Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Meck
My prediction is they'll bring back Watson and Mckinnon on minimal deals.
Watson gives you the bigger body, but can also run, so you have MVS insurance, as well as a guy who can spell some of the Juju routes when you want the bigger body, or in case of injury to either Toney (due to his speed) or Skyy (who's probably taking the Juju role of short/intermediate targets). He's not as good as any of them, but will know the book and can fill in at any spot. You're hoping he's WR4 or WR5, and not needed to be more, but just in case. If he's the worst guy in your room, you're in good shape.
And they'll draft a guy in the first three rounds. Given that they like Toney, who's the human joystick, and Skyy, who's more the shifty possession guy, I think it will be either A)A speed demon they plan to replace MVS next year, or B)A bigger bodied 'X' type guy to fill the Juju role with more upside. Like a Rice, or a Perry, or Tillman, or Mingo. Whoever it is will start with a small package of plays, and they'll build on it. But I wouldn't expect a ton of numbers in year one.
And yeah, we'll probably run a lot of 12 and 13 again, and we'll throw to our backs, and the TE's a lot.
And that's okay. It'll be fine.
I'd just about bet that they don't take MORE than one WR though, especially if they bring back Watson. There's just not enough snaps to develop more than one rookie at a time I don't think, not while you're actively trying to win a Super Bowl.
|
And that's fine in theory.
But there's not much margin for error there. I mean, sure, if MVS/Skyy go down for any length of time, we can likely make do with Gray, Fortson, McKinnon if he comes back.
But if Toney goes down, it gets harder. And as amazing as Andy is, he can't scheme guys open on every snap. That's not a thing; a lot of the time guys are just going to have to win, and early.
If Travis goes down, it gets a lot harder. Like we're losing games, harder. There's no plug-and-play substitute for Travis, and I'm not just talking about the numbers. It's his ability to adapt, modify, adjust and convert routes in the biggest situations that lead to Ws. Noah Gray is a decent TE, he ain't doing that stuff. No one currently on the team is doing that, except maybe Toney, and a ton of that would depend of his creativity and situational awareness, which comes in large part from experience, which he doesn't yet have.
Which is where I find myself coming back to 'Veach has to sign a veteran WR.' Not just for the numbers, but for the experience. Especially if we're going to run with a young, injury-prone, inexperienced and lightly talented WR room. That experience could mean the difference between going to another SB in 2023 or not.
Think about it: In SBLIV, that catch Watkins got over Sherman probably doesn't happen if the WR there is some rookie. And do we win that SB if Sammy is some rookie?
When Watkins realized Sherman was going to play man with outside leverage, Sammy knew he was going to stack him and beat him over the top, and he knew that Pat saw the same exact thing.
Is a rook going to see that in that moment? Or is that a moment that a veteran needs to see.