(04-01-2018, 11:23 AM)NYC4jags Wrote: (04-01-2018, 09:29 AM)JackCity Wrote: Do we though?
Cole got separation last year sure. Moncrief doesn't separate consistently on his routes (even though he is fast. Route running is meh. Lee only gets separation on crossers, and Dedes sample in the NFL is pretty small although he flashed some and was v good at it in college.
This "Lee only gets open on crossers" thing is kind-of funny to me. I would phrase it differently:
"Lee is consistently wide open on crossers and intermediate in-routes, and the majority of other routes he is sent to run are often just blocking duty. He also does well on the rarely called come-back/hook." I mean he did it ALL season long. It's not like teams didn't have tape on it.
Lee has shown the ability to get open vertically in the past, but Hackett is seems essentially shelved that stuff as a result of Bortles' inability to connect with him consistently. Lee hits his second gear beyond ten yards out. That's when his second gear kicks in. Whether it's Lee's need to "build speed" or Bortles' issues placing the football in front of him, it has proven to be an issue on the more vertical stuff.
Re-watching some random mid-season quarters on game pass I'm seeing Cole open consistently. I'm seeing Westbrook open and too often ignored. Hackett used Westbrook as a deep option sometimes and he unfortunately got ignored by the QB on some of those despite getting open. The throw to Westbrook in the AFCC game that came up just short was one of the few times I actually saw him so well-covered (even though he had to slow down for an underthrown ball.)
The other thing I notice is Hackett's ability to "scheme open" receivers from the bunch formation effectively.
I truly do not see separation as an issue with this corps.
I wouldn't agree that Lee is consistently wide open on intermediate in routes. He's very good on crossers and good on slants. Two of the most basic routes WRs learn. Outside of that he's underwhelming for me. I don't see any evidence that he's a good route runner so far in the NFL.
Cole just glides through his routes and easily gets free. Don't have any issue with him.
Westbrook im a big fan of. Small sample size but he was already getting the higher difficulty passes from Blake+Hackett which suggests he was doing that in practice. Pretty confident of him replicating that this year.
I don't think we have an issue with separation either. Hackett is very good at scheming plays up and attacking defenses (at least for the first 20 plays). Just that I don't agree we have plenty of receivers capable of separating , Cole and Dede are the only two I'd agree with and both are 2nd year players with a 1 + 1/2 season sample size.
