Quote:I see this opinion floated around a lot.  It's a little bit misleading in my opinion. 

 

Hurns (who played through multiple injuries) had some pretty ugly drops last season, but he also had some pretty great catches on throws that were very far from accurate, many of which led him into big hits. 

 

Robinson had a few gaffs, but they can literally be counted on one hand. 

What changed for Robinson in 2016 was the number of uncatchable balls thrown his way, the number of downfield passes and red-zone attempts.  

 

It was high in 2015:  80 receptions on 151 targets with 5 drops. That's 66 targets that couldn't get home due to inaccuracy or proper defense.

 

In 2016 Robinson had 73 receptions on 151 targets (eerily the same number) and this time only 3 drops. That's 75 uncatchable balls due to accuracy or proper defense. 

 

Lee shouldn't even enter the discussion. The two picks that came off of his hands were horribly inaccurate passes, and outside of that false narrative there is no gripe on his 2016 performance. 

 

All three of these guys DID actually make some circus catches for Blake and paid a price for it several times as well.

 

From this perspective, I think the only complaints I can muster would be A-Rob's two bobbles that turned into picks, and the 3 or 4 game stretch where he phoned in a few routes at different points of the game out of frustration. 

 

On the whole I think Blake's contributions to his poor 2016 performance greatly outweigh any dip in performance by his receivers.

We may have come away with two more wins in 2016 if crucial catches had been made vs the bears and tinhorns, but we're still talking a meager 5 wins.