Serious discussion please - What do you do with Finley

[Patler]

Please not the emotional rants and raves about the guy. Serious discussion please:

If you are MM, what do you do with Finley? He seems to be getting even worse.
Can you continue to throw to him in critical situations?
Can you continue to throw to him on third down in a close game?
Do you use his injury as an excuse to sit him down a couple weeks?

I think I would use the last of the options I listed, but probably only if Williams can play. Otherwise, I might leave him active, but not play him for a week or two, then slowly work him back in again.

[channtheman]

I honestly don't know. As you've mentioned his play has been regressing to the point that I don't think you can rely on him in ANY situation. He's dropping a lot of crucial passes. I would use his injury as an excuse to keep him out for the next few weeks. What is his problem though? Lack of concentration? We knew he at least for part of one season was a dominant force, but now he is just pathetic.

[Pugger]

With Quarless on the PUP and Williams sore hammy I don't know if we do anything. Finley wasn't 100% last night either.

[3irty1]

Its hard to give up on him when you know his current state isn't the norm. This is a guy with extraordinarily soft hands who is now in an undeniable pattern of dropping everything. I definitely start giving away his reps. If he doesn't respond to competition then he doesn't belong in the NFL anyways. I think Tom Crabtree has earned more reps.

[Willard]

Send him to an Optometrist to make sure that isn't the issue. ADHD medication?

[Guiness]

It looks to me like he's already being phased out if parts of the gameplan. Crabtree is healthy, and is taking some snaps. I'm certainly not saying Crabtree is going to replace Finley, but if he was playing well, they'd be working harder to keep him on the field.

[Joemailman]

Let him know you still have confidence in him, and hope he works his way out of it, ala James Jones. I suspect he's suffering from a loss of confidence right now, but one great play could reverse that.

[pbmax]

Option C as soon as DJ Williams is available to take his spot and give you three TEs for both the offense and ST.

I am not sure he will have any chance to fix anything while injured. But if Williams remains unavailable and Finley's health is sound enough, keep giving him chances in certain situations.

[mraynrand]

McCarthy knows what he's doing. He's not going to make Finley a huge part of his game plan while he's hurt, especially if he can't block too. He's just not going to need to go to him against certain defenses, and if he doesn't make plays. But I wouldn't be shocked to see Finley go for 6-7 catches and a couple of TDs against Chicago when they play them again, or against other defenses if they start to ignore him. Tom Crabtree isn't the answer, Williams is not much more than JAG, but Quarless might be.

[LegandofthePack15]

McCarthy knows what he's doing. He's not going to make Finley a huge part of his game plan while he's hurt, especially if he can't block too. He's just not going to need to go to him against certain defenses, and if he doesn't make plays. But I wouldn't be shocked to see Finley go for 6-7 catches and a couple of TDs against Chicago when they play them again, or against other defenses if they start to ignore him. Tom Crabtree isn't the answer, Williams is not much more than JAG, but Quarless might be.

Agreed, though I think Quarless is just average.

J-Mike seems to be lacking confidence catching the ball. Needs a monster game to get that confidence back. Edited: Joemailman beat me to it, regarding said statement.

Yes, J-Mike is still the Pack's best TE.

[Bossman641]

I really don't know what you do with him. It seems like they try to get him some easy passes early to get him involved and confident. The past 2 weeks they have thrown him out routes early on that only went for 2-3 yards.

Long term, I think he is gone now. The money seems like it could be better spent elsewhere.

[pbmax]

I really don't know what you do with him. It seems like they try to get him some easy passes early to get him involved and confident. The past 2 weeks they have thrown him out routes early on that only went for 2-3 yards.

Long term, I think he is gone now. The money seems like it could be better spent elsewhere.

Good point about planning your cash expenditures. Maybe keep injured Jennings and someone else.

[mraynrand]

Good point about planning your cash expenditures. Maybe keep injured Jennings and someone else.

If Finley keeps playing poorly, it will be cheaper to keep her. It's kinda like that old deal at 7-11: If the coffee isn't fresh, you get it free!


So maybe we want Finley to keep sucking until we can resign him and then beast it out.

[mraynrand]

Sorry Patler, I violated you r 'serious' thread policy. So sue me.

[Tony Oday]

Take him out behind the woodshed and beat him until his hands improve?

In all seriousness he is not a good tight end right now. He looks the part but so does every NFL player he just doesnt have the hands to do it.