Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
Quickness isn't just about your 3-cone time (though it's demonstrative).
Quickness comes in large part with simple foot-fire drills and things like that. You're right that open is largely a product of route running and misdirection, but again, if you're a long-strider, those are both harder things to do.
Cooper is the best recent example of a guy that simply uses technique and precision to make space - Conley can't do what Cooper does. It isn't necessarily because Cooper is faster over 10 yards than Conley (I'm not certain that he is), but it's because Cooper has lightening fast feet and fluid hips that allow him to make those quick moves that will fool a CB. They allow him to plant a foot and make a cut without losing speed. The allow him to shuffle into a break and make a dead stop before the DB has any idea what just hit him (that play with Cooper vs. Patrick Peterson last week was a perfect example).
Conley doesn't have those feet and he won't get them. Rice had them - you're selling his athleticism way WAY short. Most of the great WRs in the league have them.
You don't need them to be good, though. It's just that without them, you're limited in the kind of WR you can be. Conley isn't going to be challenging Maclin for the Z spot at any point because he's just not going to be a guy that can be the technician that Maclin is. It's not because he's not smart enough or fast enough; he's just not fluid enough and his feet don't quite fire fast enough.
It's not the end of the world. The guy can still be a damn good football player.
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I agree with you that a guy like Cooper has much quicker foot speed than Conley. Cooper is lightning quick, and with him being so quick, route running isn't nearly as important as it will be for Chris, simply because he can get in and out of breaks so fast the DB can't keep up. I also agree with you that that foot speed and quickness can help guys get open, but not having elite quickness doesn't eliminate a guy from being able to become a #1 receiver. Conley is going to have to work harder than the guys like Odell, and Cooper, but he can still be a #1 receiver.
Despite Conleys lack of suddenness he still has a whole heap of tools he can depend on. For starters he has the most lethal tool a WR can have and that is deep speed. If Conley can learn how properly stem his routes and can get the DBs hips turned he is more than quick enough to take advantage of it. And with his deep speed, if he can learn how to sell a deep route, then that will be an effective tool for him. If he gets up on a DBs hip they will turn their hips because they know he will run right by them if the dont. He also has the size and strength to out muscle smaller defenders, and the height and length to out jump most defenders (though we haven't seen any of that yet).
But everyone here seems to place way too much of an emphasis on getting open and quick hips etc.. And that is because of Dewayne Bowe and Alex Smiths lack of success together. Getting heaps of separation isn't necessary for being a great receiver, or even a #1 receiver.
And on the Jerry Rice thing, I didn't mean to undersell him. He was quick, much quicker than Conley. But the point I was getting at was that he's the best receiver to ever live, but he isn't even close to being one of the quickest. Hes not as quick as guys like Antonio Brown, Odell, Cooper, Welker a few years ago, Amendola, Harvin, Dez etc. But yet none of those guys are in greatest of all time discussion. So quickness isn't the end all be all.