Steve Smith

I was just looking at last year's stats.

He fumbled EIGHT times. That's horrible. He lost 3.

Byrd had 37 catches for 492 yards as the #3 guy. ZERO fumbles.

I'm back to thinking that Byrd should be #2 - I'd been warming to Smith having that slot. Not anymore.

Moose, Byrd, Smith, Walls, and Foster as receivers should make for a pretty stout corps, though.

Those reception numbers by Byrd were likely inflated due to the number of balls thrown, but all I remember about Byrd last year was that he got it done. Hope that foot heals up.

 

yeah...he did.

As of right now (key statement) I'd hope that they were a result of a rookie being stupid. And keep an eye on him during the preseason to see if they persist. The thing with Smith is his big play ability which sad to say Isaac Byrd has none.

And I would bet that the majority of them were on his returns so hopefully they have started to address his ball carrying skills this preseason. Richard Williamson now has the time to focus solely on the WRs and Chick Harris is gone. Harris never could straighten out Biakabutuka's fumbling problem. Jim Skipper thinks he can fix Foster's fumbling problems, so hopefully he can fix Smith's.

Do you happen to remember if the majority of his fumbles were at the beginning or the end of the season? That way maybe we can see if there was improvement as the season went on. For the life of me I can't remember.

I think I have blocked out a good part of last season in self defense. ;-)

 

Evenly distributed throughout the season, weeks 3,4,5, 10, 11, 17.

 

How many touchdowns did each score? I say at least give him a shot at #2. If he screws up in preseason, move him to 3 - unless he scores a bunch.

 

You kjnow who Steve Smith reminds me a lot of? Az Hakim. All kinds of ability, but due to who knows what (lapses in concentration maybe?), they both seem to make mistakes at key points in a game/season.

 

Smith tends to peak before he catches the ball on punt's . That is a big reason why he fumbles there, he just doesn't field them cleanly. That can be corrected. One of his fumbles was caused by one of his blockers...Navies I think, on a KR...went the other way for 6 if I remember correctly?
I don't like Byrd as the #2 WR. That gives us 2 posession WR's when we will be taking some shots down field. We need a flyer at #2 to compliment Moose. Although, I don't like Smith there either...not yet. Unless the plan is to limit his return duties to PR only and have Bates handle KR? I just don't see Smith playing both returns and the #2 WR. That's alot to take in for a guy in his soph campaign.
One would hope Jeffers would be ready, but that sounds less likely every day.
The #2 might be a rotational situation based on the play call...which will telegraph our plays once teams get afew weeks of film.

 

been wondering if they might quit using smith to return kickoffs. i know they're saying otherwise, but he did fumble a lot on kickoffs last year. seems to me it had a lot to due with the way he runs, exposing himself to getting plastered, and being small. bates is damn productive back there and doesn't fumble. if smith is our #2 receiver, would it make sense for him to continue to be exposed to injury doing kickoffs, especially in light of how thin our receiving corps is? byrd seems to have a great feel for getting open and giving the QB a good target. i thought he seemed to be weinke's favorite target as the year wore on last year. smith i guess would be quicker and much more dangerous if he gets his hands on the ball with space but will have a lot to learn about the position. both are small and probably can't take the pounding to be in there every down.

don't think i could use the word "stout" to describe our WR's. hopefully, moose and walls come back strong and our wr's are adequate to help us make a run at the playoffs.

 

While a playoff run would be nice, it's really a pipe dream. A 1-15 team, new coach, 1st time head coach, 1st time DC, old school OC, lots of new faces. All the changes will take time to gel and everyone to get comfortable in their new roles. This team is basically starting over again.
All we can EXPECT is improvement & just from what we have seen in attitude changes, I think we have improved already. If we go 2-14 I won't be happy, but it's a step in the right direction. I am thinking we'll finish 6-10 to 8-8, but no better than .500.

 

I aint crazy about Walls, he's getting a bit long in the tooth, as well as being very injury prone. That being said, he has bar none the best hands on the team, which means you have to get him in the game. I would like to see quite a few 2 TE sets, getting Mangum in the game. I feel he is built in the Walls sort of mold, and just needs playing time to mature and build rapport with Weinke.

 

When we go to the H-back, we'll see lots of Walls & Mangum. I really like how Hennings and Fox are putting together the offense. It looks more like they are shaping it around the talent, rather than forcing players to work with an offense they are not suited for.
Defense is hard to read until you see it in action, but Del Rio is a nasty bastard...I expect some serious aggression from our D. There will be nothing passive aggressive about it, unlike the past.