Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums
This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
The Weekly Gut Check No.187 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Matt Waldman
- Start date
Glaven
Footballguy
Excellent read. I find myself agreeing a lot with how you ranked the players.
Like you I am also down on Mike Wallace, i think he's overrated both in redrafts and in dynasty. From what I saw of Wallace last season, he is a basket catcher as he tries to trap the ball against his chest. This alone limits his upside tremendously imo, and basket catchers also tend to be inconsistent making it difficult to decide when to start him. With defenders focusing more on him, regression to the mean in regard to his yards per reception, not being very strong, not being very agile, and being a basket catcher, Wallace is someone I'm avoiding in drafts and selling if I already own him.
I didn't watch the Saints a tonne, but I remember Meachem being a basket catcher in college at Tennessee. You say that Meachem's hands have improved; my question for you Waldmanwhen you say that, do you mean that he doesn't drop the ball as frequently as before or that he uses proper technique now as opposed to before?
Like you I am also down on Mike Wallace, i think he's overrated both in redrafts and in dynasty. From what I saw of Wallace last season, he is a basket catcher as he tries to trap the ball against his chest. This alone limits his upside tremendously imo, and basket catchers also tend to be inconsistent making it difficult to decide when to start him. With defenders focusing more on him, regression to the mean in regard to his yards per reception, not being very strong, not being very agile, and being a basket catcher, Wallace is someone I'm avoiding in drafts and selling if I already own him.
I didn't watch the Saints a tonne, but I remember Meachem being a basket catcher in college at Tennessee. You say that Meachem's hands have improved; my question for you Waldmanwhen you say that, do you mean that he doesn't drop the ball as frequently as before or that he uses proper technique now as opposed to before?
The Hangover story about your wife was worth the read to kick it off anyway.The rest of the article was, as always, chock full of awesome sauce.
Love me some Mike Thomas. I agree he's probably a year or so away from significant impact, but he'll get there. Dynasty owners need to be patient with the guy and there are a few leagues where he's been dropped and I've been looking to scoop him up when a roster spot opens.
Great stuff.
benson_will_lead_the_way
Footballguy
Great article Matt
I don't think Harvin's status is as linked to Favre as Rice's is personally.
I don't think Harvin's status is as linked to Favre as Rice's is personally.
I agree on both counts.I can't remember where I saw it but I read something that Camarillo, Avant and Meachum were the only Wr's without a drop over a certain amount of catches last year.
az_prof
Footballguy
I watched Meachem alot last year and didn't see any basket catches or bad form. He used his hands and was able to extend his arms and catch the ball away from his body and then pull it in to secure it.I am a little concerned by this toe surgery although they claim he will be back in time for the start of training camp. What's happening with Moore is unclear too--he was tendered as a RFA but he hadn't signed yet. Not sure why or what that means. If Moore is there that will be a drag on Meachem IMO. No Moore and Meachem is at least a top 25 WR and possibly top 15.
Matt Waldman
Footballguy
He's using proper technique. Meachem is a great example of a player I have been talking about much of the off-season when discussing receiver prospects. When he came out of Tennessee he was clearly trying to catch the ball with his hands, but often have to revert back to basket-catching the football in games. There were contests where he had several drops trying to catch the ball with his hands, but couldn't do it. It's one thing to catch the ball with your hands in workouts with no one bearing down on you, but another to show you couldn't do it consistently in games leading up to those workouts. Over the years Meachem has been working on his game and it has progressed to the point that he catches the ball with better technique. Early Doucet is also on this track, but the reason I didn't include him as a true candidate is that he will be competing with Fitz and Breaston for targets in an offense that won't be as pass-heavy with Warner gone. I can see Doucet earning 400-600 yards and looking good at times, but not much more, barring an injury to one of the two players ahead of him.
Matt Waldman
Footballguy
Agreed that it's at least less so. Harvin could hold his own as an NFL RB. It would be dumb to use him as such on more than a 5-7 carry per game basis, but his conceptual understanding of how to run between the tackles, his balance, and toughness is better than a lot of backs trying to hold onto roster spots this year.
Matt Waldman
Footballguy
That's good to hear. I think there are so many "if's" with the Rams passing game that Avery is a a better value to draft later than his ADP might be. Most starting quality receivers have quality teammates playing opposite them to prevent consistent bracketed coverage. Laurent Robinson might be that guy. Mardy Gilyard might develop into a quality player (but he's a lot like Avery and a potential replacement if he transitions - his hands are a bit of a work in progress, but after watching him practice in Mobile, you can tell he's working on it). Still, his effectiveness as primarily a perimeter weapon and the QB situation doesn't inspire enough confidence in me to include him at this point.
Yeah. Did I miss you mentioning Laurent?Also I thought you kinda glossed over Steve Smith (NYG) while he had to fit in some category on that page.I really liked the article Matt-a lot of players mentioned. Thoughts on Robiskie?Jacoby Jones (and Adrian Arrington) feels like fools gold. Why aren't they?It seems the Bears will sign Furrey soon. Any thoughts in him returning to Martz's offense? How about him affecting other players numbers?
Matt Waldman
Footballguy
I glossed over Smith because he didn't fit in these categories last year and in last year's article I said he was someone to watch despite that reason. I also was also beating the drum for him all last summer (ranking him higher than anyone on the site all summer), so I didn't feel like I needed to go overboard talking about him. Adrian Arrington? Fools gold, IMO. Never even mention him in the piece and with all the weapons in N.O., doubtful he sees the field this year. Jones has opportunity, less competition, and flashes the big-play ability and techniques to be a stud. It's the mental aspects/discipline to be a pro that Kubiak has touched on that are questionable and harder to see from our perspective. It's what makes him potentially fool's gold, but also a potential starter. Furrey is a great role player that knows the offense and is a hedge in case receivers ahead of him get hurt or don't grasp the system. I think that's basically it. If he's playing, it's an indictment of other players and not his great skills. Good player, but a role player. I don't think the impact is tangible otherwise.
Great read Matt!
Matt Waldman
Footballguy
That about sums it up for MoMass, who was inconsistent at UGA for the final three years of his career after looking like he had the potential to set the SEC on fire. I'd say this is probably his only chance to show he can be a difference maker consistently. If not, look for him to get buried as a role player.MM had a 36% catch rate in '09. Either a change in targets or he has to get better at catching the ball.200 targets = 72 receptions is not gonna light the world on fire.Boone22 said:
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
in fairness those passes were coming from Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn, so about 125 of them probably weren't even close to him.MM had a 36% catch rate in '09. Either a change in targets or he has to get better at catching the ball.200 targets = 72 receptions is not gonna light the world on fire.Boone22 said:
heidbrink
Footballguy
Great work Matt! Informative, provocative and funny."...Unless Manning learns to throw two balls at the same..."
I laughed.
Being a big fan of waiting on a QB, I'm intrigued with your call on Eli's progression as a passer. RADAR adjusted appropriately.
Last edited by a moderator:
Matt Waldman
Footballguy
Thanks heidbrink
DocOc - good point about the QBs, which is being more fair to MoMass. Just as someone who has watched the Browns WR at UGA for awhile, he has the skills to be a good one but has never really put it all together. He's one of those players that seems to have 3 bad plays for every good one.
Mister CIA
Footballguy
Nice read, but if I wrote such a lengthy article I'd at least drop Malcolm Kelly's name ...unless there is news I'm missing?
Malcolm Kelly > Andre Caldwell. There, I said it!
Malcolm Kelly > Andre Caldwell. There, I said it!
Matt Waldman
Footballguy
Kelly doesn't fit the statistical profile within the premise of the piece and in the scheme of breakout candidates, Kelly > Caldwell doesn't mean much, even if I agreed with you (which I don't). Kelly's situation is better than Caldwell's, but that isn't saying much. I think Kelly is a plus-potential Jason Avant for McNabb because he has good hands but lacks the quickness/speed of a primary guy. I prefer Devin Thomas' upside.
Similar threads
