Donald Gray

[Really Clark?]

Wrong period??? The guy was 18th in reception and tied for 13th in TD's. He is solid but he is not a top SEC WR

You said he was not top 15. You were wrong and I posted the stats. As far actual receptions he was still ahead of Hatcher who is also in the top 15 and by every production catergory Gray was in the top 15. And that is what you stated. Top 15. You are wrong. Period.

[lamont]

Gray is an outstanding blocker

[Commercecomet24]

While size is great to have on the outside, I did some research on the top NFL receivers who are playing X receiver and all of these are 5'11" and under. Odell Beckham, Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, Tyreek Hill, TY Hilton, Jarvis Landry, Golden Tate, Doug Baldwin, Steve Smith, Desean Jackson. All of these spend the majority of their snaps playing the X receiver. I like the guys 6'3" and over playing the outside too, but the little guys can be extremely successful as well.

[smootness]

Here's the best strategy on this: Just ignore it for now, then bring it up after next year when Gray is obviously a top 15 SEC WR. Right now, it's just trolling.

[Commercecomet24]

It cost him 20 catches and about 200 yards vs. 2015, though he did have more TD.

Ross had 18 drops this year and at least 3 that cost tds. He couldve had a monster this year. The drops improved as the season went along but the drops hurt us this year bad. It wasnt just Ross but he had more than anyone because of his targets.

[lamont]

You said he was not top 15. You were wrong and I posted the stats. As far actual receptions he was still ahead of Hatcher who is also in the top 15 and by every production catergory Gray was in the top 15. And that is what you stated. Top 15. You are wrong. Period.

He was not in the top 15 in receptions- from there it just becomes opinion

[BB30]

He was not in the top 15 in receptions- from there it just becomes opinion

So your telling me you would take a guy with say 50 receptions for 500 yds over a guy with say 35 grabs for 650 yds. Receptions are a completely meaningless stat. I want production... Ypc and TDs are far and away the best stat to decide production

[smootness]

He was not in the top 15 in receptions- from there it just becomes opinion

He was in the top 15 in yards, YPG, YPC, and TD - from there it just becomes opinion

[Really Clark?]

He was 10th in yards, 12th in yards per game, 13th in TD and 5th in avg yards per catch this year. Those are not opinions. Those are the cold hard facts. You want to use receptions ONLY as the only fact that matters never mind he had more yards per game than Ridley, any Kentucky receiver you slobbered over preseason, Drew Morgan, Mason at MO, heck he was just 2 yards per game less than Stringfellow and all of this while we threw the ball 126 times less this year. All of those guys caught more balls but finish below him in yards per game. And the difference between 18th in receptions and 15th is 4 catches.

[dawgday166]

Fitz absolutely looked on to Ross too much this season. Fitz needs to really work on progressions this offseason.

Agree. 3 keys to next season's offense IMO are: 1) Fitz' development in spring and off-season as a passer 2) Oline play and cohesiveness 3) other WRs as threats and as blockers too.
A lot of off-season, old school, on their own work needs to be done IMO.

[dawgday166]

My mistake. I corrected it above. He had almost twice as many receptions as Gray. If Gray's numbers were affected that much by Fitz's development then Ross's would have been a lot closer to Gray assuming that Gray is an elite WR since we all know Ross is an elite receiver.

That's not always true. See Steve Young, Jerry Rice, John Taylor as an example. Rice had off the chart numbers with Young more so than Montana. Difference was Montana could progress to his 4th option and he spread the ball all around. Young didn't do that as well.

ETA: And you'll never be able to convince me Taylor wasn't an elite receiver.

[Todd4State]

Hev had one of the top half olines in the sec this year. When we've been a run heavy offense, our oline has been pretty good. I see us as a run heavy offense next season

And now we're talking about moving the best part of the line around. I don't like that. That's on Hevesy for not recruiting well enough to keep a good thing together.

[dawgday166]

And now we're talking about moving the best part of the line around. I don't like that. That's on Hevesy for not recruiting well enough to keep a good thing together.

I'm not a fan of this either, but I'm cutting Hev some slack until next year. Waiting to see what happens. If we losing games cause Oline is breaking down at key moments in games, then I'll be cussing him again.

[Todd4State]

Huh? First, who said Gray was elite? You don't have to be elite to be a top 15 SEC WR.

Second, why would you compare Ross to Gray? You said Fitz's development didn't hurt Ross, but it did when you compare Ross to himself. Thus, Gray gaining experience, getting better, taking on the #1 role, and having a better Fitz should probably lead to enough receptions to get him inside the top 15 and likely even the top 10.

No?

If you don't think top 15 is elite then that's a difference in opinion on what elite is. I compared the two under the assumption that people were saying that top 15 is elite which is why I compared him to Ross.

I don't think you can make that assumption about Gray because assuming he's our best WR he's also going to get the other team's best corner. It just depends on how much Couch and Todd and maybe others improve and how much impact they have which is an unknown at this point.

[Todd4State]

While size is great to have on the outside, I did some research on the top NFL receivers who are playing X receiver and all of these are 5'11" and under. Odell Beckham, Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, Tyreek Hill, TY Hilton, Jarvis Landry, Golden Tate, Doug Baldwin, Steve Smith, Desean Jackson. All of these spend the majority of their snaps playing the X receiver. I like the guys 6'3" and over playing the outside too, but the little guys can be extremely successful as well.

According to the NFL top 100 list this year before the season- by no means scientific but it did have input from NFL players, coaches, etc. the majority of the best on that list were over 6'0" tall.

[lamont]

He was in the top 15 in yards, YPG, YPC, and TD - from there it just becomes opinion

He was tied for 19th in receptions per game
He was 12th in yards per game
He was 18th in receptions
He was tied for 13th in TD's

That's just not really a top 15 guy

[Todd4State]

That's not always true. See Steve Young, Jerry Rice, John Taylor as an example. Rice had off the chart numbers with Young more so than Montana. Difference was Montana could progress to his 4th option and he spread the ball all around. Young didn't do that as well.

ETA: And you'll never be able to convince me Taylor wasn't an elite receiver.

Agree Taylor was an elite WR and actually elite PR as well. Kind of apples and oranges because Taylor was comparable in size to Rice.

[dawgday166]

Agree Taylor was an elite WR and actually elite PR as well. Kind of apples and oranges because Taylor was comparable in size to Rice.

Well my point was more about a QB going thru his progressions. I tend to think Dallas' O isn't as good since Dez came back possibly because Dak has become a little too concerned with getting the ball to Dez. Young couldn't hardly see anyone but Rice (pre Terrell Owens). I believe Fitz will improve on this by next year. And Gray will probably be the go-to guy.

ETA: Right now Gray isn't the part of the offense that I'm too concerned with. I think he'll be pretty darn good IMO.

[BB30]

He was tied for 19th in receptions per game
He was 12th in yards per game
He was 18th in receptions
He was tied for 13th in TD's

That's just not really a top 15 guy

Receptions don't mean jack shi*. You can have 33 catches for 75 yds and that is getting you absolutely no where. YPC, total receiving yds, and TDS are literally the only thing that a WR should be judged on. It does me no good to have a guy with a bunch of catches and nothing to show for it other than a bunch of wasted plays.

[Really Clark?]

Gray was also 13th among WR in all purpose yards per game. He was also Top 10 in the number of receptions of 20+ yards, 30+ yards, 40+ yards, Top 5 in 50+ yard receptions, 60+ yards and tied for top in 70 + yards receptions with 2.