Well TB is out of the question now. I honestly don't think they'll move either guy. I just can't see a team stupid enough to trade for a WR with 1 good season and who led the league in drops. I can't see the Browns trading away their hometown hero future star QB. That would be stupid of them.
So do Dwayne Bowe, Brandon Marshall, TO, Calvin Johnson, Roddy White, etc. They're all at the top in dropped passes. Like I said, with our new receivers coach, concentration issues can be corrected. I'd much rather get a guy with that one correctable fault than a guy with question marks all over his game.
It's interesting when you look at the list of most drops per receiver. You see a lot of very good receivers on the list. The reason for that, of course, is because the best receivers have the ball thrown to them more often so they have more opportunities to drop passes. The troubling thing about Edwards is that his drops per reception is alarmingly high and stands out like a sore thumb when you compare it to all the very good/great receivers on that list. Last year he had something very close to 1 drop per 4 receptions. I don't recall off the top of my head whether it was just below 4 or just above 4 but it doesn't matter. The point is that he drops balls far too frequently to be relied on IMO. The very good/great receivers on the list had at least double the receptions/drop. In '07 he was a little better with around 6 receptions per drop, but that still put him near the top of the drops/reception list. I think Edwards is a terrific athlete and can make some of the best catches you'll ever see. He's just terribly inconsistent.
EDIT: The last part addresses the above post as well. Braylon Edwards draws double teams constantly, especially when you consider that the other starting wideout in Cleveland was Donte Stallworth, and he missed 5 games. Doesn't help that Winslow missed another 6 games. The passing game was intact for all of 5 games last season in Cleveland. With Cotchery and Keller, Edwards is a huge boost to this team. Can you imagine what happens if teams try to double Edwards all the time next season? Cotchery is freed up on the other side, or there's no safety to shift underneath on Stuckey, or no one matches up on Keller up the seam, or they drop 6/7 into coverage and can't muster a pass rush. If they don't double up on Edwards, he's got a season like he had in 2007. That's not going to happen with Austin or a rookie. I like some of these rookie wideouts, but Edwards gives us an immediate boost AND could be a top 5 receiver in this league if he solves his concentration issues. You don't think Ellard can do that?
Him changing the way defenses play is certainly a good thing and I'd love to have that threat. I do think Coles was doubled more often than people give him credit for but I have no evidence of that. My problem is that I don't think I could stomach him dropping critical passes. We're going to have an inexperienced QB in there that needs to build confidence. A flashy receiver dropping balls isn't going to help that no matter how much he changes the way defenses play. I have a huge problem with receivers that you can't consistently rely on to catch the ball. Can Ellard help him? Who knows? I'm sure he has a receiving coach in Cleveland, why hasn't he helped?
He averages a drop per game, which obviously needs to change. I can only speak about the few Browns games I saw this season, but his drops were purely a concentration issue. He turns his head upfield without looking the ball in, generally making the difficult catches. I'd like to see a guy here who can help out our QBs by still hauling in a ball that's not perfectly thrown. He's done that well, he just needs someone to kick his ass on his technique on routine balls. When it comes to his current (now former) coach, I have no idea why he hasn't helped. All I'll say is that Wes Chandler has never had success as a receiver's coach, aside from 2007. He was a good player, but he's never lasted more than 2 seasons with a team and his teams usually end up in the bottom of the pile in passing offense. Ellard's only had 2 poor seasons out of 6 with the Rams, and only once did he fail to have a 1000 yd receiver. Hell, there were times last season when Donnie Avery actually looked good.
So Mangini's rebuilding and he plans to deal away a possible franchise QB and leave DA as his best option? This has failure written all over it.
Yes, it does. 1 drop can be the difference between winning and losing a game. One drop a game is unacceptable in the NFL. I agree that it's probably a concentration issue. I'm not really concerned with why he drops so many balls though. Thats interesting, but you also have to consider the players Ellard had to work with in Holt and Bruce alone. Did Ellard make Holt? I don't think so. Holt was a fantastic receiver before he arrived. He was the 6th overall pick in '99 and had over 2000 career receiving yards before Ellard arrived in '01. Maybe Ellard could cure the issue, but I don't see any overwhelming reason why he would. If Edwards could get over the dropsies he'd easily be a top 10 receiver in the league. Right now he definitely isn't IMO.
Man I laugh at all these people who are writing off Edwards. I'm not advocating to trade for him but this guy WILL rebound IMO. A lot of very good wr's have had at least 1 season were they have dropped passes. Remember TO?
Yeah, I tried to sneak that argument in there. I'm not surprised you didn't buy it. Ellard has always had better receivers to work with than Chandler. It's likely wishful thinking on my part to believe Edwards will turn things around, but I'm having a tough time with our other options right now. Austin for a 2 is a crapshoot, we're out of position for Maclin, and I'm not sure we'll trade down to grab Britt. I'm starting to think our best option is the one I originally thought: grab Moreno in the 1st, Louis Murphy in the 3rd.
I'd trade for Braylon. Hell, I might even move 17 for him; nobody on the board interests me that much in round one. The guy has a world of talent, and he could make our offense truly dominant. Plus, I think Cotchery would be a very good compliment to him.
this is my thinking... braylon has already shown what he can do with his 2007 season, and i think he's better than anyone in this draft... i would easily move 17 and change for BE
IgnatiusJReilly, you make some very good points that actually make me consider trading for him. However I would not want to trade #17 for him. I'd consider if we got a 2nd or 3rd round pick in return tho.
I'm on board for that, although obviously I'd like to lowball the shit out of Cleveland and give a 2nd. He is, and yes I'm going to use one of the more overused phrases on this board "NFL ready" player your going to get. Better then anyone who we can draft, and is about to reach his prime. Does he have a problem with drops? Yeah. Can it be fixed? Definitely. This seems like a no brainer. Why the fuck would you give up a 2nd rounder for Miles Austin when you can give up a 1st for Braylon Edwards, who can be one of the top 5 in the game?
and scored a lot more td's than J-Mac ever dreamed of. JMac is just an absolute disaster. Unfortunately, I doubt the Jets are the team that offered a 1st rounder. I think if we did, we would of heard about it by now or there would of been some news. With all the Austin talk, it doesn't seem like we have any interest in Braylon. Who knows though WhiteShoeWillie and Ignatius, good arguments and posts...solid perspective that makes a ton of sense
