WRs in the draft

I've heard we do fancy Price a good bit.

 

Price would be a reach at 48 but I'd be cool with it.

 

If we wait until round 3 or 4 then Andre Roberts from Citadel could be a good fit. He's got good quickness and always looked to me like a good, disciplined route runner.

Also like Jordan Shipley in round 3 if he's still there (which is possible). Shipley reminds me of Ricky Proehl and not just because he's white.

 

Is Shipley the kid from Florida? Excuse my bad memory but if that's him I like him alot. Thought he had good skills every time I saw him play.

 

Shipley's the texas guy who returns punts slowly and plays the slot slowly.

Which is fine, if we already added a second guy who can play split end and get downfield fast.

 

I think if you're going based on tape or at least weighing against workouts and measurables, Thomas is as good a WR out there and probably is worth a trade to 35-38 if he was there.
But, even with that, you have to expect you can get him to run routes.
OK, that's actually fine, since in this offense if he did nothing but go deep a bunch and take smoke routes and make them 20 yard gains he'd be solid. I've seen it happen.
But then there's hands, and that's tougher.

If he'd run a 40 and then went out with the foot issue, he'd obviously have a top 15 grade, hands or no.

 

For his size Thomas seems to be too injury prone and he's more of a possession guy than the deep threat we ultimately need in a future #1 WR. Benn and Lafell are also not enough of that deep threat, as most scouts will point out. I feel like Gilyard is one of those hot & cold guys that will drive you crazy as a fan. He had a great Senior bowl but don't go on that alone. The same could be said I guess about Roberts but he's been more consistent than Gilyard (ditto for Mitchell). Like Williams Price is from a school we've had recent bad luck with (Robinson) but Price seems like much more of a legit #1 NFL WR than Robinson (ditto Williams< Colbert). The small school thing doesn't bug me when it comes to a wide out, nor does the supposed USC jinx. Thomas should get much better with routes and might be enough of a field stretcher once he does so.

I guess my order of preference currently would be:

Williams, Thomas (IF he checks out medically), Price, Mitchell, Roberts (who might fall to 78 but I doubt it)

BTW - I really don't care about the "he'd be a stretch if picked at 48" thing. If our new WR guy picks the right compliment and future successor for Smitty is that player not worth a #48 overall? Colston is the first example that comes to mind . . .

 

Thomas led the league in YPC last year. About all he did was flag down deep balls. The x-factor in there is where he'd have run, since Ford ran a 4.28 and everyone else ran over 4.40, and Thomas was rumored to be a 4.3 guy. Then again, that's as likely agentspeak as anything.

Price and Roberts have enough speed for that third tier of player. A minimum of five guys will go before us based on history.

 

there was an argument I've seen that the triple-option both stunted his growth as a receiver while significantly boosting Thomas' stats . . . maybe so


magnus - what's your opinion on Mitchell?

 

maybe so. WR is half in the details and half in ability, and he has the ability. Hands are a concern but he attacks the ball like few can and physically dominates DBs.

Mitchell is OK. I don't doubt his drive, just how fast he can contribute. He only started at USF for a year. He's got all the physical attributes, but for his size I don't see him being physical, he's not a bigtime blocker and he's not boxing guys out. He also doesn't go up and attack the ball. He's a third tier guy.