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

[dmac_bolt]

How many 3rd down conversions did Palmer have in the first preseason game?

Rather than worrying about who is where on the depth chart I am just excited about the potential of this passing game with all these weapons and Palmer has gone from a who the fuck is that what a reach type of draft pick to looking like a great pick to this point. Keenan Allen was a third round pick as well.

Wasn’t KA rated more like a late first rounder, but dropped due to injuries?

[equivocation]

Wasn’t KA rated more like a late first rounder, but dropped due to injuries?

Slow 40 time, maybe due to injuries.

[Bearded14YourPleasure]

Wasn’t KA rated more like a late first rounder, but dropped due to injuries?

Knee injury, I want to say his meniscus, caused him to run a slow 40. Those 2 combined to drop him down draft boards.

[DragonIce]

Can you elaborate on his practice habits.

I'm trying to remember the video I saw. Think it was on "Guilty as Charged". It was just low effort, low energy. Maybe there's a justifiable explanation. I don't know the player's history in this regard, so I'll not make any firm conclusions.

[CivilBolt]

I'm trying to remember the video I saw. Think it was on "Guilty as Charged". It was just low effort, low energy. Maybe there's a justifiable explanation. I don't know the player's history in this regard, so I'll not make any firm conclusions.

Maybe he is upset the team didn’t try to extend him then drafted his replacement. He probably saw the writing on the wall.

[wu-dai clan]

In spite of appearances,
there is no way @darealmike_dub is slacking.

It's a contract year, for starters.
Off season vids showed him hitting the weightroom hard.

[richpjr]

Maybe he is upset the team didn’t try to extend him then drafted his replacement. He probably saw the writing on the wall.

The team did try to extend him, supposedly.

[Panamamike]

I'm trying to remember the video I saw. Think it was on "Guilty as Charged". It was just low effort, low energy. Maybe there's a justifiable explanation. I don't know the player's history in this regard, so I'll not make any firm conclusions.

Yes that was a video it was one clip of a little 5-8 yard curl out drill. I thought their take on it was extremely over-the-top.

[equivocation]

I've seen a couple clips of WRs running cone or gate drills where MW was visibly the least energetic.

[DragonIce]

I've seen a couple clips of WRs running cone or gate drills where MW was visibly the least energetic.

Yeah. Saw that too. I don't want to over-react if perhaps he was a bit dinged up or something. But I like to see professionalism in practice.

Heard Keenan Allen said that Palmer is further ahead of where he was as a rookie. Again, lot of hype in preseason chatter.....but interesting.

[richpjr]

From Fernando Ramirez camp observations:

10. Receiver competition

It seems like there will be a healthy rotation at receiver behind Allen and Williams. As of right now, Josh Palmer appears to be the third receiver with Tyron Johnson on his heels.

"Josh is doing a very good job, with as young as he is and how he's able to run routes," said Allen about Palmer. "He's aggressive, he's friendly with the quarterbacks, and he's precise. That's a good thing from a rookie."

Staley and Lombardi seem to be rotating players to take advantage of mismatches, but it looks like Palmer and Johnson have separated themselves from the rest of the receivers with Jalen Guyton behind them.

Herbert has a solid relationship with each receiver, so he feels comfortable throwing to each of them.

[Guest]

Chain vs the rest of the board here seems to be commonplace. I just dont get the continued inability to actually consider ANYTHING anyone else has brought to the board here. Its your opinion…you are projecting on very little and making absolute judgement on what 1 preaseason game? You may want to consider how you downplay other people opinions…its getting very old.

Dont get me wrong I root for Williams and hope he finally lives up to being a #7 pick in the draft…but he hasnt yet. He has the tools but consistently he cannot stay on the field and hasnt lived up to expectations. He is good but hasnt put it all together and disappears completely in games and is a nonfactor. He has value but frankly he cant hold a candle to Allen. We lose Williams and we demonstrated over and over with a young crew of WRs we didnt really drop off production. Yet when we lose a possession receiver like Allen that keeps the chains moving and keeps the opposing Offense off the field and our Defense fresher we typically LOSE THE GAME. Time of possession is very very important. Surr I love a great long play and you need those when behind. But wasnt that 21 play drive impressive where we ate up what 10-11 minutes where the opposing offense had to sit and be a nonfactor important? I dont know about you but keeping Mahomes off the damn field seems pretty damned important to beating them and winning a division title.

Sure tell me having a rookie 6’1” strong route runner with just as much deep speed as Williams AND will cost a fraction of MW for years isnt valuable to this team. Look at it this way…Allen has finally been healthy for a few years and posting 100+ reception seasons. He moves the chains. But he is quickly approaching the age WRs fall off and injuries take him off the field. We would be idiots not to be planning ahead to bring in the next generation of Allen and Williams for that matter. Surely you cant be that blind to see the value of a cheaper WR that is arguably already more advanced route runner than any WR we have had since Allen came on board AND he may just not have been shown he can get deep too on purpose by design. Why would Lombardi want to show he can get deep in preseason? Dont judge the kid as an at best #3 in his rookie year with such confidence Chain. Give any player time to develop…you dont know the future nor are you there at practice nor have done all the work of TT and the team on this young ascending player. Sure he has to demonstrate himself against #1s but thats pretty impossible to do when the single game he has been in hasnt even put their #1s on the field.

So how about we let Palmer express himself on the field this year and we see how he develops. He will no doubt learn and contribute and that is what every rookie has to do. He wont get the number of plays of a Williams unless Williams goes down or Allen does. To think he cant have a large impact though is shortsighted. To think he cant replace MW next year is a TBD…nobody knows that answer but time and time again in this league players ascend and excel beyond their draft status level…happens all the time. Oh yah…guess who was a 3rd round pick…Allen. Would you have predicted he would be a top 5 production receiver based off his first preseason game and his production at Cal? I think not.

Sorry, but you are dead wrong. I have said about 10 times that the one preseason game means nothing either great or bad. I am not the one that is making a big deal out of one preseason game. In fact, I am making no deal out of it.

I valued Palmer a certain way long before he was ever drafted based upon conclusions I reached about his measurables and performance on the field. Nothing at all has happened yet to change those views which are in line with how most draft pundits viewed Palmer.

It is others who are making a big deal about one preseason game against reserves playing soft, not very good coverage. Palmer has been incredibly overhyped for a guy that has done nothing either in college or the NFL and that was not that highly rated by most. I get that people want to be optimistic about him, but people are discussing him as a viable Williams replacement and he just has not done anything to be considered that way so far. He has yet to prove that he could be a replacement for Legedu Naanee much less Mike Williams.

I will be the first to credit him if/when he does something meaningful either against first team players in the preseason or in an NFL game. If he produces effectively against legitimate competition, then it may be time to reevaluate him. I have been wrong about players plenty of times and right about players plenty of times. But I am not changing my opinion without additional evidence that would tend to alter my prior analysis. I hope that seems reasonable.

As for the 20+ play drive, no, it was not impressive at all. We failed to score a TD and the team was playing against deep reserves for the Rams who were even more protective of their players than we were of ours. It was a preseason game and Palmer's 6 catches for 36 yards against lesser competition just does not move the needle at all. The most impressive rookie performance last weekend by a mile was turned in by Rountree and nobody is saying anything about him. And I still see him as nothing more than a backup player, the same as Palmer only coming off of a better showing Saturday night.

I think the team is better when it is explosive and opponents have to account for that possibility. That helps open things up underneath and increases our chances to get back in the game when behind. To me, that helps the offense much more than a defense that is just sitting on short passes in tight coverage. The explosiveness is what makes KC's offense what it is, not time of possession. We need to match that explosiveness and beat them because our defense is better than theirs.

Also, I disagree with all of the Williams bashing. Palmer has not yet demonstrated that he is half the player Williams is. Again, there is only one ball and Williams is constantly asked to catch deeper, contested, lower percentage passes than our other receivers. He may not have all of the value of a 1-7 pick, but he certainly has the value of at least a 1-32 pick and would be a star on a different team that would feature him more. But Williams has been willing to check his ego and accept a subordinate role to Allen. He is a fantastic team player who gives his all, including on plays that expose him to an increased risk of injury. The goal really should be to re-sign him if it can be done at a reasonable price.