Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackadar
No, I don't. Green can't be an impact player if he doesn't have someone who can get him the ball. Larry Fitzgerald scored 6tds last year because he had Derek Anderson and John Skelton throwing him the ball.
Besides, I think WRs are one of those positions you can draft later and get good value, especially in this draft class. There's some good depth in the 3rd and 4th rounds for WRs. WRs are different than QBs - good ones come from everywhere. Look at the top WRs from last year. Brandon Lloyd was a 4th rounder. Roddy White went 1(27). Reggie Wayne 1(30). Greg Jennings 2(52). Mike Wallace 3(84). Interestingly enough, the next 5 all went in the 1st round, but the next 5 after that none were 1st round picks. While you have a better chance of getting a stud if you pick him in the first, you can usually find talent at that position throughout the entire draft.
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Fitz was also without Boldin this past season, and the new #2 Breaston was injured and only started 11 games-so like Carolina, it was basically Fitz by himself. I don't care how good those two may be-your numbers are going to be down because the defense knows that you're the one they need to stop, so he was double covered, probably even triple covered at times, bumped hard at the line of scrimmage, etc. Of course his numbers were going to be down anyway because of the QB's, but he still had over 1000 yards receiving. Put a fully healthy Breaston back and Fitz numbers will improve no matter who the QB is (Please for the love of God don't let that be Derek Anderson).
The Panthers have tried middle round WR's and 2nd round receivers in their recent draft history. None have panned out so far. I'll play a bit of a wait and see on the three WR's they drafted in the 3rd round (2 of them) and 6th round last season, but they have drafted 7 WR's since Steve Smith was drafted in 2001, and none so far have panned out. It was a good thing they had Muhammed there for a good chunk of that time, or they would have been really struggling at that position. Clearly they have either been unlucky at drafting receivers in the later rounds, or not very good at developing them. Green is not a can't miss of course-no one is, but he certainly has the most chance to be the best receiver the Panthers have drafted since Smith.