Welcome Josh Palmer, WR, Tennessee (Pick #77)

[Formula 21]

Popper writes what he sees and gives his informed opinions on it. A lot of it is just counting, counting reps, counting receptions, counting big plays. Reporting on who makes blocks and who makes sacks. And they are the most in depth reports out there. So I love the guy.

[Heatmiser]

He writes well and I like his takes and he obviously has studied the game as well as the players. He is a bit arrogant, but then I have seen him make fun of himself at times so maybe he is out growing that. But he is the best "beat writer" for a long time for our team. Way better than Kevin Acee, Jay Posner, etc. I think better than Miller and Reedy too.

TG

[richpjr]

Popper writes what he sees and gives his informed opinions on it. A lot of it is just counting, counting reps, counting receptions, counting big plays. Reporting on who makes blocks and who makes sacks. And they are the most in depth reports out there. So I love the guy.

I have no problem with this and do read his articles (as I do everything I can Charger related). I just don't think he knows that much about football - certainly a lot less than some of our regular posters do.

[UglyTruth]

Gilbert Manzano, Jeff Miller and Fernando Ramirez are far more knowledgeable when it comes to football than Popper.

[Guest]

He is succeeding against starting caliber players in practice.

Also maybe someone taking a few targets away from Keenan will help Keenan from missing time at the end of the season like he did last year. Guyton, Johnson, and Williams fit Herbert better? But Keenan led the team in targets by a fair margin with 147 (HH was next highest at 93 who also doesn’t run those deep routes). Sounds like we need someone else running the same routes as Keenan more than we need a 4th deep threat.

I know you hated the pick, but let’s not try and act like Palmer doesn’t provide real value because he does things similarly to the best WR on the roster.

My assumption, whether entirely correct or not, is that Palmer is not taking snaps away from Allen and Williams unless there is an injury. My concern is that he could take snaps away from Johnson and Guyton, which I think is not favorable to the offense as I prefer the deep threats to have as many opportunities as possible. Those guys made huge contributions to the offense in terms of big plays last year.

I do think Palmer looked good against Ram reserves. To me, that is a positive result, but not as much of a big deal as it seemed like some were making of it. If/when he is consistently open against starters for something other than all very short passes, then it will be time to recognize that we have ourselves a good player. But 6 catches for 36 yards against reserves is not the be all end all in terms of high level performances.

[Guest]

Popper says he's the clear WR3 at this point and the second best route runner on the team. It's not like Popper is at every practice and press conference or anything.

WR6 is between Hill, Proehl, and Moore.

I question any strategy that makes our offense less explosive. Palmer in and Johnson/Guyton out makes our offense less explosive. We already have a guy that is almost always open against NFL starting defenders on short routes. His name is Keenan Allen. I can live with Palmer as a backup to Allen if Allen is injured and Palmer proves he can get open against starters. If Williams is injured or we are going with 3-4 WRs, give me Guyton and Johnson over Palmer all day every day.

[RollingThunder]

I question any strategy that makes our offense less explosive. Palmer in and Johnson/Guyton out makes our offense less explosive. We already have a guy that is almost always open against NFL starting defenders on short routes. His name is Keenan Allen. I can live with Palmer as a backup to Allen if Allen is injured and Palmer proves he can get open against starters. If Williams is injured or we are going with 3-4 WRs, give me Guyton and Johnson over Palmer all day every day.

So having two guys that are almost always open is a negative. Got it.

[RTPbolt]

Its great having long plays but we must have the short and intermed too. Our OL is yet untested at pass protection and you must have the higher percentage plays to keep offenses moving and the opposing offenses like KC off the field. Seeing Guyten running those now and i bet palmer is a better route runner than him and he looks far stronger and able to go up and get balls. Palmer isnt slow either and played against top dbs in college and won individual battles. We get another wr that is more open than our previous depth and that is a big plus…more for defenses to have to cover. Plus wrs must have breaks too so having fresh legs is important.

I like Guyten but he was undrafted for a reason. Palmer is coming in more advanced than Guyten as a route runner and i think is going to surprise with his ability to make plays where Guyten struggled to get open.

[dmac_bolt]

Its great having long plays but we must have the short and intermed too. Our OL is yet untested at pass protection and you must have the higher percentage plays to keep offenses moving and the opposing offenses like KC off the field. Seeing Guyten running those now and i bet palmer is a better route runner than him and he looks far stronger and able to go up and get balls. Palmer isnt slow either and played against top dbs in college and won individual battles. We get another wr that is more open than our previous depth and that is a big plus…more for defenses to have to cover. Plus wrs must have breaks too so having fresh legs is important.

I like Guyten but he was undrafted for a reason. Palmer is coming in more advanced than Guyten as a route runner and i think is going to surprise with his ability to make plays where Guyten struggled to get open.

Guyton dropped another pass. I didn’t even notice TJ in the Rams game, did he play? He’s been a little dinged up

[Topcat]

My assumption, whether entirely correct or not, is that Palmer is not taking snaps away from Allen and Williams unless there is an injury. My concern is that he could take snaps away from Johnson and Guyton, which I think is not favorable to the offense as I prefer the deep threats to have as many opportunities as possible. Those guys made huge contributions to the offense in terms of big plays last year.

I do think Palmer looked good against Ram reserves. To me, that is a positive result, but not as much of a big deal as it seemed like some were making of it. If/when he is consistently open against starters for something other than all very short passes, then it will be time to recognize that we have ourselves a good player. But 6 catches for 36 yards against reserves is not the be all end all in terms of high level performances.

In an average game, you might only see 1-2 long bombs...on the other hand, Johnson is turning into more than a deep threat...he's showing he can run quite a few different routes from the tree...

[Heatmiser]

Guyton was open a lot. Daniels missed him a lot. And he didn't run the look-ins and short curls that Palmer was running.

Johnson seemed a bit forgotten in the first preseason game. Hope he gets some more looks against 49ers. I really root for Tyron...perhaps it is because he wears 83 and I see a little JJ out there.

TG

[Bearded14YourPleasure]

Guyton dropped another pass. I didn’t even notice TJ in the Rams game, did he play? He’s been a little dinged up

TJ had an end around that didn’t go anywhere so he got in for a bit.