09-02-2021, 11:25 AM
(09-02-2021, 09:36 AM)jj22 Wrote: It wasn't just preseason. The practices were so bad (up until the final 4) even Hobspin had to discuss his struggles. Everyone covering training camp practices had a lot to say about his drops and separation issues. It was right up there with the Burrow return from injury coverage. If Burrow wasn't returning from injury taking up some of the focus, Chase's struggles would have dominated the camp reviews.
So to the "it was only 5 targets in preseason" crowd. You guys just haven't been paying much attention.
Chase was the big disappointment of the offseason. The preseason games just confirmed what everyone was hearing.
Chase had good practices before the final 4. He had *great* practices in the final 4. He had dropsie days, and he had days making tough snags over Awuzie, or scoring three touchdowns, or streaking deep.
Remove the preseason games and Chase is a rookie showing inconsistent flashes in his first camp. That would be and should be a big fat yawn. People would still "talk about it", because people talk about quite literally everything in the age of podcasts galore. Even the same reporters "talking about it" with the games also in mind are almost to a person saying things like "I still don't care", or "we'll see what happens in the regular season" or "if this is still happening five weeks in then I'll be worried" etc -- because those are just the obvious mindsets that apply.
Just the same on the other side, "Jerry Rice started his career like a doofus" is a silly argument and probably one that has been used to defend 1,000 bad receivers since Jerry's rookie year. Oh well.
We'll see.
