It might be more constructive to think of Graham as a WR more than a TE, in which case we may see Graham and Lewis on the field at the same time, Graham wide and Lewis in-line, in some number of tweener run/pass downs, 1st. down, 2nd. and 4, etc. Perhaps quite a few.
Is he? Has he?
yes but as the article points out he's most always been defended as a te with linebackers covering him. that's why he was successful. you want to insure that. you don't want him against corners. in HRE's post it shows an out of position TWill (4 yrs ago btw) easily defend a pass to him. there's also almost no difference in him lining up in the slot compared to te. what's 4 or 5 feet? imo if he's lined up opposite adams, and covered by cb's, it's a wasted opportunity. he won't be targeted. in close quarters though all bets are off. i want him to be a force between the 20's too.
Go ahead and cover him with DB's. He caught that easily defended ball for a TD BTW. He's a mismatch all over the place in 1 on 1 coverages. He held TWill off with his body and easily caught the ball thrown over the top of the DB. Especially when you have a guy as accurate as Rodgers can be.
The above is the post that I originally quoted you on.Lol. He’s definitely not the same player he was in his prime, stats and eye test both indicate that, not sure how anyone could possibly say there’s nothing to indicate graham has declined some. But hey you might be right, it’s possible he has a career year here and surpasses the 1200 yards and 16 tds he had in the 2013 season
This part was your way of suggesting that because he hasn't put up THIS type of production since 2013 that he's declined. All I was saying is that using statistics is a lazy way to come to the conclusion that a player is declining. Compare Drew Brees to Russell Wilson. It's insanity. Role, philosophy, etc all play a major role in what type of production a player is able to have, along with who is throwing him the football.that he hasn't declined and would match or surpass his best season as a pro.
it’s possible he has a career year here and surpasses the 1200 yards and 16 tds he had in the 2013 season
YOU said the stats have proved he isn't the same player. I didn't say that. So lets forget about the stats and go to the eye test, which to your credit you also mentioned. Like I said, I think that Graham has declined some, but not enough to where he shouldn't be able to make a huge difference on this team with the greatest thrower of the football in the history of the game behind center.
I still think he's getting a bit more than he's worth, but I am coming around to having him here with the other things they've done that he's going to be he dominant guy he was.
I hear ya. I loved the signing, wasn't thrilled about the price at first, but what are you going to do? Considering the Bears spent $32 M on a 4 year deal with Burton, who was a backup last year, I have come around to the cost even.
The above is the post that I originally quoted you on.
Below in regular print are my comments, and beneath each of my snippets are bolded comments that YOU made in the post I originally quoted you on. Where you're getting the idea that I don't seem to understand what's going on is baffling. If you're using some type of satire or facetiousness that I'm not catching, please enlighten me. But it's pretty difficult to mistake the comments that you made:
This part was your way of suggesting that because he hasn't put up THIS type of production since 2013 that he's declined. All I was saying is that using statistics is a lazy way to come to the conclusion that a player is declining. Compare Drew Brees to Russell Wilson. It's insanity. Role, philosophy, etc all play a major role in what type of production a player is able to have, along with who is throwing him the football.
Which leads into:
YOU said the stats have proved he isn't the same player. I didn't say that. So lets forget about the stats and go to the eye test, which to your credit you also mentioned. Like I said, I think that Graham has declined some, but not enough to where he shouldn't be able to make a huge difference on this team with the greatest thrower of the football in the history of the game behind center.
You and I are not far off on our thoughts, I was simply saying that your usage of his numbers in 2013 is a logically flawed way of determining whether this particular player has declined. If Graham would have went from Wilson to Brees and didn't improve his stats, that would be one thing. But he went from a mostly passing oriented offensive attack, to an organizational philosophy to build around a great defense and running game. No one will mistake Seattle for an elite passing offense. IMO, you should be accounting for this. If you disagree, then fine. But don't try to make the argument that I didn't understand what you were trying to suggest.
oops. he DID catch it.
Good stuff, amigo.
