WR Jumble

[CrashDavisSports]

I am having trouble trying to figure out who best fits this roster for our WR's. We normally only keep 7, one of which is never active.

Our current list:
Ka'Raun White
Auden Tate
Devonte Boyd
Kermit Whitfield
John Ross
Josh Malone
Brandon LaFell
Alex Erickson
Cody Core
Tyler Boyd
A.J. Green

Besides AJ Green, there is no budding star yet. Lefell is a dependable vet, but not a star by any stretch of the imagination. So our entire WR core is based on potential, like always. However, when you are looking at potential, I am having a real hard time determining whose potential is greater than others, and who we should hang on to.

Ka'Raun White - probably has no chance in hell of making the team. So he is easy to mark off.
Devonte Boyd - I can't see him honestly competing for a roster spot, but perhaps easy hide away on practice squad.
Kermit Whitfield - I see him as training camp fodder now as we have too many players similar to him (Ross, Boyd, Erikson). Not sure if he is eligible for practice squad or not.

The rest of this list is who I am having issues with, as I don;t think you can hide any of the remainers away on practice squad if they are eligible.

AJ Green - sure bet

Brandon Lefell - he is a veteran who is not spectacular but pretty reliable. He is not going anywhere, at least this year.

Alex Erickson is a real contributor to this team on returns, but with the signing of other guys, did he become more bubble than he should be? I love Erickson, real contributor on special teams, all he does is get open when lined up at WR, doesn't drop balls. I think he should be a given. If Brandon Tate could remain on this team as long as he did due to his special teams ability, Erickson should be a guarantee, but who is to say.

Tyler Boyd had one hell of a rookie season two years ago, and looked to be a great WR in the making. Last year he fell on hard times for whatever reason, the Bengals stopped throwing him the ball until the last quarter of the season, and he started looking like the Tyler Boyd from his rookie year. He is very intriguing with a lot of talent.

John Ross being a 1st round pick with his speed and college production, you would think he is a 100% sure bet also, as you are not going to sign a guy #9 overall and release him the following season. Lots of talent and speed, and I think he is going to be given every opportunity to succeed before giving up on him.

Josh Malone is a kid they are raving about, and some sports writers are losing their minds enough they actually compare him to Julio Jones in certain types of plays. That is nuts to even draw that kind of conclusion in any way right now. However, you can see the speed and talent is there.

Cody Core - he may be my one guy on the bubble that is fighting for his Bengals life. he shows real skills in practice and then can't seem to find that same production when he is given a chance on game day with his few opportunities. We do not have a bunch of slackers at CB, so when he spends camp beating our DB's like a drum and then can't do anything when he hits the game day field, it draws a look of confusion on why he can't produce.

Auden Tate - has been the big rave of all of camp. I know that Hobson and other Bengal writers like to pump up the enthusiasm level of the average fan by going all milk and butter on our prospects, but he has been a difference maker in spring camps. He catches everything, AJ Green is laying it on thick with him too. None of our DB's can cover him and when they are all over him like white on rice, the ball appears to be overthrown and then out of no where there tentacles reach up and snare the ball for a TD. That is too huge to ignore with Eifert never being able to stay healthy and AJ Green constantly sandwiched in the red zone.

Is Cody Core the guy that gets the axe? Last year at training camp I thought Cody Core could be our next TJ Houshmanzedah. So if you take those 7, who rides the pine all year as the 7th man?

AJ Green
Brandon Lefell
Tyler Boyd
John Ross
Josh Malone
Alex Erickson
Auden Tate

I know injuries happen and that could change the landscape, but as things sit, are these your 7, and who rides the pine all year?

 

[DanBengalfan]

you can bet your ass Brandon Lafell will be here, he's the new Brandon Tate, he could go out there and average 1 catch a game and they will still send his ass out there to occupy space.

maybe this is the year Erickson moves on to another team where he immediately becomes a productive player. He should go on a hunger strike until they either release or trade him.

AJ Green will start to lose a step and become less productive. but he'll still get at least 900 yards and a number of TDs

Can't get excited about anyone else. All those young guys are in purgatory until their contract runs out.

 

[cincygrad]

I think Erickson is the new Tate.... We're just going to keep rolling him out there as a returner even though we have more talented guys on the roster. I figure it will be Green, LaFell and Boyd that see the most targets this year and they will give Ross every chance to shine. The rest of the guys will have to wait for injury.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

I think Erickson is very talented. Very under appreciated. When that guy runs a route, he is ALWAYS open. I don't know if DB's ignore him figuring we are not throwing to him, or if Erickson is that good, but he has never really been covered from me watching him run routes. He doesn't get the ball very much, but watching the play, that dude is open, constantly. I would honestly like to see him get more opportunities in passing routes.

In order to find out what we have, I think they should go with a rotation of young WR's to get everyone playing time to see who is going to stick and who is not. Never know who is going to be any good if we keep pushing Lefell on the field with Boyd and let all the young guys sit.

AJ is the only guy that should get as many snaps as he wants / coach wants. Everyone else based on skillset and situation should be rotated around for FL2 and SE. Use more 4 WR sets instead of TE once in a while. Start using the TE's between Goallines and 30's. From 30 to 30 use a more wide open set with single back.

 

[DanBengalfan]

Erikson doesn't fit our offensive playbook, that's basically what it boils down to.

poor blocking up front and no creativity.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Erikson doesn't fit our offensive playbook, that's basically what it boils down to.

poor blocking up front and no creativity.

Yet, every time he is given a chance to run a route, he is the only WR wide open on the field or has separation from his DB.

 

[cincygrad]

Yet, every time he is given a chance to run a route, he is the only WR wide open on the field or has separation from his DB.

To be fair, this is because AJ Green sucks up a lot of coverage and the rest of our guys are not threats. What is amazing is that Tyler Boyd hasn't taken advantage of this.

 

[DanBengalfan]

yep, that, and marvin isn't going to have any of that "running around open" shit.

 

[Cincyfan78]

To be fair, this is because AJ Green sucks up a lot of coverage and the rest of our guys are not threats. What is amazing is that Tyler Boyd hasn't taken advantage of this.

Or any other WR for that matter.

Erickson is highly underrated. He was the leading in PR or KR a year ago, right? I mean, there may be more talented guys on paper, sure. But to go out there and be a league leader is flat out getting it done on special teams.

I think he should be the guy in the slot on every 3WR set. He's the only guy that has shown over the past several years that he can consistently get open, and consistently make catches, and consistently make plays.

Say want you want about his "talent". The only talent that matters to me is that he shows up every time he lines up on the field and flat out makes plays.

 

[DanBengalfan]

Or any other WR for that matter.

Erickson is highly underrated. He was the leading in PR or KR a year ago, right? I mean, there may be more talented guys on paper, sure. But to go out there and be a league leader is flat out getting it done on special teams.

I think he should be the guy in the slot on every 3WR set. He's the only guy that has shown over the past several years that he can consistently get open, and consistently make catches, and consistently make plays.

Say want you want about his "talent". The only talent that matters to me is that he shows up every time he lines up on the field and flat out makes plays.

considering that andy dalton's downfall is the deep ball, he should be running all sorts of routes where andy can dink and dunk him up the field. other teams seem to be able to do it with guys like him, but I guess we're too retarded for that.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Erickson is a slot receiver, so that is all he does is the dink and dunk routes. He is open almost every single time, not sure why he doesn't get more chances and more balls his way.

 

[Cincyfan78]

considering that andy dalton's downfall is the deep ball, he should be running all sorts of routes where andy can dink and dunk him up the field. other teams seem to be able to do it with guys like him, but I guess we're too retarded for that.

Agreed. Dalton has never been great at the deep ball, though he has had years where his comp% on deep throws was near the top 10 of the league. Everyone points to his arm, but his arm strength is more than adequate to get the ball downfield.

I've always felt his issue is his inability to correctly time his deep passes. This would have been exacerbated over the past few years with the OL not doing as well in Pass-pro, especially last year. He also isn't a big scramble and throw downfield guy. When you look at big time deep passers, many of them are able to get out of the pocket and make the defense pay for breaking down.

Rodgers, Ben, Brees even. They can extend plays, either inside or outside of the pocket. This allows WR's to break free more often down field for big plays. Dalton has never been great at this and is another factor why his deep ball ability (or lack there of) has hindered.

In addition to poor pass protection, I think the offense has done a terrible job of creating mismatches to get guys open downfield. Green needs to be moved around a lot more. Everyone knows he's getting doubled, so you need to get creative to get him open. Also, they need to take advantage of that double, and create routes down the seams for other guys. You see this especially in Ptt where Brown lines up in the slot all the time as well as out left or right. Pitt has also done a great job of ensuring that they take advantage of those double teams by utilizing other guys for big plays where gaps are in expected in the defense when doubling.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

I always thought Dalton did pretty well throwing the deep ball. Obviously not as pretty and accurate as Rodgers or Brady, but I didn't have any qualms with him. Those are hard throws that deep with guys as fast as they are and how tight coverage gets. Those should be less accurate percentage throws.

I agree about the rollouts. Our offensive line has sucked, Dalton does a decent job getting out of the pocket when flushed, but more often than not, it seems his eyes are looking at the sidelines to see where he is throwing the ball out of bounds instead of going downfield. Granted, a lot of that is the WR's giving up on routes, not coming back to the ball, not working to get open. Dalton is a smart QB, he really is, so when nothing is there, that is what he is going to take, nothing, not force it. I just feel like, even if the WR's did start to change a bit, Dalton would still feel most confident throwing it out of bounds because that is what he got used to.

I think we have to start using Mixon as the checkdown in that situation more often. If Dalton is flushed, Mixon has to be the guy to find his way over towards Dalton's area of view and come back for a 5 to 10 yarder. Either Mixon or Bernard depending on who is on the field in that passing situation. The RB's primary job is to protect the QB in my opinion. If you have to block, you block. If you get the handoff it is to make some yards to make the next play easier on your QB. If the play breaks down and your QB is running for his life, you get in his plain of view and show him you are available for the quick pass.

 

[Cincyfan78]

I always thought Dalton did pretty well throwing the deep ball. Obviously not as pretty and accurate as Rodgers or Brady, but I didn't have any qualms with him. Those are hard throws that deep with guys as fast as they are and how tight coverage gets. Those should be less accurate percentage throws.

I agree about the rollouts. Our offensive line has sucked, Dalton does a decent job getting out of the pocket when flushed, but more often than not, it seems his eyes are looking at the sidelines to see where he is throwing the ball out of bounds instead of going downfield. Granted, a lot of that is the WR's giving up on routes, not coming back to the ball, not working to get open. Dalton is a smart QB, he really is, so when nothing is there, that is what he is going to take, nothing, not force it. I just feel like, even if the WR's did start to change a bit, Dalton would still feel most confident throwing it out of bounds because that is what he got used to.

I think we have to start using Mixon as the checkdown in that situation more often. If Dalton is flushed, Mixon has to be the guy to find his way over towards Dalton's area of view and come back for a 5 to 10 yarder. Either Mixon or Bernard depending on who is on the field in that passing situation. The RB's primary job is to protect the QB in my opinion. If you have to block, you block. If you get the handoff it is to make some yards to make the next play easier on your QB. If the play breaks down and your QB is running for his life, you get in his plain of view and show him you are available for the quick pass.

Agreed. And throwing on the run is where your natural arm strength comes into play. You're not getting a chance to really set your feet. Dalton has to set to throw deep. Nothing wrong with that, but it's going to limit his ability to pass downfield once the pocket breaks down.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Agreed. And throwing on the run is where your natural arm strength comes into play. You're not getting a chance to really set your feet. Dalton has to set to throw deep. Nothing wrong with that, but it's going to limit his ability to pass downfield once the pocket breaks down.

Well in all fairness, not many QB's in this league can throw the ball deep while on the run from sideline to sideline. If they are running forward, it is much easier because you have momentum. However, not many QB's in this league that can run sideline to sideline and throw deep while actually running. Maybe 15-30 yards, but much more than that, you have a special breed of QB. Josh Allen I am sure can do this, but how accurate will it be.

Some QB's will not hav ethe arm strength to do that, but will be more accurate on the run with intermediate passes. Others will have the arm strength but no accuracy. Rarely do you see a QB that possesses both. Just saying. But yes, I agree.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Well in all fairness, not many QB's in this league can throw the ball deep while on the run from sideline to sideline. If they are running forward, it is much easier because you have momentum. However, not many QB's in this league that can run sideline to sideline and throw deep while actually running. Maybe 15-30 yards, but much more than that, you have a special breed of QB. Josh Allen I am sure can do this, but how accurate will it be.

Some QB's will not hav ethe arm strength to do that, but will be more accurate on the run with intermediate passes. Others will have the arm strength but no accuracy. Rarely do you see a QB that possesses both. Just saying. But yes, I agree.

I meant more downfield more so than side-to-side.

I was thinking more specifically like when Ben escapes and finds Bryant 40 yards downfield. Or when Rodgers hits Nelson 30-40 downfield, or when Brees hits someone downfield. I meant more of that because you are not setting your feet, which is something Dalton just has to do to generate enough strength in general to get the ball downfield.

I agree that I would think 95% of the QB's in the league would struggle to run and then throw it sideline to sideline from a strength perspective.