ConnSKINS26
Footballguy
This seems wildly optimisticsocrates said:
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WR Andy Isabella, BAL (4 Viewers)
- Thread starter Bojang0301
- Start date
socrates
Footballguy
ConnSKINS26
Footballguy
Basically the entire evaluation of what Isabella can bring on the field seems like wishful thinking with little evidence since he was drafted, right?
“Isabella brings an electrifying element to the team. He is a threat to score from anywhere on the field.”
“there may come a point when Coach Kingsbury can no longer keep Isabella on the bench”
I just haven’t seen any hint of this playing out in the NFL at all, it seems like total projection from his college days so far.
Yes, he’s behind talented and/or established players and yes, it can take some time for young WRs to develop and break out onto the scene. But Isabella has barely flashed at all so far. He had one long TD and one other big play as a rookie, and that’s it. On 9 catches that might seem like a good rate of big plays, but teams don’t usually hide guys that they think can regularly make plays like that—they don’t design plays to get him the ball in space, don’t deploy packages meant to work him into the gameplan, they don’t use him in 4-wide situations which you’d think he’d feast off of under Kingsbury, at least not yet, and shouldn’t he be able to handle that as a 2nd-year player?
It just seems to me like he’s been a supreme disappointment so far, but you talked about his talent and ability to effect an NFL offense in the most optimistic and inevitable of terms, as if the rookie draft where he was taken just happened and we haven’t seen him struggle for his entire career so far.
I think it’s good to have pet project guys like this who clearly have some potential and maybe more importantly, pedigree—John Ross is another one, who actually flashed way more in way less possible games due to injury. But it can’t be all rainbows and best case outcomes when talking about the player’s future, when so little has been showcased by the player—these NFL teams are invested in their young explosive players as well and have a vested interest in seeing that pedigree paid off, and yet here we are. That’s gotta be a red flag.
He went for like an 85 score on one of his first and only NFL receptions last year.
https://youtu.be/e-9ibIzNT1Y
There's your hint.
JohnnyU
Footballguy
He’s on the waiver wire in one of my dynasty leagues
eta I added him for an end of bench stash and dropped Humphries.
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ConnSKINS26
Footballguy
I acknowledged that, and then said a bunch of other stuff you didn’t address. Good highlight though.
Mark Football
Footballguy
To be a good NFL receiver you have to be able to make contested catches with your hands. He can't really do that.
kutta
Footballguy
At the beginning of the year I would have said - not a chance in heck. But he did look good yesterday, and Kirk has been very pedestrian so far this year. It's hard to say whether it's game script or not (would Kirk have also had those looks and opportunities if he was in there?). But it would appear that Andy is worth a flier at this point because you may end up with a part of a high-powered offense which is always a good thing.
I-ROK
Footballguy
I read that Johnson actually took Kirk’s snaps, so Isabella had his own role, not Kirk’s. Interesting to say the least. I’m intrigued
LawFitz
Footballguy
Highlights from the last two weeks...
Isabella's big issue last season was a struggle to beat NFL press, a common theme for rookie WRs. This past week, he did it multiple times in game, including on both of his TDs. And when they allow him to free release in zone schemes, bad things happen... See the first link below with his 54 yd catch from week 2 as an example - a play that should've been a 77 yd TD had Murray not underthrown him. Pretty sure Murray threw it as far as he could, but Andy still had to slow down for it.
https://arizonasports.com/story/2399869/cardinals-mindful-of-getting-looks-for-wrs-christian-kirk-andy-isabella/
https://arizonasports.com/story/2407900/andy-isabella-gets-his-opportunity-scores-2-tds-for-cardinals-vs-lions/
And here's another big play from yesterday, where Isabella and Murray seem to have their signals crossed at the top of the route - looks like Andy broke in and Kyler threw it deep. Somehow Andy was able to restart from the dig and made up the ground in time to make the catch anyway. He jumped to make the grab, but if he'd just kept running it looks like he would've had the chance to catch in stride for a 69 yd TD. Love this guy's start-stop athleticim.
https://youtu.be/9NhEl0YACmY?t=124
This offense is in need of an over the top threat like this guy IMO. Snaps have been in short supply for him so far. 17% wk 1, then 18% and finally 40% yesterday with Kirk out - numbingly, 4.6 40 Keesean Johnson got 71%, with Fitz and DHop both over 85%. Sooner or later, Kingsbury will figure this out. They are MUCH more dangerous with Isabella on the field. This feels an awful lot like the situation in Pittsburgh - where the higher impact WR is idling and biding his time for a true chance, but in the meantime keeps making big plays with the few looks he's getting.
Good news for Isabella and Mapletron: cream rises.
Isabella's big issue last season was a struggle to beat NFL press, a common theme for rookie WRs. This past week, he did it multiple times in game, including on both of his TDs. And when they allow him to free release in zone schemes, bad things happen... See the first link below with his 54 yd catch from week 2 as an example - a play that should've been a 77 yd TD had Murray not underthrown him. Pretty sure Murray threw it as far as he could, but Andy still had to slow down for it.
https://arizonasports.com/story/2399869/cardinals-mindful-of-getting-looks-for-wrs-christian-kirk-andy-isabella/
https://arizonasports.com/story/2407900/andy-isabella-gets-his-opportunity-scores-2-tds-for-cardinals-vs-lions/
And here's another big play from yesterday, where Isabella and Murray seem to have their signals crossed at the top of the route - looks like Andy broke in and Kyler threw it deep. Somehow Andy was able to restart from the dig and made up the ground in time to make the catch anyway. He jumped to make the grab, but if he'd just kept running it looks like he would've had the chance to catch in stride for a 69 yd TD. Love this guy's start-stop athleticim.
https://youtu.be/9NhEl0YACmY?t=124
This offense is in need of an over the top threat like this guy IMO. Snaps have been in short supply for him so far. 17% wk 1, then 18% and finally 40% yesterday with Kirk out - numbingly, 4.6 40 Keesean Johnson got 71%, with Fitz and DHop both over 85%. Sooner or later, Kingsbury will figure this out. They are MUCH more dangerous with Isabella on the field. This feels an awful lot like the situation in Pittsburgh - where the higher impact WR is idling and biding his time for a true chance, but in the meantime keeps making big plays with the few looks he's getting.
Good news for Isabella and Mapletron: cream rises.
cloppbeast
Footballguy
Watched this last game vs the Lions. Isabella is a strange case. In a game without Kirk he still only saw 40% of the snaps, being used much the same way as before, near exclusively in 4 ways: a) deep route - run straight, 2) block, 3) short route, 4) reverse. Kingsbury favored KeeSean Johnson to run intermediate routes in place of Kirk. I see this as a huge red flag.
Isabella has great acceleration, getting separation by stop/starting. This can work on short passes as shown by his TD in the 3rd quarter, but won't help him create separation down field. A receiver can't stop, instead needs to conserve his momentum while changing direction on intermediate routes. I haven't seen Isabella do this. I am thinking he's not very good at getting open beyond 5 yards which is why Kingsbury doesn't ask him to do it. I'm going to see if I can get my 2nd back for him.
Isabella has great acceleration, getting separation by stop/starting. This can work on short passes as shown by his TD in the 3rd quarter, but won't help him create separation down field. A receiver can't stop, instead needs to conserve his momentum while changing direction on intermediate routes. I haven't seen Isabella do this. I am thinking he's not very good at getting open beyond 5 yards which is why Kingsbury doesn't ask him to do it. I'm going to see if I can get my 2nd back for him.
Mark Football
Footballguy
I'm not sure how good he can catch either. He slightly bobbles a lot of his opportunities. Including his two tds Sunday.
LawFitz
Footballguy
Mark Football
Footballguy
True. On both tds he had to make a slight adjustment with his hands to secure it. I've got a keen eye for these things so don't feel bad if you can't see it. He did make a clean catch with his hands on the 26 yarder though. That was encouraging!
The Frankman
Footballguy
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Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
I thought this guy would be a star - very wrong on that one.
ffmail4me
Footballguy
When the Tyreek Hill domestic stuff was blowing up and at its worst, I panicked and traded him for the 2.4 rookie pick...which I spent on Isabella. Will easily go down as one of the worst trades I've ever made.
Luckily I then traded FOR Hill in 2 other leagues giving up only a future 3rd, so I can sleep at night. 
Flying Elvis
Footballguy
3rd year UDFA Antoine Wesley played 31 snaps (53%) while Andy was inactive. I see no reason to expect a trade at this point, as there were articles/rumors that claimed teams were looking to acquire him earlier in the year but AZ wasn't selling.
The Frankman
Footballguy
