No Need for a #1 WR

[QueenCity]

As the subject simply states... Burrow does not need a WR 1 to be successful. Yes only a 3 game sample size but he has barely used AJ Green or couldn't for that matter. This is a good thing fellas ala Tom Brady. We can allocate the $$$ to other positions.

Bengals would be wise to move on from AJ either through trade or not resigning him.

Thoughts agree or disagree?

[CJD]

Yea, at this point I'm pretty sure Green will either take a massive pay cut in 2021 or will be playing for another team.

[QueenCity]

Also I don't want this to turn into an AJ Green bashing thread. He did make some nice catches today.

All I'm saying is Burrow seems to like to spread the ball around which is a good thing. He makes his WR better than they really are... a sign of a Franchise QB.

[thompson19osu]

Green is clearly on his last leg. He will want to go play for a winner and who could blame him. It should be a mutual parting. We have good talent otherwise. Forget being a deep threat, because AJ isn’t anymore, nor would the o-line ever allow for it. Let AJ walk, trade John Ross and draft picks and get a proven lineman.

[RiverRat13]

They need a deep threat.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

Bold proclamation for a 0-2-1 team that's 24th in scoring coming into today at 21.5 points, and scored 23 points today so should stick right around there.

I think the Lions tried this theory a few years ago with Golden Tate/Marvin Jones and it didn't get amazing results from a W standpoint and flopped in the postseason (they combined for 7/106/0. Not a bad line if it were one player, but not when it's your top two pass catchers combined.

Important thing to remember when talking about Brady not having a #1 WR? He had a 1st Ballot HoF top-2-all-time TE instead. Gronk played 16 games in the postseason and put up 81/1,163(14.4)/12... that's essentially a season against nothing but the best teams in football and it's still a mindblowly good TE season. That's his #1 WR.


(Also Tom Brady is the greatest QB of all time. So not a great comparison point either.)


EDIT: Steelers are another good example. They haven't felt like a threat to win a SB since they lost Antonio Brown. JuJu being their #1 is pretty much a failed experiment at this point.

EDIT EDIT: Can't forget the Texans either. They thought they didn't need a #1 WR in Hopkins so they traded him. Now they're 0-3 after double digit wins the previous two seasons. (The Cardinals meanwhile are 2-0 and losing Week 3, but can still win down only 4 with over a quarter left.) Not saying AJ Green is the answer, because he's not. I was actually in the camp of not bringing him back this offseason, but the Bengals DO need a #1 WR.

[thompson19osu]

(09-27-2020, 07:22 PM)RiverRat13 Wrote: They need a deep threat.

Contrary. They need an offensive line. Burrow excels in short and mid range throws. They need a running game to pair along. He now has 2 straight 300 yard games with 5 TDs and no INT with zero wins to show for it. All of this with no deep threats right now. Shore up a running game that could produce ANYTHING other than negative yards in the Red Zone and we would likely be 2-1.

[Billy_Bengal]

My argument would be you don’t need a #1 WR when your QB doesn’t have enough time to throw to him.

[Whatever]

(09-27-2020, 07:10 PM)QueenCity Wrote: As the subject simply states... Burrow does not need a WR 1 to be successful. Yes only a 3 game sample size but he has barely used AJ Green or couldn't for that matter.   This is a good thing fellas ala Tom Brady. We can allocate the $$$ to other positions.

Bengals would be wise to move on from AJ either through trade or not resigning him.

Thoughts agree or disagree?

Higgins may wind up being a #1 when it's said and done.  Kid has improved by leaps and bounds the first 3 weeks.

[QueenCity]

I can't give you a run down on the Lions O-Line through the years but I think it's obvious to everyone if Burrow had an extra second of time he'd be extremely dangerous.


Burrow and Brady don't have strong arms so they need to move the chains.. little big play ability. Which is why we don't need a WR 1 sure yes we may need a high end TE eventually.  I know comparing the GOAT to a rookie is premature but I'm not the 1st or the 2nd or the 3rd to make that comparison... the similarities are there though.

[CincinnatiKid]

Let AJ and Ross go. Spend that money on o-line help and draft and 3rd round burner to stretch the ala Hollywood Brown

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

A deep threat is a moot point without an O line to provide the time to allow the QB to throw it deep.

Eight sacks today. Mixon had 49 yards rushing. No need to respect play action pass.

[samhain]

(09-27-2020, 07:22 PM)RiverRat13 Wrote: They need a deep threat.

Do they?  How would we know?  This offense rarely ever has time to let deep routes develop to see if we have a receiver that can successfully execute them.  

They need a right tackle first and foremost, and probably a right guard.  If you give this qb time, the deep routes will come.  

[Fan_in_Kettering]

(09-27-2020, 07:22 PM)RiverRat13 Wrote: They need a deep threat.

Deep threat? At this point I’ll settle for a first down.

[QueenCity]

All roads come back to the O-Line so maybe this thread was pre-mature.

If you build it the playbook opens up.

[*rfaulk34*]

(09-27-2020, 07:10 PM)QueenCity Wrote: As the subject simply states... Burrow does not need a WR 1 to be successful. Yes only a 3 game sample size but he has barely used AJ Green or couldn't for that matter.   This is a good thing fellas ala Tom Brady. We can allocate the $$$ to other positions.

Bengals would be wise to move on from AJ either through trade or not resigning him.

Thoughts agree or disagree?

Give him a few "good" WRs and he's set. Forutunately, the Bengals have some of those. I think AJ still has a place on this team though. 

[Cicero]

(09-27-2020, 07:33 PM)Whatever Wrote: Higgins may wind up being a #1 when it's said and done.  Kid has improved by leaps and bounds the first 3 weeks.

Agreed. He appears to have a very high ceiling. Still hoping AJ rebounds, but we have talent at that position.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

Quote:I can't give you a run down on the Lions O-Line through the years but I think it's obvious to everyone if Burrow had an extra second of time he'd be extremely dangerous.


Burrow and Brady don't have strong arms so they need to move the chains.. little big play ability. Which is why we don't need a WR 1 sure yes we may need a high end TE eventually.  I know comparing the GOAT to a rookie is premature but I'm not the 1st or the 2nd or the 3rd to make that comparison... the similarities are there though.

If every QB had an extra second of time they'd be dangerous. You'd be surprised how much time a second is for a QB and how much of an unreasonable ask it is.


https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/62v6jk/quarterbacks_time_to_throw_in_relation_to/

Couple years old, but it gives you a good idea. The vast majority of QBs are in the 2.50-2.90 range for time to throw.  Tyrod Taylor is an anomaly there because he had great ability to escape and extend the play.


Even then there's not a second difference between the fastest and the slowest. 


I don't know the numbers of what Burrow has had this year for TTT but you'll note on that list that Drew Brees is the 2nd fastest (2.43s), Jared Goff was 8th (2.50s), Tom Brady was 12th (2.57s). The difference between Brees at 2nd and Brady at 12th? 0.13s ... that's it.


So yes, Burrow needs a little more time to throw, but we're honestly talking ~0.10-0.20 seconds more. That's all. The rest is getting Burrow to make good pre-snap reads and making quick decisions once the ball is in his hand before getting rid of it quickly. Stuff that'll come with him getting experience and no longer being a rookie. (A better schemed offense wouldn't hurt either.)

[*ochocincos*]

Teams can always find decent veteran WRs in FA who will play for cheap and able to contribute 500+ yards.
Burrow likes to spread the ball around, so a guy like that should be fine to get.

Use AJ Green's money on OL...which they should have done this past offseason.

[*rfaulk34*]

Deep threat? Yeah, i'm a deep threat. Just ask my wife.