for a player not on the team yet that has valuable core special team skills?
Well seeing as how they envisioned perhaps using Bush , you can call the position RB but really a slot guy , so the 5th WR spot is for a core special team wideout ?
You must be joking, just to rile up old Padre. I suppose even if we draft Austin that Thigpen will stay on return duty for at least another year. Dang, among all return men who played at least 10 games he was 7th in kickoff return avg and 4th in punt return avg. That is pretty darned impressive. Leodis McKelvin was the only return man who had a higher PFF rating than Thigpen.
well if you draft a guy who can do more than just returning kicks, he might become expandable Sent from my iPhone 4 using Tapatalk
Well, waited until after the draft to bump this. AFAIK, we did not draft anyone who has returned kicks, I'm not 100% about the UDFA class but no names jumped out at me. We also did not draft anyone whose natural job would be fill in RB/Slot Wr either It appears to me, Philbin and Sherman have decided to push all in with Marcus Thigpen, meaning he will play a sort of Leon Washington/Danny Woodhead role for us, would be surprised if he had more than 50 carries this year barring injuries, but everything from Punts to Kickoffs to flexing out in the slot, is now on his plate. My goal for him is 2,000 all purpose yards in 2013, with additional duties he should reach that for us. Key for him is he must handle punts better and more consistently.
Chad Bumphis can definitely return punts and kicks. He has a chance at WR too. He was our best UDFA signing IMO. Dude definitely deserved to be drafted in my amateur opinion. As for slot receiver, Jasper Collins could compete for that role.
Ummm....didn't the word come out that he's below 340 and doing ok ?? Or did I mess that he had come in as a fatazz ??
True, one does have to think Thigpen is the clear favorite there, with Bumphis/Collins looking at PS slots, as when one guy can do 3-4 jobs (PR/KR/Slot Wr/RB) they have a roster slot advantage. They surely have someone else in mind for Returner competition though, usually there are 3-4 guys trying their hand at in camp.
I do, mismatch problem for Defenses. BUT, he has to prove he can do it, in Camp last yr he did (looked up Omark's tweets using Topsy) and he was talking about Thigpen kicking some butt doing it and that is why he made the squad.
I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Thigpen get a shot at more touches on offense. He certainly flashed some innate talent last year.
Thing is, and one would have to watch the CFL to understand it, a guy like Thiggy's purpose is to make things happen, that is/was his job in that league. And he did, like McCluster was a "OW" for offensive weapon, Thigpen is more of a playmaker meaning he knows his job is to make it happen.