Drafting a WR and it's impact of Offensive Efficiency

Brian Nemhauser @ Hawkblogger.com did some research and has some interesting thoughts on perceived notion of improving the offense and our interest in drafting a WR

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Oddly enough I was sitting yesterday wondering where the "WE NEED A WR IN FIRST THREE ROUNDS!!!!" mindset came from. Keeping in mind this is a team that scored an average of nearly 28 points per game over the second half of the season and a team that doesn't throw that much. A WR seems like a luxury pick really compared to the urgency of upgrading our pass rush

Preachiness, empty stats, contrarian view...this is all sounding too familiar.

This team has only three wide receivers on its roster, two of whom are short and harder for Wilson to see, two of whom are operating with recent injury histories. Investing heavily in this WR corps is really not an option. It needs to happen. First round? Not necessarily. But we should be breaking down the options according to scheme fit, not by round, especially on a team that takes players two rounds early if they think he fits.

Also, I don't agree that 2012 is an inflexible snapshot of this scheme. A fair number of passing attempts this year were claimed by Wilson's early-season inexperience, and by receivers not getting open and forcing Wilson to scramble after five seconds of sitting in the pocket. And Wilson did show some heavy passing numbers when the occasion suited. Either way, the volume of passes is likely to increase next year, making a first-round WR less of an evil proposition.

HighlandHawk":3so8ac3t said:

Oddly enough I was sitting yesterday wondering where the "WE NEED A WR IN FIRST THREE ROUNDS!!!!" mindset came from. Keeping in mind this is a team that scored an average of nearly 28 points per game over the second half of the season and a team that doesn't throw that much. A WR seems like a luxury pick really compared to the urgency of upgrading our pass rush

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And why is it so many people are against spending draft capital on offensive skill players? I don't get it. We haven't drafted an offensive skill player in the first round since 2002 (Jerramy Stevens).

If you want the offense to evolve, there's no shame in considering a game-breaker either at WR or TE. As good as the offense was down the stretch, we still struggle to get it going and we struggle for periods of time in the game, especially with getting separation. Golden Tate's catch in the Falcons game was one of the few all season that a WR broke away from a route when the play broke down and came back to help him out.

A WR in the first three rounds won't automatically improve the offense - we also need better pass blocking. But continuing to ignore pulling the trigger on one is befuddling. They've done a great job in rebuilding this roster (obviously), but I think it's time to give the offense some love. The right WR or TE to add to the mix will greatly improve the offense and help Wilson immensely.

The idea is to keep stacking weapons...and continue to significantly limit a defenses ability to enforce its will against us. You add a Hopkins or another big-body top flight WR, then the defense has to contend with Wilson, Lynch, Rice, Tate, Hopkins (as an example), Miller, Baldwin....that's going to leave someone open a great majority of the time. It forces the defense into more single coverage and that's always a good thing, especially for a dead eye like Wilson.

blah blah blah, a good WR wouldn't produce because we don't pass enough?
maybe we don't pass enough because our WRs aren't good enough, much like the reason Detroit throws the ball 600 times a year is because A: their running game isn't good enough, and B: they have a star WR in Calvin Johnson.

As bad as pass protection was sometimes this season, there were times Wilson was holding the ball for 10+ seconds and nobody was getting open, that needs to change

Why do people call offensive skill positions "luxury" picks much of the time? Drafting a game changing receiver to start in place of someone not as explosive shouldnt be considered a luxury. It should be considered a pick that changes the whole dynamic of an offense and should lead to the defense being on the field less. The effect it could have on the whole team could be huge. Draft someone like Hopkins with the first pick if hes still there and move Tate inside. Thats a deadly one two three punch with maybe one of the best 4th receivers in the NFL in Baldwin.

Would you call the Wilson pick last year a "luxury" pick because we had Flynn on the roster already?

Please everyone try to remember we have an NFL Forum just for this stuff and a Draft Forum just for that.

The main forum is for Seahawks related information with some personal stuff thrown in.

Thanks

Radish

Here's the deal from my perspective. We need an improved pass rush, and I believe we need to add a top-notch WR to develop as well. Pass rushers, and DLinemen in general, are both cheaper in free agency than WRs, and are harder to draft successfully. WRs, on the other hand, are far more expensive in free agency and slightly less of a crapshoot in the draft.

I support adding to the DLine through FA and a late draft pick or two, and adding a high end WR in the top end of the draft. We need an immediate impact on the DLine- and this is far more likely to happen successfully through FA...while again on the other hand it would be far cheaper to add a high end WR through the draft and develop him over 2-3 years in time for Syd to be replaced on the outside.