Quote:
Originally Posted by GTripp0012
Well, okay, if we hypothetically threw out all rookie years as for primarily developmental purposes, you're still left with two guys who had a disappointing Sophomore season. The thing is, Zorn could have taken Moss off the field at any time, placed him on punt returns, and let Kelly and Thomas play on the field together, and we would have had a much bigger sample size of production from the both of them.
Unfortunately, our coaching staff thought Moss gave us the best chance to win, so we played him even when he wasn't close to productive.
I have hope that Thomas OR Kelly can still develop, but it's really not looking good at this point. There's just not a whole lot of evidence-backed noise being generated from our young guys at that position, and while Shanahan^2 have been brought in to make those players productive, there just wasn't much of a leap for either one in 2009.
Kelly's awesome Week 17 game gives me SOME hope for him that maybe if the season hadn't ended, he would have been a productive receiver last year, but at this point, I'm just grasping for something tangible in their development to hold onto.
It is the metaphorical make-or-break year for both of our third year players, and if we could get just one starting caliber wide receiver out of either, I'd be satisfied with the 2008 draft so that it wouldn't look so depressing in retrospect.
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Dude you seem to drastically undervalue Thomas' pure athletic ability. I think I remember from the beginning you took to Kelly over the Michigan state product, but honestly we've all watched Thomas do some pretty impressive shit on the field now (once he gets the pigskin in his hands). He fights for yardage like a hungry SOB.
I'd like to think McCardell's hands on approach and emphasis on hard work will make Thomas a significantly better route-runner. I think that's the key. If he learns to create separation consistently we'll have a monster at WR, no?