Why The Bias Against Spread WR?

DearbornDolfan

DearbornDolfan

Active Member
We all know that the greatest WR of all time is Jerry Rice. What I didn't know, and I wonder if anybody else does, is that he came out of a spread system in Mississippi Valley State. More to the point, he came out of the freakiest spread I've ever seen, one that was specifically designed around him and for him. Yet despite that, he still produced massive numbers in the NFL.

So why is it that college receivers are crapped on by scouts?
 
Sgt John said:
Because for every Jerry Rice you get 10 Travis Taylor's

That is all.
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That's not really a reason. If the guy can get open and actually catch, there shouldn't be a problem with teaching him routes. I mean, that's what pre-draft workouts are about, right?
 
DearbornDolfan said:
That's not really a reason. If the guy can get open and actually catch, there shouldn't be a problem with teaching him routes. I mean, that's what pre-draft workouts are about, right?
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Travis Taylor, Charlie Rogers, Troy Williamson, Mark Clayton, Reggie Williams, Donte Stallworth.

What do they have in common? They all could get open and catch. They all had great pre-draft workouts. They were all selected in the upper 1st round of the NFL Draft from 2002-2005.

AND THEY ALL SUCK! Each one is a massive bust.
 
Welcome to the NFL where you have real defensive backs to cover you up.

Jerry Rice was a supernatural talent. The man would have dominated anywhere in college and would have made any quarterback look like a pro bowler.

Running routes is one thing. Running crisp routes against NFL defenders "AND" being able to catch the ball in traffic at the NFL level is an entirely different ball game.
 
jerry rice wouldve been a normal old great receiver in today's league. he's lucky he played when he did.
 
bobbeaux said:
i believe the way the interference rules have changed, it was actually harder to be a wr in jerry's time . . . ;)
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Nah, don't forget about the 5-yard contact rule. In his prime he would've been even better today than he was then.. with the same QB's of course.
 
i just think he was the perfect right place, right time guy. in his place in nfl history, on that team, in that west coast offense, with that coach, with those QBs. he was a good player, he has the best numbers of all time, but i dont think by any stretch that he was the best or most talented player at his position.
 
Of course what you're saying Bomb is so ridiculous, it doesn't even warrant whatever fishing expedition you're on, but a couple little interesting things about Rice.

He was the number 1 overall pick in the USFL 1985 draft.

Dallas was all set to take him at #17, and made no secret of it. SF took their 2 #1 picks, and traded up with New England, to #16 and grabbed him right in front of the Cowboys. Dallas took Kevin Brooks, a Defensive Lineman who contributed 5.5 sacks to the Cowboys 3-13 team in 1988, before leaving for two more seasons of NFL football with the Lions.
 
no fishing expedition. i realize im mostly alone on this opinion, but so be it. ive seen rice play his whole career, and ive seen a couple better WRs play their whole career.

rice was in the right place at the right time.

think of a (significantly) more talented version of wes welker playing in last year's patriots offense with that qb and that offensive system and a league that didnt adjust to it for 5-10 years and then some.
 
Anyways, you're going to start seeing more and more of the spread offense philopsophies implemented in the NFL, so those types of dynamic offensive talents will start finding more of a natural place in the league, thus will be more easily evaluated, thus dimishing the bias of uncertainty around them. Of course, running backs who play in the spread offense have become a real headache for talent evaluators to project also. But, with the success of players like Steve Slaton, again, and the use of more innovative ideas like the Wildcat and the Pistol offenses, these players will gain in value in the league.
 
See, that's the thing that bugs me. "The Spread" is not a unified offensive theory, it's a general philosophy wherein the defense is spread across the breadth and length of the field to create gaps and mismatches. You have offenses like Mike Leech's Air Raid where the routes are kept astonishingly simple but are executed to perfection; when people say Crabtree only really knows about five routes they are not joking. Yet you have guys like Devone Bess coming out of the Run 'n' Shoot where the receiver know the entire NFL route tree and then some besides that because the offense dictated it. And then you have Rich Rodriquez's run first spread option where even QBs like Pat White now have a place.

IMO opinion, and trying not to be a homer, I think the Fins have one of the best coaching and scouting philosophies of any NFL team. It basically boils down to this: What does this player do well? Can we mold our system around him? If not, can we find a place for him in the system as is? For wide receivers the requirements seem to be that the receiver has to have sure hands and has to be able to do something with the ball.
 
Da Bomb said:
no fishing expedition. i realize im mostly alone on this opinion, but so be it. ive seen rice play his whole career, and ive seen a couple better WRs play their whole career.
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I'm not going to take sides on this debate. I am however curious who you are referring to.
 
its obviously not much of a debate since its not provable and since i seem to be the only one on my side, but i'd start with mr moss.
 
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