I don’t think of it as a homerish thought, towards Teslaa if I understand you correctly, more a thought of the many mouths concept you brought up earlier from a financial perspective.
Will the Lions be willing to pay Williams what he may want when the time comes? I don’t know the answer to that question. I think they will have the ability to do so if they choose so, but will they?
Like you I would like to see Jamo continue to improve and stay in Detroit but I can also view this pick as the potential Jamo replacement if Jamo wants more than Detroit offers. Jamo brings so much to this offense that goes beyond his own big plays on the field; blocking stressing defenses to open up other players etc etc
I agree with you that long-term TeSlaa is Patrick’s replacement, not Jamo’s. Jamo’s just such a league-wide unicorn, it will be almost impossible to replace what he gives us. Even when he’s not catching the ball.
But the math checks out a little better than you think.
Goff has averaged 577 passes per year over the past 3 years. Of those:
ARSB has averaged 150 targets
LaPorta 101
Gibbs 67
And we’ll just give Jamo his number from last year, 91, since it’s the first time he was fully healthy and integrated with the offense.
That leaves 168 pass attempts to go around between everyone else.
Normally those are taken up by some combo of:
Monty (31 targets)
Leaf (33)
Wright (15)
And the X WR spot TeSlaa will be playing (54 targets per year the past two years between J. Reynolds and Patrick)
With the final 35 targets taken up by piddly numbers from Zylstra, C. Reynolds, and other depth players.
So if you give TeSlaa that number Patrick and J. Reynolds already hit, shave ten targets off ARSB (which we already did last year), give him 10-15 of the targets that have gone to the depth players, shave a few off everyone else except Gibbs and Jamo and you’re creeping up into that 90-100 target area where Jamo is. I doubt he puts up Jamo’s crazy efficient yardage on those numbers, but I also bet he catches a lot more of them (Jamo caught 58 of 91 for a 64% catch rate). I expect a lot more TDs too, especially in the red zone.
Then when you factor in the Taysom-y stuff he can bring to the offense as a former QB and the incredible blocking that will help our run game be even more deadly, and I think there’s easily a way for him to be worth it.
@JD9 I don’t think you can compare Pickens like this. First of all based on talent and production, he is worth more than the comp he was traded for. But the fact of the matter is he was disruptive to him team to the point that it cost them on the field, was distracting, and that the players themselves wanted him gone.
Even if he gets a new contract in Dallas, you don’t think they will regret this trade? He is the #2 receiver there. How will his ego handle that? I am betting poorly.
He’s very talented at the catch point, maybe the best in the league. But the laziness in his routes when he wasn’t getting the ball was always telling to me - especially once all the character stuff started to surface - and while he can block really well, it’s only when he musters the willingness to do so. He just screamed diva headache, and unless you’re putting out all-timer tape like Randy Moss, I don’t think teams should waste time on guys like that. I felt the same way about Jermaine Burton last year, just completely uninterested, and the same way about James Pearce this year. Guys like that only thrive in very specific situations, and if Mike Tomlin isn’t one of them, well…
All true… but what exactly is he significantly better at than he was in 2019/20? I still remember watching that Baylor bowl game his freshman year and being certain that I was watching the next top five sure thing type of WR. Then the injury and just a prolonged plateau in his development. Occam’s razor suggests that is work ethic related.
He can be a 1200yd guy as the #2 in Dallas. If he isn’t happy with that then let him walk. He’s gonna get a big time contact and be a factor in the comp formula.
I just see this as a very low for Dallas. It would’ve been a much bigger risk for a lot of other franchises though.
He’s slotted as a straight-line mover, yet his agility scores suggest he can be much more than that, and that coaching, technique, and experience could produce a geyser of talent. Yes, I’m saying there is a chance…
