Because your WR room is 5-6 players deep, your best chance to compete is via offense, and your 2nd best WR on the roster is a guy who struggled to produce last year and has a long injury history. Your 3rd best WR is a guy who is small and has never been more than a depth piece. After that you have several guys who probably aren't any different than the FAs on the market.
Mr traits and measurables: what does Dortch do well? He’s struggled to find playing time on two 4-win football teams. He’s WR Marcel Shipp; great story and alternative to a more talented player that you don’t like, but he probably doesn’t make the roster of a playoff team.
What makes you think he's a no-doubt #3? And why don't we need competition and depth at the position?
He gets open in the slot.
He's the guy who you look to replace, but he's reasonably productive when he gets the chance.
And he probably doesn't make the roster on the next Cardinals playoff team, but for now he's a better option than a large chunk of NFL receivers who have better measureables.
Because you can't fix every problem in one off-season.
Except... he didn't really struggle. He played pretty well for a 3rd round rookie.
Is this as big an issue when you mostly have two tight ends on the field? It appears this is what the Cardinals want to do.
Exactly. This is why WR in the 3rd screams luxury pick to me. I wouldn't be screaming about it if it happened, but how many opportunities would they really get on the field? Especially when it would come at the sacrifice of blocking, secondary help, or a top RB to replace our guy that's almost 30?
You are proposing a false choice. Drafting another WR in the 3rd round doesn't have to take away from Wilson. Even with the Cardinals usage of multiple TEs, they still run 3 WR sets 40%+ of the time. If Wilson is great, he will ensure any WRs brought in don't supplant him. and if the new WR is better, the Cardinals are better off. That is how competition works. 12 38 565 and 3 shouldn't guarantee a player anything in this league.
Where I will differ in your take is that I don't view #3 WR as a luxury pick. It definitely is a need, but I think the Cardinals prioritized other needs ahead of #3 WR.
Arizona used 11 personnel 64.5% of snaps in 2023. Browns 68.3% (if you believe Petzing imitates Cle to a degree). That was with Ertz, Swaim, McBride, and Higgins. Not a terrible TE room. Cardinals used 12 and 13 personnel for 29.7% of snaps. Even if that increases, WR 3 is playing more than 40% of snaps.
Not a luxury. In 2023 64.5% of our personnel packages used was 11 personnel.
He struggled to stay healthy. We’re one average Michael Wilson season from Greg Dortch as the #2 WR for this team for 4+ games.
sumersports.com
Yeah...even if we increased our usage of 12 and 13 personnel, the Cardinals probably cap at 35% which was the most in 2023 by a competent offense.
Well, it's work I don't really feel like doing at the moment, but I do wonder how many teams' top 3 receivers are all 1st-3rd round draft picks (especially drafted within a two year span). That's a bit of why I'm calling it a luxury. I understand we could improve on Dortch, and I wouldn't have a problem with bringing one of those guys in to exclusively play the slot to replace him.
While I get your concept here, Dortch probably doesn't really take over the X/Y role if/when MW misses time, that's probably Moore or Pascal.
My draft sources tell me that your DVOA is like a four or something.
I mean, he was the second RB taken in the draft, and by some accounts, the best. I'm not trying to anoint him just yet, but I'd rather have the 2nd RB off the board than the 13th or worse WR. And I don't mean to make that purely about position and the amount taken, but I like Benson more than I like any of the receivers that went in round 3, in a vacuum.
I get it, not wanting to dig deep and I agree that most of the league's third receivers are probably close to Dortch capabilities.
You mean X (Split End) or Z (Flanker) role. Y is the TE and usually refers to an inline TE, though it can also be used for the slot receiver.
Definitely agree that there was a little bit of a throw some draft capital at a position and hope it fixes it. The Lions did the same thing this year trading for Davis and then using two fairly high picks on CB.
