Wide Receivers if the Big Names are Unavailable

I understand. For most of the last 50 years, the offseason is the only thing we've had where we could dream and hope for better days, but as you said, once the season starts, our hopes and dreams get crushed and it all turns to shit.

 

I agree--I like both M. Brown or G Davis as a free agent wide receiver.

 

Not big on Gabriel Davis. Maybe it's just a fantasy thing bleeding over. But i'm generally never big anybody who's production has been so boom or "did they even play today?" bust for their career, and who likely gets paid more for that selective boom then I'd want to pay them.

Hollywood also boils down the wanting to see a price tag.

 

Just my humble opinion:
Here is a list of 3 pass catchers that I would love to see.
At 10:
1. Malik Nabers
2. Brock Bowers

If we trade back for some reason
Keon Coleman

I also really like the young man from South Carolina later in the draft
Xavier Leggett (I think)

 

Leggett is built like a brick shit house and has excellent hands. Hes the type for cold weather football. A little slow and a little slow off the line. If someone works with him he could be an Anquan Boldin type. But he's gotta work to get there and if he doesnt he will limit himself

 

Gabe Davis is a bit of a one trick pony sure with some flaws in his game that are hard to look past.

I will say though, he might be talking big money and there's always an assumption that a 24 year old wideout should get it, but many of the concerns cited here will be echoed and exaggerated at a much greater scale by GMs and I dont think he will get big money.

On a reasonable contract he's a good pickup

 

In our current situation I'd seriously look at signing Tyler Boyd for around 8 million a year. Definitely over resigning Corey Davis.

 

Exactly what I was thinking, his build and the way he plays the game. Tackling a wideout that is built like Leggett would suck. I will be curious to see how fluid he really is this week. I can see him being drafted in the 2nd round sadly. So many teams need wideouts and a kid like this would fit for a lot of teams. We need a player with his skill set, let Wilson run deeper routes and Leggett work the middle sorta like a tightend.

P.S. I loved watching Boldin, his overall tuffness and the passion he played the game with was unbelievable.

 

My projection issue with a guy like Boyd, and why I ultimately keep circling back to OBJ as the most likely target to ink, is that I have extreme doubts a guy like Boyd is going to take a 1 year deal from *here*.

These players aren't casual fanboys. Players who are at a point in their careers of having to go year to year to get their paychecks don't have any invested interest into buying into whatever fluffed up narrative suggests this perennial failure of a franchise and offense has a chance to be good next year. We have a 41yo declining QB who couldn't stay on the field more then 5 plays last year, and OC that isn't selling anybody atm on the idea that he has the slightest idea how to run a working offense. Much less is even capable of convincing a guy coming in that they can feel confident they'll see their #'s and be taken care of (which is obviously of the utmost importance in relationship to next contract they'll be after). For example see: Mecole Hardman. Players talk among themselves. Remember all that immediate post signing talk/promise of planning to expand his role and route trees? Yeah...

I just can't see a guy like Boyd taking the career gamble to come here on a 1 year deal. Or pretty much anybody else on that list expect maybe Bourne due to the availability concern. There will be more convincing 1 year depth offers with a better chance to succeed elsewhere. And that isn't a gap you realistically bridge by maybe throwing an extra million on to the deal. They are going to at minimum want the 2 years guaranteed to offset the surrounding concern they could very likely goose egg here imo.

 

Leggett, Nabers and Bowers I'd love to add, but there is probably no chance on any of them. I believe that the Jets will take an OT at #10 or following a trade down. Leggett will go early in the 2nd round, and Nabers will go top 10 and Bowers not long after that, but he could go top 10 as well.

If what I read about Keon Coleman is true, then I have zero interest in him and hope that the Jets don't. I read that once FSU's QB went down, Coleman dogged it the rest of the season. That's not the kind of player that the Jets are looking for.

 

Well, MVS, who most certainly should have been on this list for obvious reasons, officially saw his release today.

So how long until that happens?

 

Question, I'm not as up on my Tampa knowledge as I could be... What is the status of Mike Evans? Too old? Too expensive? I haven't seen any contract type things floated, yet but wonder if he would come here for his "last" contract. Just tossing WR's against the wall to see who sticks.

Also, I've not said this before but I wouldn't toss Brock Bowers off the team if there is no O-Linemen left at 10. Let's face it. If Bowers is a Kelce light or even better would that be worth the 10th pick in the draft. IS 10 too high for a TE who is effectively a receiver?

 

To me bringing in Mike Evans to a "last contract" makes about much logical sense in the big picture as paying out on Le"Von Bell did. Great move if you just trying to sell hype and be an off-season hero though.

I've softened lately on my stance on taking Bowers at 10 and while viewing it from the long game perspective. At least while being 98% sure at this point that next year is going to be a complete wash out regardless what we do. Fixing the line isn't going to fix Hackett or the terrible team culture. Regardless how much of a hell 2024 plays out to be the 2025 season and next big full reset is going to happen. Assuming Alt is off the board at 10 I think a decent rebuild argument can be made for handing the next OC Bowers a year from now instead of the OL pick.

 

Evans is only 30 years old and the way he plays he has several years left IMO. I love Bowers. I say sign Evans and draft Bowers. Lets defenses try to defend that

Evans though is a Houston/Galveston kid and Houston will be a big player in free agency so he might be headed there

 

There are those who say that the top 10 is too high to take a TE. I didn't think so in the past, but a couple of TEs before who were hyped up and had amazing speed and athleticism never had the careers that I thought they would. While I love Bowers, I don't think I'd take him at #10. He's not just a receiver. I think he's a very good blocker as well, based on what I've read about him. The thing is that there will still be very good OT prospects left even if Alt, Fashanu and Fuaga are all gone by #10. Guyton of Oklahoma has a ton of talent and potential, just not a lot of experience. Kingsley Suamataia has a ton of talent and potential. Kiran Amegadjie also has a ton of talent and potential. Some really like the Morgan kid.

Also, in terms of WRs, at #10 Nabers could still be sitting there or possibly Odunze. If they traded down a little, another great WR prospect is Brian Thomas of LSU. Then if they can trade down and get a 2nd round pick, there's Xavier Leggette of SC, Roman Wilson of Michigan. I'm not sure if he'll go in the 2nd or 3rd round, but there's also Devontez Walker of UNC. I'm not wild about any of these following guys for one reason or another, but there's also Keon Coleman, Adonai Mitchell, Ladd McConkey, Troy Franklin of Oregon, but they're all in the top 10-rated WR prospects in this draft. Another WR prospect I'm intrigued by is Johnny Wilson of Florida (I think). He's 6'6" or 6'7" and very fast, and supposedly has great hands.

 

https://theathletic.com/5293562/2024/02/27/xavier-legette-gamecocks-nfl-draft-deebo-samuel/

This big SEC WR — with ties and similarities to Deebo Samuel — is ready for NFL jump

By Joseph Person
Feb 27, 2024

“It’s Fourth of July holiday, when every other player in college football is probably hanging out at the beach. He’s out in Arizona working out with Deebo,” Beamer added. “It was cool FaceTiming with him. But it’s just a testament to what he’s about.”

It’s appropriate Legette spent a week with Samuel in Phoenix last summer, considering how often he’s compared to the 28-year-old. The two ex-Gamecocks receivers might be at their most dangerous after the catch when their speed, strength and playmaking abilities can make life miserable for defensive backs trying to get them to the ground.

They’re also both big receivers, though not identically built. “I’m real bigger than him,” Legette said with a smile. “But he’s got good size, though.”

Like Samuel, who was a second-round draft pick in 2019, Legette also projects as a second-day pick. He’s ranked No. 80 on The Athletic’s draft expert Dane Brugler’s big board of the top 100 prospects.

And though Beamer never coached Samuel, he believes the Legette comparisons are on point.

“He’s a big body. He’s got kick return ability. He ran a touchdown back to start the (Texas) A&M game two years ago,” Beamer said. “He’s hard to tackle because of his size. Loves the game, smart. We did a lot of things with him offensively, so he had to learn a lot of different positions and things. I’d say those are all things about Deebo as well, from what I know about him.”

Legette’s 100-yard kickoff return on the first play against the Aggies in 2022 was the Gamecocks’ first kickoff return for a touchdown since Samuel opened a 2018 game at Ole Miss with a 90-yard runback.

Legette, who’s from Mullins, S.C., met Samuel during a couple of his recruiting visits to South Carolina and the two have stayed in touch. That led Legette to join Samuel last summer in Arizona at the Exos training facility, where Legette returned this winter to prepare for this week’s combine.

“He was coaching me up on the small things that he sees that I lack at. Just being around him can make me a great player,” Legette said last month after a Senior Bowl practice in Mobile, Ala. “That’s my guy. We’ve been rocking with each other for a long time. So really he’s been adding stuff to my game (and) helping me out.”

Though Samuel was a star by his second season with the Gamecocks, it took Legette a little longer to make a name in the SEC. Though he would flash his potential occasionally, Legette mostly impressed on special teams before putting everything together at the end of his fourth season with a big performance in the Gamecocks’ bowl game.

“(Legette) kind of had a coming-out party in the Gator Bowl last year against Notre Dame where he really made some plays. And then he was just on a mission from the time he came back in January to be the very best player he could be,” Beamer said. “And he did it. Worked his butt off and has the respect of everybody in our program because of that work ethic.”

Legette began his fifth year with nine receptions for 178 yards in an opening-week loss to North Carolina in Charlotte. By the time he was done, Legette had racked up 71 catches — more than the next two Gamecocks receivers combined — and finished with 1,255 receiving yards, the second-highest, single-season mark in school history behind Alshon Jeffery (1,517 yards in 2010).

That earned him an invitation to the Senior Bowl, where he measured 6-1 — 2 inches shorter than his listed height at South Carolina. Even so, some NFL scouts and personnel in Mobile were surprised at how the 223-pound Legette filled out his jersey.

“Some of these NFL teams, general managers that are seeing him for the first time or head coaches that I’ve seen out there, that’s one thing they’ve all said. ‘I didn’t realize how big he was,’” said Beamer, who attended one of the Senior Bowl practices. “Even some of the people in the media that cover our team and maybe haven’t been around him up close and personal, they commented on that, too.”

Xavier Legette had a monster game versus Mississippi State last year, catching five passes for 189 yards, including TD receptions of 76 and 75 yards. (Jeff Blake / USA Today)

Legette, who along with LSU’s Malik Nabers were the only SEC players to average 100-plus receiving yards a game last season, said he met with the Carolina Panthers twice at the Senior Bowl.

Brugler said Legette excels on deeper routes or running plays on which he uses his long strides. And though Brugler believes Legette will struggle against tight man coverage, he can use his size to play through contact.

Former Gamecocks and Panthers cornerback Captain Munnerlyn — unprompted — said Legette reminds him of a bigger Samuel, who’s 6 feet and 215 pounds.

“When they get the ball in their hands, they’re like running backs. They’re hard to bring down,” Munnerlyn said. “As a defender, as a corner, it’s tough to tackle guys like that because you can’t arm tackle. You’ve really got to wrap those guys up and try to take them to the ground. Because if you just throw your body in there, they bounce off and they keep going.”

Legette was in Las Vegas during Super Bowl week for an appearance with Panini, the sports collectibles company. He hoped to see Samuel while in Vegas but didn’t want to disrupt his Super Bowl preparations.

But their training sessions last summer in Phoenix helped bring Legette’s NFL dreams into focus.

“Just being around him, it kind of humbled me in a sense,” Legette said. “I wouldn’t say I feel star-struck around him. But it just clicked in my head, like, man, he’s from South Carolina. I could be doing the same thing that he’s doing.”

 

lol there’s teams with more of a mess in their hands that a “guy like Boyd” would go to if he wasn’t getting the offers he was looking for. Oh and players talk, you don’t think he’s getting it from Jet players who are saying Hardman was sending other teams their offensive game plans? Hardman couldn’t beat out Gipson (LOL).

Let’s not think Boyd is some savior, he’s a decent option, a Corey Davis like veteran WR. I’d rather the Jets find a good compliment to Garrett and a good weapon for Rodgers.

 

I'm surprised to not see that much love for Tyler Boyd in this thread.

Like everything in life, it'll come down to money, but I think we could do a lot worse than signing Tyler Boyd to a reasonable 2 year deal. He had back to back 1K years before Higgins and Chase came to Cincy and even after they came on board he's still averaging ~775 yards a year over the last 4 years. He won't make our WR unit elite but he'd be a good option as a WR2/3 for us IMO.

 

If you think any of what came out with the Hardman stuff is helping the Jets be anything but a much less appealing place for a free agent to sign on to you are missing the same bigger picture imo people are with how/why Rodgers/Hackett are just pushing this franchise backwards at this point. No player on the outside gives a crap what the Jet's own defensive spin on all that is. Especially when you already have those suggestive summary pieces from the Athletic out there in the media, and again even have the team's 2 biggest stars on that side of the ball having already essentially made similar claims of their own in a more indirect manner.

Outside players just see further evidence of a total state of dysfunction. Nobody is saying Boyd is a savior. In fact I've personally been saying there literally is no possibility of a "savior" option to begin with since any WR2's potential impact in the "Hackett offense" is going to be so heavily limited by flawed design. Just that Boyd will most likely find a better equal opportunity/pay offer for his career then anything Joe D can offer him here.