#104 - Joe Adams WR Arkansas

a future pick a round earlier for a year later is a pretty established value. Not saying I would do it, but it's standard.

 

analogous to the time value of money...

 

It should also be noted that Adams is not really an elite returner. He's good and will hopefully upgrade over what the Panthers had, but he does way too much east-west and not enough north-south for my tastes. He's better than Brandon Boykin, but Boykin would have given some corner depth on top of it.

 

I think I like this guy better than Pilares, AE, Robinson, all the guys we've tried to replace Smitty on returns with. Hope he can hold on to the ball and stay healthy. We'll probably have to deal with him wanting to go sideways for a while, hopefully he'll learn.

edit:

I was typing when you posted, but yes.

 

He cant be much worse than AE (didnt lose fumbles in fairness)

We need debth at WR too.

 

Disagree about needing WR depth. Don't get me wrong, Adams should be at least an average NFL punt returner (he didn't return kickoffs so no clue if he will be doing that or how well) and that represents a significant upgrade for the team there, but I'm not crazy about spending a fourth on a guy who isn't elite and probably won't contribute much as a receiver.

 

teams value a punt returner more than a kickoff returner these days. I wanted Chris Rainey as a slot/scat/returner type, but I'm fine with Adams in that role, but he's clearly just a slot on offense. With Pilares having a history at RB, perhaps he could fill in the scat back role to some extent?

 

I'm pretty sure that signing Tolbert took scat back out of the picture. He's obviously not quick, but he's a competent receiver and very good at blitz pick-up. You don't spend what they did on him just to be a fullback, especially since he's not a good lead blocker.

 

sure, Tolbert will be out there a lot. Still doesnt mean Chud wont find a way to line up a quicker body in the backfield at times.

 

Scatback was a stated desire of Rivera's. Don't know if taking Adams eases the need, it probably does since I think Rivera wanted a RB to help with returns as much as anything.