It's really easier said than done. It's not easily correctable as you allude to or else Stephen Hill would be an All-Pro. The kid has the potential to be very good and I think his hands are better than the drops indicated this year. With that being said, one can't be surprised if those drops don't disappear.
One partial year does not a receivers career make in their rookie season. I might buy in the not developing argument if it weren't for all the injuries he's suffered this year, and that is a concern. But while injuries are concern at this point it's difficult to tell if he's just had bad luck this year and will be durable the rest of his career or if he will be snakebit by injuries all through his career, again one year is not enough to tell. He will need to make major steps forward next season and if the injuries continue in to next season then it's a definite problem. But people who judge a player, especially a skill position, by their first season are being foolish and kneejerk reactors. I'm not saying he will be a great receiver, or a good one, I'm simply saying that a partial season snap judgment isn't enough time in a rookie year. I mean a fan favorite here, Jerricho Cotchery in his rookie season appeared in 12 games, 11 targets and 6 catches his rookie season. in fact he didn't even have as many as 35 targets until his 3rd season in the NFL and prior to his third season had started just one game. I could go on and on with a list like this. Not everyone comes in to the league with both feet on the ground and ready to go. Smith had no business starting this year at all, he was considered as someone who needed to work on his route running some other game facets that are needed at the NFL level coming in to the draft. Again, not saying he will be a quality NFL player, just saying it's far to early for some of the talk I'm reading here.
You guys expect a guy who's specialty is the deep ball to be successful with a qb who can't throw 35+ yards and has shit accuracy? How successful has mike Wallace been without Big Ben in Pitt? Djax, Ty Hilton, and Terrance Williams specialty is the deep ball and they all seem to be doing fine in the nfl, you can't judge a receiver after their first season anyway. Then our very own Brandon Marshall and Eric decker were bust along with Randall Cobb and another one of our very own lauvernous Coles. People were saying Pryor was a bust too after his first season and he showed huge growth in year 2
Year 1?Yea he did suck but before we feed him to the sharks id like to see year 2 with a full offseason and training camp first.If I remember right he missed a lot of it or all of it
With an ACL in December I don't see Devin really contributing until his 3rd year. I hope we as fans and the front office don't give up on a guy with high potential because of a few injuries (broken ribs and now ACL) early in his career. These injury will stunt his development. If he continues to have injury issues after this ACL then to me he is similar to Dee and we know he's a guy that has the intangibles but can't stay in the field....
And now throwing this out there, assuming this is what the front office is thinking. How high do we draft a recievers this year? For me it can't be before the 4th round
IMO it depends upon how firmly Mac is committed to his BPA approach. He seemed to vary from that in the middle and lower rounds last year. We all know that the team needs an OLB, we need OL help (upgrade at RG and RT, Brick's successor in 2017, possibly Mangold's eventual successor, and better depth across the board), at least one RB and possibly 2, a #3 WR, a PR, an ILB (Harris' successor) and possibly even a CB. I can't imagine his taking a WR in the 1st round, but I could easily see him taking a WR in the 2nd or 3rd round if there was one who he thought was the BPA. While it's too early to give up on Smith, there are no guarantees that Smith will be able to get and stay healthy, and even if he does, that he will develop into a complete WR. I think it would be a mistake to pass up a good WR prospect this year just because of Smith. We need a 3rd WR for this season, need depth and will need and eventual replacement for Marshall and Decker. Just because we have Smith shouldn't keep us from adding another quality WR imo. IMO we also need either a WR or RB who returns punts and KOs. One thing that could definitely affect Mac's decision and help Smith is the overall slowness of the class of WRs. For instance, Tyler Boyd whose highlight video looks so good and who returns punts, is no faster than Kerley, although he is taller by 3" I think. If he sees Boyd as a great addition as a possession WR, then it would make sense to take him. If he's looking to upgrade the speed at WR and at PR, however, there isn't much point in taking Boyd.
Yeah... I'll go ahead and call bullshit on this one. Of course, I can't find your posts about DeWayne Robertson due to no posts prior to 2006 being available, the only post of yours about Kyle Wilson prior to your turd thread in Feb 2015 is this one. Time to shut up.
Can't put too much stock into a rookie year. Did he stink it up and contribute to big loss to Buffalo in prime time? Yes! Hopefully he has a great offseason!
I'll spell it out for you, slowly. One. partial year does not a career make in their rookie season. Not an especially hard concept to follow. Judging a rookie wide receiver on their rookie year, when it was a year riddled with injuries, is a foolish endeavor.
