Floyd Will Return

[Grinners]

Malcom and Malcolm.................................
This is how Mom gets both boys to come at the same time? Malcomlm come home its time for supper!!!

[OhioBolt]

Floyd back, Gates still able to productive, even though he is on the decline and Green improving and getting more playing time will only help Allen.

1. Allen was able to put up numbers that was despite the other receiver Brown was not productive and teams put their #2 corner on him.
2. Allen say his speed has improved.
3. A year of experience and starting training camp healthy
4. Allen may see more double teams, but the beauty in that is Floyd, Gates, Green, and others will be single. How long do you continue to double Allen, when you got Floyd and Green going deep on you.


I expect Allen to build upon his rookie season and having Floyd back helps.

[MakoShark]

Malcom and Malcolm.................................
This is how Mom gets both boys to come at the same time? Malcomlm come home its time for supper!!!

George Foreman logo:

[Steve]

Floyd back, Gates still able to productive, even though he is on the decline and Green improving and getting more playing time will only help Allen.

1. Allen was able to put up numbers that was despite the other receiver Brown was not productive and teams put their #2 corner on him.
2. Allen say his speed has improved.
3. A year of experience and starting training camp healthy
4. Allen may see more double teams, but the beauty in that is Floyd, Gates, Green, and others will be single. How long do you continue to double Allen, when you got Floyd and Green going deep on you.


I expect Allen to build upon his rookie season and having Floyd back helps.

I don't see teams letting Green and Floyd get deep on them. I think teams will play it safe and make sure that they don't have they chance to get deep. It only takes 1 or 2 big plays per game to kill most teams, and last year we were pretty good and we didn't really get any plays like that. And with all the ball control, teams really cannot afford to fall behind against us.

As far as his speed goes, I think Allen was fast enough last year. I know as his knee strengthens it should get better, but it is really his route running and reading defenses that need to step up. He had a solid rookie year, but he can (and will) get better in those areas.

[Beerman]

I don't see teams letting Green and Floyd get deep on them. I think teams will play it safe and make sure that they don't have they chance to get deep. It only takes 1 or 2 big plays per game to kill most teams, and last year we were pretty good and we didn't really get any plays like that. And with all the ball control, teams really cannot afford to fall behind against us.

As far as his speed goes, I think Allen was fast enough last year. I know as his knee strengthens it should get better, but it is really his route running and reading defenses that need to step up. He had a solid rookie year, but he can (and will) get better in those areas.

I think that actually goes for all the offensive skill players. It was their first year in a very different dynamic system that required them to make pre/post snap adjustments. Allen clearly had some bumps in the road reading defenses (as you would expect any rookie to have). There were timing and miscommunication issues across the board.

I'm actually more excited about Floyd's ability to exploit a defense in short and intermediate routes than the deep ball. Older guys like him that know how to take advantage of spaces in zone coverage and his ability to create some separation coming out of his route will be huge. We saw a glimpse of it vs. the Eagles before he got hurt.

[Steve]

I understand what you are saying, but it is his ability to get deep that makes him exciting on those other routes. I agree, his production on those other routes will far exceed the production from deep passes. Those other chunks plays will be his bread and butter, although statistically it won't help us that much offensively.

If Floyd couldn't get deep, then teams would play him differently, and it is the threat more then the actual number of times he gets deep.

It is similar to how pitchers deal with home run hitters. Pitchers try and avoid the areas that home run hitters love, but often end up walking them because the pitches are all around the stike zone. Defenses in football can easily take away the long passes, but it is by playing 3 deep and soft 4 deep coverages, or lots of man off with deep help, and aligning S deep. If everyone is just playing the deep throw, you can't complete it, no matter who the WR is.

But the rest of our receivers will be playing pitch and catch with Rivers. Last year we proved that some of the usual rules of thumb about how long a drive you can have don't apply to us. Usually, bend but don't break D rely on the fact you cannot sustain a bunch of 10+ play drives, or there will be a turnover or stopped via penalties, sooner or later. That didn't stop us one bit. We lead the league by a wide margin in 10+ play drives and that field position, even when we weren't successful scoring, and that was why a marginal D was able to keep us in games even when they didn't play well.

This year, I expect to see us have a lot shorter drives (number of plays, not yards) and see us score more points, both by better red zone efficiency and because we get more chunk plays.

[blueman]

Which might make things tougher on the D, but as long as we get points on the board I think the D will be okay. If we start chopping down our TOP but without adding points, we're looking at something else.

[Steve]

I'm not sure it would that much. If we keep driving down and scoring points, then we get to kickoff. Even if the drives are not as long time wise, the field position is going to be about the same. Plus, if we adjust the tempo and run the clock down some, even a couple of chunk plays on 6 - 8 play, 80 yard drive can eat up some time.

It also makes the other team one dimensional, because if we threaten to score 30+ points per game, teams have to take much more high risk game plans and run a lot less. We force them to throw, and throw long more, and if you know that they have to do that, then that is a good thing for us. So, the sooner we can get teams behind and force them into high risk plays, the better, IMHO.

[Hard Charger]

One thing that is not getting mentioned here, is Floyd's ability to catch the ball. That dude has made some seriously tough catches and leaves it all out on the field. I can understand why he's injured so much, not that, that makes it any easier to swallow.

HC

[richpjr]

Dont forget about the reports from the camps about how good Brown looked too. If he can plays like we thought he could before he broke his ankle, we could have an awfully deep receiving corp (which is good considering the injury history).

[RTPbolt]

If Brown actually shows up again we are pretty stacked at WR. Allen, Floyd, Royal, then Brown would be a nice top 4. A few development guys to sub in and learn the ropes should give us great depth. Throw in Gates and Green if he fully emerges (and Rivers/McCoy give him more shots this year) and we are going to be a tough offense to stop the passing game on, and therefore overcommitting to the passing gives the run game some serious options with Matthews and Woodhead. We are exciting as it gets on paper for offense. Ultimately it comes down to defense and where they can take us this year with the 2nd year under the same plan and people in the scheme.

[Grinners]

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