Wide Reciever group.

[Stinky Wizzleteats+]

NFL Blogs

NFL Bl og s

Chargers position outlook: Wide receiver

By Eric D. Williams | February 6, 2014 11:50:36 AM PST

SAN DIEGO -- Keenan Allen put together one of the best seasons by a rookie receiver in recent memory. And Eddie Royal had a productive year as a slot receiver. But the San Diego Chargers still have some holes to fill.

Lock: Allen, Vincent Brown Looking good: Royal On the bubble: Malcom Floyd Free agents: Seyi Ajirotutu, Lavelle Hawkins, Danario Alexander.

The good: Allen set a team rookie record with 1,046 receiving yards and 71 catches. He also tied a team high for touchdown catches with Royal with eight. Allen became just the fifth NFL rookie since 2000 to go over 1,000 yards. Royal caught a career-high eight touchdown passes, finishing the season with 47 receptions for 631 yards.

The bad: The Chargers finished with just six passing plays of 40 yards or more, tied for No. 28 in the NFL. So creating more chunk plays could be viewed as an area that needs improvement. However, San Diego did finish with 60 passing plays of 20 or more yards, good enough for No. 7 in the league.

The money: Starters Allen and Vincent Brown are still in their rookie deals, so both are inexpensive compared to their production. Brown did a nice job of staying healthy, but can improve on his consistency and overall numbers, as he finished with 41 catches for 472 yards and a score. Brown will be a free agent after the 2014 season, so he should be properly motivated. Royal makes $4.5 million in base salary in 2014, so he could be a possible salary-cap casualty. But Royal gamely played with turf toe for most of the season, can return punts and still is a productive player. Royal turns 28 years old in May. Floyd is attempting to return from a serious neck injury, so his $2.75 million in base salary allocated for 2014 will have to be evaluated.

Draft priority: Necessary. The return of Floyd and Alexander from injury would provide depth and players who can stretch the field on the outside. But the Chargers should consider the healthy return of either player as a plus. Bringing back Ajirotutu in free agency makes some sense because of his reliability and production as a special-teams player. Bringing back Hawkins in free agency is another option behind Royal as a slot receiver. Tobais Palmer, a practice squad player signed to futures contract in January, gives San Diego yet another option in the slot and the return game. But the Chargers need a legitimate deep threat opposite Allen, and should find one in the draft

[Bolt-O]

Without Floyd and Alexander, the long game was predictably gone, as PR has rarely shown the ability to hit shorter receivers deep in stride (or in Meachum's case, drops the ball). I doubt that the Chargers will draft a WR in the first, but if they do, they should draft Kelvin Benjamin to restore that deep threat.

[Steve]

Meachems problems were so much his hands, although he did drop a lot of passes. His problem was that he didn't like to run good routes, and he wouldn't fight for the ball. The drops we could live with. The drops on top of being a terrible WR was too much.

[Yubaking]

Meachems problems were so much his hands, although he did drop a lot of passes. His problem was that he didn't like to run good routes, and he wouldn't fight for the ball. The drops we could live with. The drops on top of being a terrible WR was too much.

Meachem is the worst NFL receiver I have ever seen when it comes to fighting for the ball or going to the ball. CBs would take half a dozen strides toward the ball before Meachem would move toward the ball at all. Also, a 50-50 ball with Meachem involved became a 10-90 ball. And that's before we even reach the potentially game losing drop against Cleveland on a ball that I would expect my sister to catch. Basically, the Meachem rules that should have evolved were 1) do not throw it to him unless he is in a pasture by himself and 2) never throw it to him on third down because there is a decent chance he will drop it. What an awful signing (that I applauded at the time) that turned out to be!

[Yubaking]

NFL Blogs

NFL Bl og s

Chargers position outlook: Wide receiver

By Eric D. Williams | February 6, 2014 11:50:36 AM PST

SAN DIEGO -- Keenan Allen put together one of the best seasons by a rookie receiver in recent memory. And Eddie Royal had a productive year as a slot receiver. But the San Diego Chargers still have some holes to fill.

Lock: Allen, Vincent Brown Looking good: Royal On the bubble: Malcom Floyd Free agents: Seyi Ajirotutu, Lavelle Hawkins, Danario Alexander.

The good: Allen set a team rookie record with 1,046 receiving yards and 71 catches. He also tied a team high for touchdown catches with Royal with eight. Allen became just the fifth NFL rookie since 2000 to go over 1,000 yards. Royal caught a career-high eight touchdown passes, finishing the season with 47 receptions for 631 yards.

The bad: The Chargers finished with just six passing plays of 40 yards or more, tied for No. 28 in the NFL. So creating more chunk plays could be viewed as an area that needs improvement. However, San Diego did finish with 60 passing plays of 20 or more yards, good enough for No. 7 in the league.

The money: Starters Allen and Vincent Brown are still in their rookie deals, so both are inexpensive compared to their production. Brown did a nice job of staying healthy, but can improve on his consistency and overall numbers, as he finished with 41 catches for 472 yards and a score. Brown will be a free agent after the 2014 season, so he should be properly motivated. Royal makes $4.5 million in base salary in 2014, so he could be a possible salary-cap casualty. But Royal gamely played with turf toe for most of the season, can return punts and still is a productive player. Royal turns 28 years old in May. Floyd is attempting to return from a serious neck injury, so his $2.75 million in base salary allocated for 2014 will have to be evaluated.

Draft priority: Necessary. The return of Floyd and Alexander from injury would provide depth and players who can stretch the field on the outside. But the Chargers should consider the healthy return of either player as a plus. Bringing back Ajirotutu in free agency makes some sense because of his reliability and production as a special-teams player. Bringing back Hawkins in free agency is another option behind Royal as a slot receiver. Tobais Palmer, a practice squad player signed to futures contract in January, gives San Diego yet another option in the slot and the return game. But the Chargers need a legitimate deep threat opposite Allen, and should find one in the draft

Assuming neither Floyd nor Alexander play, my hope is that we keep Brown as a reserve. Ajirotutu can be back as a reserve and good ST guy. Royal can be back as a slot guy if he restructures, otherwise we should not pay him $4.5M. We need a starter opposite Allen, so that likely needs to be an early draft pick or a FA pick up. Then, we need another WR as a good reserve that is a draft pick or FA acquisition. We'll see what Inman has to show us too. I have no idea about him.

Early WR pick could be a guy like Benjamin, but he is not rated as BPA at #25 and should be gone before #57, so he may not be a value fit, but is a position of need. Middle pick could be a guy like Moncrief. A late draft pick (around 6th round) could be a guy like Jeff Janis (Saginaw Valley St., 6'2", 215 pounds or so, supposed to run a 4.43 40, and kicked ass among smaller college teams). Earlier, I mentioned L'Damian Washington out of Missouri (6'4", 205 pounds, 4.39 40, pretty good hands, and good production), but he did not impress in Missouri's important games late in the year against better teams. His stock, which was rising up to the 4-5 range, has now tumbled down to that of a 7th round pick. If we could get a guy with those measurable that late, though, there could be some value there.

[Beerman]

yup we need a starter opposite Allen.

One guy I would have a hard time passing on in the second round is Brandin Cooks. The guy is fucking electric. He's not a bigger WR like I would prefer, but man he is so damn good with the ball in his hands. I suspect he goes high in the second round anyways, but I would love to add a guy like him to the WR group.

[Boltdog]

VB a "lock"?? Please--He's likely the next man out whenever another young wide who can also return kicks comes in and steps it up. Brown showed very little last season when given max chances. Unless he had a hidden injury and shows up during the off-season workouts, he's got to be a bubble type.

[Beerman]

His salary will keep him on the team more than likely. We also just lack a ton of depth at the position. Barring a few draft picks, he's probably safe. Not that I think much of his long term prospects. Maybe we can trade him for a 6th rounder?

[Panama]

VB a "lock"?? Please--He's likely the next man out whenever another young wide who can also return kicks comes in and steps it up. Brown showed very little last season when given max chances. Unless he had a hidden injury and shows up during the off-season workouts, he's got to be a bubble type.

He's dirt cheap, showed an awful lot of promise before his injury, and possibly wasn't 100% recovered last season from a major injury. He's a lock for those reasons.

[MakoShark]

Short of a good FA signing, VB is the starter opposite Allen right now. I doubt even a top rookie draft pick would take his spot as the starter. We just got lucky with Allen. Most rookie WR's don't start right away and if they do they aren't as effective as Allen was last year.

[Beerman]

Short of a good FA signing, VB is the starter opposite Allen right now. I doubt even a top rookie draft pick would take his spot as the starter. We just got lucky with Allen. Most rookie WR's don't start right away and if they do they aren't as effective as Allen was last year.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a rookie start at all. McCoy already demoted Brown late in the season for Royal in 2 WR sets. If a rookie comes in and shows he can get consistent separation on routes, he will get the snaps.

[Beerman]

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/02/06/signature-stats-yards-per-route-run-3/

Nice breakdown of WRs. Not surprisingly Allen scores well overall when compared to top WRs across the league. Also not surprisingly, Brown is at the very bottom of the spectrum.