11-11-2022, 01:32 PM
(11-09-2022, 08:35 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Sometimes that's all a guy can run reliably. I was being a bit sarcastic when I mentioned Auden Tate, but it was also a little serious that seemingly always having to make tough/contested catches isn't actually a good thing. If you're getting separation you should have some easy ones mixed in there. As for the YAC that's actually another point of concern with the AVG. It's not just the average that's dropped every single year he's been in the NFL. Both his yards before the catch and yards after the catch have dropped each year too. When it's a 5 year pattern of it all going down each and every year, it gets harder to explain away by it just being an offense change.
Yards Before The Catch Per Reception
6.8
6.7
5.8
5.1
4.7
Yards After The Catch Per Reception
5.7
4.9
4.4
3.4
3.2
It's not like there's a rebound year in the middle there that you can be like "see, he just needs to be used that way!", it's dropped off every single year one after the other without fail. 8.0 yards per reception is already running back territory. Any more shrinkage and it'll be bad running back territory. There are 137 qualified pass catchers in the NFL right now (WR, TE, RB) and Hurst is at 111th. There are only 3 non-RBs on the list below him, 2 of them are on the Bucs, and the final 1 missed all of 2021 with a knee injury and his team traded for a new guy to replace him.
This bitching about Hurst is puzzling? He is a much, much better receiver than CJ. Burrow is going to him on 3rd and short, you don't get much separation 3-4 yards downfield. He has been open on longer routes, especially early, and Joe did not go to him. When he gets the ball in space it usually takes more than one guy to bring him down.
Most NFL offenses are 2 WR and 1 TE priority based. We have a 3 WR - 1 TE priority passing game. Hurst has been a bright spot and a reliable go to receiver, and his contract makes his play thus far even more appealing.
