The high draft pick misses are starting to take their toll

[hawksfansinceday1]

I don't think Tate changes a thing for us. It isn't like our passing game always clicked when he was here either.

It is time to put Michael and Richardson on the field. Not playing them and struggling mightily is unacceptable.

Agree with your first point wholeheartedly. As for your second point, why not? It's time to try Michael a bit for sure. P-Rich? Um, to me not so much. I don't know if he gives us anything beyond what Lock does at this point in time.

 

[razgriz737]

I'm not worried about Richardson. Even Tate, who everyone is missing now, took a few seasons to grow and develop. Such is standard for most WR's outside of the elite few.

This isn't true. The NFL is riddled with first and second year WRs making big impacts with teams. If anything, the league is throwing these guys in earlier and earlier.

Thy may not be putting up huge numbers, but they're contributing. And we put Tate in as a rook. Why not out Rich in as a rook? He def won't develop as a sideline spectator.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft/po ... -receivers

Look at the teams those rookies that are making big impacts are playing for. Many of those rookies are contributing because those teams don't have anyone better.

We have Harvin, Baldwin, and Kearse. All solid players. Should Richardson be getting more playing time than Walters and Lockette? It's certainly debatable. But I think it's unrealistic to think Richardson should be making a big impact on a team that already has a solid WR group.

EDIT: I misread your post a little. Thought you said "first and second round" not "first and second year". I'm not even gonna touch comparing Richardson to a second year player because that would be ridiculous.

 

[seabowl]

Tate doesn't change a thing??

One thing Tate did was give us a STARTING WR that could also be one of the best PR in the NFL.

Which meant we did not have to waste a roster spot on a below average WR simply because he is the only person we could trust to even do PR? (But who still essentially just gives us someone that gives us +5-10 yards over the fair catch if that )

Percy does give us an occasional 30-40 yard kickoff return but not really consistently. So knowing that Percy added meant no Tate is it worth it? No. We should have kept Tate, extended him and then released Percy when we had to pay Russell his money.

Not having Tate this year along with missing Zach Miller are probably the two biggest issues our offense faces this year save for the mindnumbing stupidity of our OC, and maybe that all the OL turned into turnstyles.

Readers of this site know why Tate is not here and it has NOTHING to do with football or $.

 

[Vpk0718]

It's not Tate, it's not Richardson, it's not Michael, it's not anything mentioned already in this thread.

We've been ignoring the offensive line in the draft and free agency for a while, and it's finally catching up with us. The team that beat us did not make the same mistake, and it showed today.

 

[hawk45]

We're kinda perma-screwed on the OL as far as I can tell. Our high draft picks are some of the biggest duds. Well carp may have one good year before leaving (and then getting out of shape again)

 

[AVL]

The lack of imagination on offense is staggering, esspecially concerning Harvin.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

People here are missing the point.....it's not necessarily that either player should have an impact on this years team, it's that either pick could have been used in a different direction....we could have used another offensive lineman that can run block at either guard or tackle AND we could have found another run stuffing DT to evetually replace Mebane.

We attempted to create depth with players like Jesse Williams and the DT that eventually we drafted from Memphis. We also had the 6th round OL that had the health condition that had to retire.

The key is you need one high pick to deliver each year....we are just now getting something out of Carrpenter, ironically in his contract-walk year. It is not to compare to Dallas, but Frederick, Tyron Smith and their 1st rounder at guard were the difference in the game, they set the tone. Two of the three picks are in their rookie contract as is Dez Bryant.

Dallas is not better than Seatlle when both teams are at full strength, even if you consider the misses. But it appears that we are trying to change the dynamic of the roster and based on the pre-season, I bought into the hype and believed the scoring frenzy was real.

After carefully looking at the tempo we played at in pre-season, something has changed dramatically. We looked fresher and crisper in preseason and in the opener than the last 3 games. I am not panicking BUT to play to the strength of the roster, we need TWO offensive lineman and a decision on whether Carpenter is going to stay or go.

In the short term, the game plan needs to get back to pushing the ball in the box, between the tackles and then throwing the ball. Then lean on the defense and keep them off the field. I don't think we will see much contributions this year or next year with Michael and PRich and although rookies take time, when your window to win titles is this yeari and next year, immediate misses in the draft are more clear and immediately noticeable.

Finding two other players that are difference makers at the line of scrimmage is key.....I am already looking at this years roster and can figure out where we need youth or draft picks that need to hit. It's still going to be back to back titles, but we will need to grind out 1st downs to maintain the formula. Can Britt, Carpenter and Unger deliver later in the year and can Okung stop making penalties is the key.

 

[Jville]

LOL ........... so silly to blame this loss on use of a couple past draft picks ..... silly silly silly ... IMO

 

[HawkinSinCity]

lurker for more years than I even know. 38 club member. Seldom post, but the problem is glaringly clear.

Receivers can run downfield all day long, but if RW is beset by D-linemen before he completes a three-step, he can't throw to a pattern running receiver. When we DO get a pass downfield, it's most often after RW has run for dear life and made a broken play work. just my .02 FWIW

 

[HawkWow]

We're kinda perma-screwed on the OL as far as I can tell. Our high draft picks are some of the biggest duds. Well carp may have one good year before leaving (and then getting out of shape again)

Yep. And why I am (still) advocating the firing of Tom Cable.

 

[WilsonMVP]

The bigger issue is that essentially trading Percy for Tate looks to have been a really bad choice.

We miss Tate. Badly.

If nothing else, Russ could throw the ball up to a covered receiver and Tate would fight his way to the ball. Tate was also guaranteed to burst out of a few tackles in every game. Finally, his PR ability shortened the field, which led to more scores.

Percy looks neat running for imaginary touchdowns when someone holds (becoming the WR version of Robert Turbin) and he gets you 4 yards past the LOS when you toss him the ball 8 yards behind the LOS.

He doesn't catch the ball deep and doesn't stretch the defense. He is like a Ferrari that someone decides they want to use for offroad racing. You can do it, and it will look cool for a while but you probably aren't going to get much from it except a broken Ferrari.

He won us a SB, but when it came to Tate vs Percy - we should have picked Tate. Because he produces actual TDs in actual games when he plays for us.

Tate averaged under 4 TD a year each season when he was here.....

 

[HawkWow]

LOL ........... so silly to blame this loss on use of a couple past draft picks ..... silly silly silly ... IMO

Not LOL 3 x silly, Jville. Even on a (supposed) loaded team, you should be getting some level of contribution from your top picks. What we saw from Bruce today (2 tackles) was the totality of our last 3 top picks...combined.

You can't say if those picks were used more wisely that they couldn't have had a positive influence on this game. As ugly as it was, we lost by one score. ASJ, instead of Richardson, might have been enough to keep a drive or 2 alive and that obviously could have assisted us in victory.

Plain and simple, and I've been saying this for two years, this FO is abysmal on day 1 of the draft (Earl aside) and while some bury their heads in the sand, sooner or later, this will haunt us.

 

[Pandionidae]

Walters and Lockette both almost didn't even make the team

Richardson was a 2nd round pick, yet he's getting beat out by fringe NFL players.

:34853_doh:

Again.. Walters is only on the roster because he's a punt returner. We tried to have Earl Thomas do that instead and it was an unmitigated disaster.

Lockette was a lock to make the team when Rice retired, and his special team ability alone is the reason hes on the roster.. not to mention he's improved a ton at WR.

So AGAIN.. how is it shocking that Richardson isn't getting a ton of reps? Norwood is in the same boat.. I guess hes a bum too.

The point is we should have drafted more for need. These guys are luxury items evidenced by them being inactive or rarely getting in the game

 

[Missing_Clink]

My biggest gripe is these wasted picks could have been offensive linemen. Our o-linemen are complete donkeyshit. With all of the penalties, lack of blocking to sustain a five step drop pass, and consistant running, it's too easy to point out where we ahould have drafted. /facepalm

What OL do you draft instead of Paul Richardson? Christine Michael?

If the Hawks had stayed at 32 last draft they could have taken Joel Bitonio, arguably the best rookie in the NFL so far. So many of us called for it too. Should have been a no brainer

 

[bjornanderson21]

The bigger issue is that essentially trading Percy for Tate looks to have been a really bad choice.

We miss Tate. Badly.

If nothing else, Russ could throw the ball up to a covered receiver and Tate would fight his way to the ball. Tate was also guaranteed to burst out of a few tackles in every game. Finally, his PR ability shortened the field, which led to more scores.

Percy looks neat running for imaginary touchdowns when someone holds (becoming the WR version of Robert Turbin) and he gets you 4 yards past the LOS when you toss him the ball 8 yards behind the LOS.

He doesn't catch the ball deep and doesn't stretch the defense. He is like a Ferrari that someone decides they want to use for offroad racing. You can do it, and it will look cool for a while but you probably aren't going to get much from it except a broken Ferrari.

He won us a SB, but when it came to Tate vs Percy - we should have picked Tate. Because he produces actual TDs in actual games when he plays for us.

He won us a super bowl?

I remember us making it to the super bowl with no help from him, and then I remember us dominating so much that the gamewas over before halftime.

Percy didnt win us anything, he was probably our 7th or 8th most important player in the Super Bowl.

 

[razgriz737]

Walters and Lockette both almost didn't even make the team

Richardson was a 2nd round pick, yet he's getting beat out by fringe NFL players.

:34853_doh:

Again.. Walters is only on the roster because he's a punt returner. We tried to have Earl Thomas do that instead and it was an unmitigated disaster.

Lockette was a lock to make the team when Rice retired, and his special team ability alone is the reason hes on the roster.. not to mention he's improved a ton at WR.

So AGAIN.. how is it shocking that Richardson isn't getting a ton of reps? Norwood is in the same boat.. I guess hes a bum too.

The point is we should have drafted more for need. These guys are luxury items evidenced by them being inactive or rarely getting in the game

We drafted Britt. We also drafted Garrett Scott but nobody knew about the heart condition. Plus, Okung had a good year last year. I don't think anyone predicted he would be having this rough of a season.

 

[bjornanderson21]

LOL ........... so silly to blame this loss on use of a couple past draft picks ..... silly silly silly ... IMO

Not LOL 3 x silly, Jville. Even on a (supposed) loaded team, you should be getting some level of contribution from your top picks. What we saw from Bruce today (2 tackles) was the totality of our last 3 top picks...combined.

You can't say if those picks were used more wisely that they couldn't have had a positive influence on this game. As ugly as it was, we lost by one score. ASJ, instead of Richardson, might have been enough to keep a drive or 2 alive and that obviously could have assisted us in victory.

Plain and simple, and I've been saying this for two years, this FO is abysmal on day 1 of the draft (Earl aside) and while some bury their heads in the sand, sooner or later, this will haunt us.

This is why the hawks need to trade out of the first round every year.

The players they pick in rounds 4-6 are better than the players they pick in roujds 1 and 2.

I dont just mean that they get better value, our late round picks are BETTER PLAYERS than the ones we draft early.

Pete and John just need to get out of the 1st round completely and double-up on their late-roujd mojo.

Man I love our late round picks