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Originally posted by chaincrusher
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Nobody is disputing that the best WR on a team may be a slower WR. In those instances, the slower WR has another skill or skills that offset(s) the lack of speed problem. In Allen's case, his sudden movement ability allows him to get open quickly. But defenders can and do close on him if he is running after making moves. All other things being equal, having speed is better for a WR than not having speed.
In the case of our team, right now, all of our active wide receivers are "not fast" to "slow", which is terrible as we have no speedy deep threat. We signed a relatively fast scrub from PHI's practice squad demonstrating the degree to which our team management and coaches just do not get it. On a team with playoff and possibly Super Bowl aspirations, why we are not trying to sign Will Fuller or even Chris Conley is beyond all understanding. To the extent that those receivers may be better than either Guyton or Palmer, that is not a bad thing.
As for Johnson, he played better for us than Palmer ever has. It is as simple as that. In no universe is there even an argument to the contrary. 398 yards on just 26 targets for Johnson (2020) versus 353 yards on 49 targets for Palmer (2021). There is no comparison there as one receiver, Johnson, was basically more than twice as effective as the other (15.3 yards per target versus 7.2 yards per target). And this year, of course, Palmer's yards per target (even with the blown play by the defender that gifted Palmer a 45 reception on a 7 yard pass) are down to 6.4 yards per target. And if you give Palmer 10 yards instead of 45 to account for the defensive incompetence, a more accurate figure of 4.7 yards per target is produced. There are RBs that gain more yardage per touch running with the ball, which makes Palmer's unaided production pretty pathetic.
And the bigger problem with cutting Johnson, of course, is that it left us with only one speedy WR. And if that WR gets injured, then we have none and cannot stretch out opposing defenses vertically. How any team management and coaching staff could fail to recognize this very, very simple concept is mind boggling.
Among the statements I made before the season began were that:
1. Our scoring rank of 5th resulted in too much credit being given to Lombardi because it failed to consider points produced by Staley's unique 4th down aggressiveness.
2. If the offense uses Palmer more and Guyton less, the offense will suffer because Palmer does not complement Allen and Williams as well as Guyton does.
Well, we are not going for it as much on 4th down this year and the offense has focused more on Palmer. The result, we are not even scoring 20 points per game. Herbert is 6th from the bottom in intended air yards despite being 6th from the top in throws in which the defender is within one yard of the intended receiver. More risk for less yards. What I predicted would happen has happened. Do you see it now?
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