OBJ

[Whatever]

(06-29-2022, 11:35 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Yes, because he was the second most targeted player on their team in the postseason while Boyd was the 4th most targeted player on this team for the postseason (nearly 5th). Their alternative was to throw more to Tyler Higbee or Van Jefferson. You said it yourself, he was behind Tee Higgins (the Bengals 2nd targeted player) and Tee Higgins was playing the entire postseason with a torn labrum in just his age 22 season. Higgins will be even better next year while OBJ has already peaked. 

Last 2 Years
Tee Higgins (who will be 23): 141/1,999(14.2)/12
OBJ (who will be 30): 67/856(12.8)/8

Last year during the season, Stafford had a 84.1 QB Rating while targeting OBJ. Burrow had a 116.5 targeting Chase, 110.1 targeting Higgins, and 98.2 targeting Boyd.

Tyler Boyd fills a different role as he has caught 71.6% of his targets the last two years while OBJ is at 53.6%, and he's also a good team player because he's a 2x 1,000 yard receiver who has seen a reduce role due to Chase and Higgins, and we didn't hear a single thing about it, or hear from his dad on social media about it.

Pass on the 30-year-old diva well past his prime with a torn ACL with a history of forcing his way off teams.

You realize OBJ had a higher Catch %(80.8%) and Yards per Target(11.08) than Higgins(60%/10.3) and Boyd(75%/5.5) in the playoffs, right?  It's accurate to say the only reason Tee had more yards than OBJ is he had more targets and totally incorrect to argue that the only reason OBJ had more yards than Boyd.  If Boyd had gotten OBJ's targets, he'd still be at less than half OBJ's yardage.  Bottom line, OBJ was more productive than Higgins and Boyd last year in the playoffs with his targets.  

As far as regular season stats go, I really couldn't care less in regards to this discussion.  OBJ will miss most of the regular season, anyways.  This is a move you make to try and put us over the top in the playoffs, not the regular season.  I wouldn't care if they say OBJ the entire regular season and busted him out for the playoffs.

I would expect Tee to be the primary WR2, but that can change based on matchups.  We know Tee suffered damage to his labrum when he dislocated his shoulder early in the year.  We don't know the extent of that damage and to what extent it may have hampered him.  It's highly unlikely that it was a complete tear given that he was able to continue playing at a high level.  It seems more likely it was a partial and could simply be a situation where he either reaggravated it in the playoffs or it wasn't responding like they wanted to PT.  Some go over the top on this and act like he was a one armed man out there and it isn't the case.  However, keep in mind that there is a very high risk of reinjury with shoulder injuries like this and Higgins will be eligible for an extension next off-season.  If he suffers any kind of injury where surgery may be necessary, he has a business decision to make and that needs to be in the back of people's heads when talking WR depth 

One really eye opening thing about this discussion is just how bad Tyler Boyd was in the playoffs.  110 yards on 20 targets is brutally bad.  He got a little crap on here for his drop in the SB and his inability to make a block on what would have been a Chase TD, but he sucked all postseason.  A healthy OBJ would definitely beat out Boyd as a WR3 for the playoffs.  Boyd has returned punts in the past, so he could get some touches there.

The other thing people are overlooking is OBJ can play outside or in the slot.  Boyd is only effective in the slot.  Having that flexibility means you can move Chase and Tee into the slot to potentially take advantage of matchups while being able to have a viable threat on the outside.  

We can talk about OBJ's personality all we want.  Bottom line is, he's got a ring and we don't.  He knows the WR situation here.  If he still wants to come here, then he's certainly accepted that he won't be the WR1 and there's going to be competition for targets.  He's also likely on a one year deal and wouldn't gain anything from trying to force his way out.  Another reality is that if we pass on him, he may very well be lined up against us in the playoffs and the guy had a pretty big part in the Rams beating us last year.