What was the point of drafting Richardson?

[Jville]

I certainly haven't given up on Richardson-I like his pure speed and go route potential, but I don't fully understand why the front office have neglected going after more receivers with size. Even last year after Rice went down there was a lack of red zone capability. Norwood has decent size and Lockette is tall but as others have mentioned it seems PC/JS are simply fascinated with all these small, quick burst receivers. What exactly is PC's philosophy on what an ideal balance of receivers in our system should look like?

IIRC 2013 4th round miss Chris Harper was a big object lesson. Also, they knew they needed a plan B in case Percy Harvin didn't fit and proved to be another big object lesson. So .... their picks for 2014 had to be, first and foremost, good hands receivers that snatch the ball out of the air .... plus possess an additional distinguishing asset that addressed a team need.

 

[dumbrabbit]

So your saying you expect Richardson to be the next Doug Baldwin in his rookie year?

 

[brimsalabim]

I'm not upset with the kid. I'm just saying that I'd like to see us use him to his strength every now and then.

 

[LickMyNuts]

We need a couple of tall receivers or another pass catching tight end. With a QB like RW you can't have too many good TE's. Seems simple to me. But the team has other priorities.

 

[SomersetHawk]

It's not really as easy as just letting him run a go-route cause he's quick is it?

Team Sarlacc turned me away because I don't have all-22, but from what I've seen, and can deduce, Richardson isn't getting open a whole lot. I'm surprised at how good his blocking has been because he's not physical and guys appear to be jamming him and redirecting him with some ease. That would mean that Richardson's working a little harder and taking a little more time to get where he needs to be, and time isn't something Russ has been given an awful lot of lately.

It really would be interesting to get the opinion of someone with All-22 on how Richardson's routes are developing and how we're using him, because he's being targeted very little and the obvious explanation (without being able to analyze it) is that he's not getting open enough.

 

[UGotHawked]

He's 2nd in the league for receptions amongst rookies. At WR. I don't know why you'd whine about him and not our more veteran WRs who drop TD passes.

Didn't realize he had his name changed to Kelvin Benjamin today.

1. Brandin Cooks WR, New Orleans Saints - 53
2. Kelvin Benjamin WR, Carolina Panthers - 52
3. Allen Robinson WR, Jacksonville Jaguars - 48
4. Mike Evans WR, Tampa Bay Bucs - 46
5. Sammy Watkins WR, Buffalo Bills - 45
6. Jordan Matthews WR, Philadelphia Eagles - 43
7. Jarvis Landry WR, Miami Dolphins - 42
8. Jace Amaro TE, New York Jets - 34
9. John Brown WR, Arizona Cardinals - 32
10. Odell Beckham Jr. New York Giants – 31

And let's not forget:

Allen Hurns - 30
Taylor Gabriel - 29
Davante Adams - 27
Donte Moncrief - 17
Martavis Bryant - 16

But the good news is that Richardson is tied with Marqis Lee.

 

[MysterMatt]

Straight comparisons based solely on catches without considering the style of offense is still sorta dumb. The point is that Richardson was/is a good pick and is playing fine for a rookie. It's been a great year for rookie WRs, but Take any of the 11 guys with more catches and then exclude all the ones taken prior to Richardson. Then take the rest and put them in our offense. I really doubt we'd see much of a difference in stats.

Look, clearly our passing game is off and I suppose our OC, QB, and pedestrian WRs all share some blame. Kearse is very much in my doghouse these days, but it's unfair to expect him to be more than what he really is: a 4th WR in a quality rotation. I think Richardson and Norwood will both surpass him at some point, but they're gonna need Wilson's help. I have no idea what to make of Bevell at this point.

Anyhow, I get the angst over our passing game but bitching about a rookie is dumb.

 

[seedhawk]

Might just as well complain about the Hawks signing Miller. Dude averages catching 70-80 balls a year for the Raiders, comes here to be a glorified third tackle. Hell, have we even thrown 80 balls his direction since he got here?

 

[LawlessHawk]

Tall QB to Tall WR = Great
Tall QB to Short WR = Great
Short QB to Tall WR = Great
Short QB to Short WR = Fail

 

[SomersetHawk]

Tall QB to Tall WR = Great
Tall QB to Short WR = Great
Short QB to Tall WR = Great
Short QB to Short WR = Fail

CHOMP!

Richardson's got over two inches on Tate and Baldwin.

 

[themunn]

He's a bust, BUST I tell you.

But let's play a game of "guess the rookie wide receiver"

X, the team's top draft pick, had 26 receptions in 11 games, but he also dropped 10 balls, some of them at the worst possible times. He was coming off a game in which he dropped two passes, fumbled once, and caught just one pass. TEAM fans booed the rookie; local columnists made him the butt of jokes.

Judging a player after 10 games is definitely the way to go.

 

[Largent80]

Tate stunk his first year. Late in his 2nd year he "got it".

Get it?

 

[pehawk]

I was really disappointed Richardson wiffed on that KO, because I think he needs more touches to get some confidence. He was drafted to be Percy insurance, so, use him that way. Get him some touches via a jet sweep or some bubble screens. Build up his confidence and report with the offense.

I'm still a very, very firm believer in his abilities.

The Pac12 is underrated in general, but its really underrated in secondary play. The fact Richardson put up numbers, being literally the only person opposing defenses gameplanned for, is a strong indicator of his talent. With the Seahawks his catches and routes seem natural and effortless, which is also a strong indicator of his talent. His defensive teammates and press also sing his praises from the practice field, another plus.

Keep in mind Pete didn't give Tate a shot in year one either. This thread would be germane to Tate in 2010 too. Almost identical.

Richardson will pay off, but it may not be until next year. He may need a full, Percy-free, training camp before PRich and the team maximize his skill set.

 

[SomersetHawk]

He's a bust, BUST I tell you.

But let's play a game of "guess the rookie wide receiver"

X, the team's top draft pick, had 26 receptions in 11 games, but he also dropped 10 balls, some of them at the worst possible times. He was coming off a game in which he dropped two passes, fumbled once, and caught just one pass. TEAM fans booed the rookie; local columnists made him the butt of jokes.

Judging a player after 10 games is definitely the way to go.

That bad man what wore Steve's jersey.

 

[Donn2390]

Surprised a bunch of people are not blaming Wilson. He seems to have plenty of "fans" out there who don't think he's that great and/or worth giving a good deal.

The only way to please most of these people is if everything goes absolutely perfect and they dominate every game. They all know more than the coaches do. It gets harder and harder to come in and read these posts when we aren't winning every game...

 

[MysterMatt]

I was really disappointed Richardson wiffed on that KO, because I think he needs more touches to get some confidence. He was drafted to be Percy insurance, so, use him that way. Get him some touches via a jet sweep or some bubble screens. Build up his confidence and report with the offense.

I'm still a very, very firm believer in his abilities.

The Pac12 is underrated in general, but its really underrated in secondary play. The fact Richardson put up numbers, being literally the only person opposing defenses gameplanned for, is a strong indicator of his talent. With the Seahawks his catches and routes seem natural and effortless, which is also a strong indicator of his talent. His defensive teammates and press also sing his praises from the practice field, another plus.

Keep in mind Pete didn't give Tate a shot in year one either. This thread would be germane to Tate in 2010 too. Almost identical.

Richardson will pay off, but it may not be until next year. He may need a full, Percy-free, training camp before PRich and the team maximize his skill set.

To be honest, I think Richardson already "gets it" and I think he's already ahead of Tate in some key ways, especially attitude and effort in practice. The dude is a quality pick in a struggling O. I wasn't terribly thrilled about the pick when he was selected, but he's been winning me over as the season goes on. I just think we need to temper our expectations of him, if not our passing game as a whole.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

I blame our OC that doesn't know how to use these type of WR's as anything more than glorified gadget players.

Dude has top flight speed and we've taken one shot down the field with him all year (against Carolina). Blows my mind. Especially with the run game humming the way it is.

Re-watch the games, you can see at least 5-6 times we run the play action and Russell looking downfield for the big play..............and then he scrambles.

So we are trying to run deep routes off of play action, but either there's nothing open or Russell's not seeing it.

I'd love to see Richardson more, who cares if he can't block as well as Kearse. It's not like Kearse is lighting it up with 10 catches a game and never misses a block. It's time to see what Richardson and Norwood can do.

 

[seedhawk]

If you look at the stats for the KC game, we threw it 32 times. 9 each to Baldwin and Kearse, and 6 to TE's. That leaves 8 balls for all other recievers and RB's. Just how big of an impact are we expecting from that?

 

[pehawk]

I was really disappointed Richardson wiffed on that KO, because I think he needs more touches to get some confidence. He was drafted to be Percy insurance, so, use him that way. Get him some touches via a jet sweep or some bubble screens. Build up his confidence and report with the offense.

I'm still a very, very firm believer in his abilities.

The Pac12 is underrated in general, but its really underrated in secondary play. The fact Richardson put up numbers, being literally the only person opposing defenses gameplanned for, is a strong indicator of his talent. With the Seahawks his catches and routes seem natural and effortless, which is also a strong indicator of his talent. His defensive teammates and press also sing his praises from the practice field, another plus.

Keep in mind Pete didn't give Tate a shot in year one either. This thread would be germane to Tate in 2010 too. Almost identical.

Richardson will pay off, but it may not be until next year. He may need a full, Percy-free, training camp before PRich and the team maximize his skill set.

To be honest, I think Richardson already "gets it" and I think he's already ahead of Tate in some key ways, especially attitude and effort in practice. The dude is a quality pick in a struggling O. I wasn't terribly thrilled about the pick when he was selected, but he's been winning me over as the season goes on. I just think we need to temper our expectations of him, if not our passing game as a whole.

I actually agree. My assertion it may have to wait a year was based on having to install an entirely new offense, now that Percy is gone. The new CBA pretty much means what you intall in August is what you're stuck with. And, the Hawks designed their offense around Percy's speed and misdirection off that speed. Presently they're making it up as they go.

 

[SonicHawk]

It's a bad pick so far, especially for how good this crop of rookie WRs has been.