Scouts Inc. Ranks WR Top 64

[hoosier]

Re: Scouts Inc. Ranks WR Top 64

2. Terrell Owens
Dallas Cowboys
Like Moss, Owens does not seem to be slowed by age. The 34-year-old has never been a speed guy, but he remains one of the more physical receivers in the game. Owens has improved his route-running skills, which is the main reason his game has not fallen off. A negative: He had 10 drops last season, according to Stats LLC, tied for third in the NFL. In 2006, he led the NFL in drops with 17, according to Stats.

64. James Jones
Green Bay Packers
Jones made a big impression during his rookie year in Green Bay with 47 catches, the longest 79 yards. He uses his size (6-1, 207) and athleticism to compete for the ball and win his share of jump-ball situations. He is a good route runner, but he lacks big-time speed, which will prevent him from being an elite receiver.

I hate it when they do this, it's sheer laziness. Clearly Jones' speed is good enough that it doesn't prohibit him from become an "elite receiver" (look at what he did on Monday night in Denver). If he doesn't rise to the top it will be for one or more other reasons, not just because of his lack of speed. It would be more useful, IMO, if they offered a take on Jones' late season decline. Did he just hit the proverbial wall at the end of the first year and so no big deal? Or did the rest of the league quickly figure out how to defend him, in which case he'll either have to develop some new skills or else not repeat his early season success?

[Tony Oday]

You cant tell me that Sidney Rice should be that high! And I still think DD is better than Jennings...

[MJZiggy]

Re: Scouts Inc. Ranks WR Top 64

2. Terrell Owens
Dallas Cowboys
Like Moss, Owens does not seem to be slowed by age. The 34-year-old has never been a speed guy, but he remains one of the more physical receivers in the game. Owens has improved his route-running skills, which is the main reason his game has not fallen off. A negative: He had 10 drops last season, according to Stats LLC, tied for third in the NFL. In 2006, he led the NFL in drops with 17, according to Stats.

64. James Jones
Green Bay Packers
Jones made a big impression during his rookie year in Green Bay with 47 catches, the longest 79 yards. He uses his size (6-1, 207) and athleticism to compete for the ball and win his share of jump-ball situations. He is a good route runner, but he lacks big-time speed, which will prevent him from being an elite receiver.

I hate it when they do this, it's sheer laziness. Clearly Jones' speed is good enough that it doesn't prohibit him from become an "elite receiver" (look at what he did on Monday night in Denver). If he doesn't rise to the top it will be for one or more other reasons, not just because of his lack of speed. It would be more useful, IMO, if they offered a take on Jones' late season decline. Did he just hit the proverbial wall at the end of the first year and so no big deal? Or did the rest of the league quickly figure out how to defend him, in which case he'll either have to develop some new skills or else not repeat his early season success?

Was Jones the only rookie to make the list? And I agree with others who've said that DD should be above Jennings. Why is Walker even on that list, he hasn't done anything in 4 years?

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

Driver and Jennings should be right next to each other.

[Bretsky]

Re: Scouts Inc. Ranks WR Top 64

2. Terrell Owens
Dallas Cowboys
Like Moss, Owens does not seem to be slowed by age. The 34-year-old has never been a speed guy, but he remains one of the more physical receivers in the game. Owens has improved his route-running skills, which is the main reason his game has not fallen off. A negative: He had 10 drops last season, according to Stats LLC, tied for third in the NFL. In 2006, he led the NFL in drops with 17, according to Stats.

64. James Jones
Green Bay Packers
Jones made a big impression during his rookie year in Green Bay with 47 catches, the longest 79 yards. He uses his size (6-1, 207) and athleticism to compete for the ball and win his share of jump-ball situations. He is a good route runner, but he lacks big-time speed, which will prevent him from being an elite receiver.

I hate it when they do this, it's sheer laziness. Clearly Jones' speed is good enough that it doesn't prohibit him from become an "elite receiver" (look at what he did on Monday night in Denver). If he doesn't rise to the top it will be for one or more other reasons, not just because of his lack of speed. It would be more useful, IMO, if they offered a take on Jones' late season decline. Did he just hit the proverbial wall at the end of the first year and so no big deal? Or did the rest of the league quickly figure out how to defend him, in which case he'll either have to develop some new skills or else not repeat his early season success?

Was Jones the only rookie to make the list? And I agree with others who've said that DD should be above Jennings. Why is Walker even on that list, he hasn't done anything in 4 years?

Dwayne Bowe and Sydney Rice were also rookies and were rightfully on the list. I thought Rice was about where he should be. Bowe might have been a bit high but not by much

[Bretsky]

You cant tell me that Sidney Rice should be that high! And I still think DD is better than Jennings...

I think Rice is about where he should be. He has talent; just nothing to throw it to him.

I've always felt Driver was a notch above Jenkins until about mid last year. It seems when the field shortened it is Jennings who has the shake and bake to catch the short yardage TD's and passes in the red zone. I didn't see as much doubleteaming of Driver as in the past. I'd kind of consider Jennings our 1A and Driver our 1B when both are healthy

[3irty1]

You cant tell me that Sidney Rice should be that high! And I still think DD is better than Jennings...

I think Rice is about where he should be. He has talent; just nothing to throw it to him.

I've always felt Driver was a notch above Jenkins until about mid last year. It seems when the field shortened it is Jennings who has the shake and bake to catch the short yardage TD's and passes in the red zone. I didn't see as much doubleteaming of Driver as in the past. I'd kind of consider Jennings our 1A and Driver our 1B when both are healthy

I think it was the 2nd queens game for me... when Jennings out jumped some purple corner and then got lit up by Sharper but held onto the ball. It should have been an interception.

[Scott Campbell]

I'd kind of consider Jennings our 1A and Driver our 1B when both are healthy

If you're the opposing D coordinator - pick your poison. Both those guys will hurt people.

[RashanGary]

If you guys want to see a unique talent that is different than what we have but equally dominate (in college anyway), look at James Hardy.

6'5"
217 lbs
4.45-4.51 40 yd dash (depending on the source)

year-GP-REC-YD-YPC-TD
2005 10 61 893 14.6 10
2006 10 51 722 14.2 10
2007 13 79 1,125 14.2 16

He had upper tier reception and yardage totals but off the charts TD totals. Go check out this kids highlights. Most of his highlghts are of him torching some DB in the redzone. He's got some character concerns, but he'd be a unique weapon for Arod. Probably not a guy who starts out as strong in his rookie year, but we don't need him to. We need him to eventually take over Drivers starting role a couple years down the road and to be a redzone specialist early.

http://nfldraft.rivals.com/viewprorank.asp?ra_key=115

[RashanGary]

There are mulitple times in that clip where a DB does everything right and this guy somehow comes up with the catch. The DB's just look up like "WTF just happened".

This guy dominated the college ranks with his redzone production. I think he's a unique, special talent that will probably take a year to adjust, but has great hands, dominate skills and a perfect skillset to lineup along side Jennings some day. I see him as a poor mans Randy Moss and that's not an insult because I consider Moss the greatest I've ever seen.

I'd probably poop my pants if we landed WR Hardy and the DE Johnston. I think both are probowlers waiting to happen. I have other players I like, but these two stand out as dominate players who might fall into our laps.

[the_idle_threat]

I'd move Jones up at least 10 spots on this list and as many as 20. His speed/playmaking ability is good enough (only 6 guys had a longer reception than his 79 yarder last season, and none of those six were rookies). He doesn't have any other glaring weaknesses aside from relative inexperience, which would be less of a concern in time. Many of the others toward the bottom of the list have significant holes and are old and declining. J.J. outperformed many of them last year as a #3 receiver and a rookie, and he can be expected to improve, while many of them can be expected to get worse.

Among the rookie/2nd year guys, only Bowe outperformed J.J. by a ton last year, (70 Rec 995 yds 5 TDs vs. 47 Rec 676 yds 2 TDs), and Bowe is ranked just outside the top 20. Of course, he saw a lot of looks as the team's #1 wide receiver. Calvin Johnson was marginally more productive than J.J. (48 Rec 756 yds 4 TDs), and he is ranked #30. of course, he's supposed to be a truly rare talent (just like Charles Rogers was). I can understand placing J.J. behind those guys, although his production might be closer to theirs if he were given #1 or #2 looks like they get.

What's really puzzling is how they ranked guys like Anthony Gonzalez (37 Rec 576 yds 3 TDs) and Sidney Rice (31 Rec 396 yds 4 TDs) so much higher than J.J. despite their poorer production. They are ranked #47 and #48, respectively---more than 15 spots up the list. This strikes me as nothing more than draft postion bias. Which is funny because they showed no love for Ted Ginn Jr., who outperformed Rice (Ginn had 34 Rec 420 yds 2 TDs) and he wasn't exactly catching balls from Montana in his prime last year either.

I think J.J. knows he's better then a lot of the guys above him on this list. I hope he's motivated by the doubters.

[cheesner]

Re: Scouts Inc. Ranks WR Top 64

2. Terrell Owens
Dallas Cowboys
Like Moss, Owens does not seem to be slowed by age. The 34-year-old has never been a speed guy, but he remains one of the more physical receivers in the game. Owens has improved his route-running skills, which is the main reason his game has not fallen off. A negative: He had 10 drops last season, according to Stats LLC, tied for third in the NFL. In 2006, he led the NFL in drops with 17, according to Stats.

64. James Jones
Green Bay Packers
Jones made a big impression during his rookie year in Green Bay with 47 catches, the longest 79 yards. He uses his size (6-1, 207) and athleticism to compete for the ball and win his share of jump-ball situations. He is a good route runner, but he lacks big-time speed, which will prevent him from being an elite receiver.

I hate it when they do this, it's sheer laziness. Clearly Jones' speed is good enough that it doesn't prohibit him from become an "elite receiver" (look at what he did on Monday night in Denver). If he doesn't rise to the top it will be for one or more other reasons, not just because of his lack of speed. It would be more useful, IMO, if they offered a take on Jones' late season decline. Did he just hit the proverbial wall at the end of the first year and so no big deal? Or did the rest of the league quickly figure out how to defend him, in which case he'll either have to develop some new skills or else not repeat his early season success?

Was Jones the only rookie to make the list? And I agree with others who've said that DD should be above Jennings. Why is Walker even on that list, he hasn't done anything in 4 years?

Dwayne Bowe and Sydney Rice were also rookies and were rightfully on the list. I thought Rice was about where he should be. Bowe might have been a bit high but not by much

Calvin Johnson at #30 also.