Best "Receiving Unit" in the NFL

[Chuck Wagon]

This is just such a chicken and the egg conversation. Ya know how the Penguins always get a free agent winger to play alongside Crosby and his numbers are always inflated? Chris Kunitz, Pascal Dupuis, Hornqvist, et al? Did those guys magically become better players overnight upon getting signed by the Penguins? No. Would Tyler Ennis average a point a game if he skated with Crosby? Of course. But Tyler Ennis is Tyler Ennis. We know how good he is because we actually watch him play hockey. If you watch Robert Woods play football it is pretty apparent (at least to those of whom understand the game) that he is a good receiver. His numbers almost don't mean s**t in this discussion. Does anyone here think that if Robert Woods was Tom Brady's slot receiver he wouldn't be drafted in the third round of everyone's fantasy draft this year? But instead he's Cassel/Manuel/Taylor's receiver so he won't get drafted at all. Last year against Houston he was targeted 12 times and caught 3 balls for 17 yards. Is that an indictment against Robert Woods? Bottom line, if you look at sheer talent, all things being equal, the Bills are a top 5 receiving unit in the NFL and no one is going to convince me otherwise.

 

 

Perfectly stated. Look at Denver. Everyone is putting them as an easy top 5 group, but when Orton/Tebow was the QB Demaryius was just a very raw WR who occasionally broke a big slant play. In Pittsburgh, Sanders was clearly 3rd in line when they had Wallace & Brown. Welker is a shell of his former self. Their TE is Virgil Green. Demaryius/Sanders/Welker have all posted the numbers that guys like Watkins/Woods haven't yet, but anyone who plays the tape and understands football can see the impact Peyton has on the group.

[metzelaars_lives]

 

 

That's my point and I feel like people really struggle to separate it. Nelson & Cobb had some experience without Rodgers in 2013 and they didn't exactly light the world on fire, not to mention their 3rd WR/question mark at TE. It's been talked about before, but we have the capability to put 5 guys out on routes (including Shady) that can beat one on one coverage consistently. Jeremy Ross or the ghost of Wes Welker isn't doing that.

 

I'll kowtow to the "lack of results" but I firmly believe we've got the potential to be in the discussion for the top of the list. I recognize Nationally no one is going to give us anything until we take it.

 

As for last year's receiver class, I still wouldn't trade Sammy straight up for ODB. I'd probably do it for Evans just because he brings a different element to our offense with his size but I surely wouldn't trade him for Benjamin, Landry, Jordan Matthews or whatever other receiver looked good with a better QB and better coaching.

A very sensible post. Anyone who doesn't put Sammy Watkins in the top three WR's from last year's draft class right now should have their posting rights revoked. Kelvin Benjamin dropped so many balls last year it was ridiculous. Imagine if a healthy Sammy Watkins (I love how people forget that he played hurt pretty much all season) was Cam Newton's only receiving target (other than Olson obviously) all season. Plus all these guys have only played one freaking season, let's see how it all shakes out after 3-4 years. I would trade Watkins for Beckham right now and maybe/probably Evans. But that could easily change after this season. But to declare Watkins the 5th or 6th best in his class after one injury-riddled season with garbage at the QB position? One of the dumber contentions I've ever heard on this website and that is not hyperbole. And it's not like he even had a bad season! He had the 4th best numbers of any rookie WR. So you're saying that despite the injury and his QB play that he was actually worse than his numbers indicate?

Edited May 18, 2015 by metzelaars_lives

[thebandit27]

Realizing fully well that this discussion is entirely subjective, here's how I break it down:

 

Any unit that qualifies to be discussed amongst the "best" group of pass-catchers will check off the following boxes:

 

- Primary, #1 target that defenses have to game plan against

- Reliable second boundary target that can hurt defenses when they pay too much attention to the primary

- Slot specialist with short-area quickness that stops defenses from relying on man coverage

- Big, physical red-zone target

 

For me, about 1/3 of the league matches this profile (I disregarded rookies). The list of teams is: Buf, Cin, Pit, Den, SD, GB, Det, NYG, Dal, Phi.

 

Then I looked to see which of those teams have two players that opposing DCs need to spend extra time game-planning against, which dropped Cinci off the list (nobody scares me besides Green).

 

Out of the 9 teams that remain, I believe that the only teams that have a truly viable (and proven) 3rd threat that can hurt teams are the following:

 

NYG - Beckham, Cruz, and Randle

GB - Nelson, Cobb, and Adams

Dallas - Bryant, Williams, and Witten

 

My vote, when looking at the above, goes to GB.

[Jauronimo]

I normally try to chalk it up as with all else equal who would perform the best, when looking at these....

So would I, because that is the point. Instead we see some focusing on QB and Oline play when assessing which 5 pass catchers comprise the best receiving unit.

Edited May 18, 2015 by Jauronimo

[Rob's House]

This is just such a chicken and the egg conversation. Ya know how the Penguins always get a free agent winger to play alongside Crosby and his numbers are always inflated? Chris Kunitz, Pascal Dupuis, Hornqvist, et al? Did those guys magically become better players overnight upon getting signed by the Penguins? No. Would Tyler Ennis average a point a game if he skated with Crosby? Of course. But Tyler Ennis is Tyler Ennis. We know how good he is because we actually watch him play hockey. If you watch Robert Woods play football it is pretty apparent (at least to those of whom that understand the game) that he is a good receiver. His numbers almost don't mean s**t in this discussion. Does anyone here think that if Robert Woods was Tom Brady's slot receiver he wouldn't be drafted in the third round of everyone's fantasy draft this year? But instead he's Cassel/Manuel/Taylor's receiver so he won't get drafted at all. Last year against Houston he was targeted 12 times and caught 3 balls for 17 yards, almost having a temper tantrum because his quarterback was so incredibly inept. Is that an indictment against Robert Woods? Would a guy like Randall Cobb have put up better numbers that day? Does anyone here think that if Beckham was on the Bills and Watkins was on the Giants last year, that there numbers wouldn't have been a little closer? Bottom line, if you look at sheer talent, all things being equal, the Bills are a top 5 receiving unit in the NFL and no one is going to convince me otherwise. You got two first rounders and a second rounder, none of whom have underperformed their draft position thus far- rather their numbers have been affected by the situations they've been in.

Robert Wood is a good #2 WR, but he's not someone who scares defenses or pulls coverage his way. I'm glad we have him, but I doubt opposing DCs lie awake at night worrying about how to slow him down.

[QuoteTheRaven83]

It strikes me as rather silly to put so much weight on QB play when debating which team has the best receiving corps.

 

 

Just ask Steve Smith of the Giants, Greg Jennings, Santonio Holmes, Eric Decker, if they'd agree with you. QB is EVERYTHING. Look at Fitzgerald with Warner and Fitzgerald with Drew Stanton. Greg Jennings with Favre/Rodgers and Jennings with Bridgewater. Decker with Manning and Decker with Geno. I will put money that you never hear from Maclin again and you definitely won't hear from Julius Thomas again in Jacksonville. And you think it's "silly" to put so much weight on QB play?

 

A great QB can make any WR look great.

[machine gun kelly]

Realizing fully well that this discussion is entirely subjective, here's how I break it down:

 

Any unit that qualifies to be discussed amongst the "best" group of pass-catchers will check off the following boxes:

 

- Primary, #1 target that defenses have to game plan against

- Reliable second boundary target that can hurt defenses when they pay too much attention to the primary

- Slot specialist with short-area quickness that stops defenses from relying on man coverage

- Big, physical red-zone target

 

For me, about 1/3 of the league matches this profile (I disregarded rookies). The list of teams is: Buf, Cin, Pit, Den, SD, GB, Det, NYG, Dal, Phi.

 

Then I looked to see which of those teams have two players that opposing DCs need to spend extra time game-planning against, which dropped Cinci off the list (nobody scares me besides Green).

 

Out of the 9 teams that remain, I believe that the only teams that have a truly viable (and proven) 3rd threat that can hurt teams are the following:

 

NYG - Beckham, Cruz, and Randle

GB - Nelson, Cobb, and Adams

Dallas - Bryant, Williams, and Witten

 

My vote, when looking at the above, goes to GB.

Your leaving out Denver who has been breaking all kinds of records the last couple of years. Atl may have a bad year, but that's related to a poor defense and inadequate offensive line. Their WR tandem is awesome. We're not even in the conversation. I'm just hopeful with the free agents brought in this year we are average. If we could be a top 10 running team and in the top 16 in the pass, our defense will keep us in every game.