I'm originally from Long Island and moved to Ohio 2 yrs ago and watched a lot of Ohio State games. Devin Smith will be a great addition to us, Devin is known as the best tracker of the long ball in THE ENTIRE draft. He has excellent speed and CATCHES the ball as opposed to Stephen Hill. Geno throws a good long ball and will love him. Might be the steal of the draft. Come back to me after he catches 10+ TD this year.
Now with a decent offensive coordinator, and PROFESSIONAL receivers, and a shorter field to work with because of this monster defense, Geno will be at least a decent QB. One thing that Geno does is throw a good deep ball. Like I said come back to me after the season.
That's probably a pretty fair comparison. Of course we hope that Smith develops into more, but even if he doesn't, having a WR who can give you a bunch of long KORs, a few STs TDs, a few long TDs as a receiver , and prevent opposing Ds from stacking 8 men in the box is not too shabby.
Preventing 8 men in the box is a big plus for me. It's going to be impossible for opposing D's to stack the box when he's on the field with Marshall. This pick held Ivory/Ridley as well as our receiving corps.
Is DGB a better talent? Undeniably. But I wouldn't have touched him before the 4th round because of his off field issues, and his liabilities on the field. One scouting report said he didn't run routes and that a team would have to be patient while he learns the offense. He doesn't sound very bright. IF (and that's a BIG if), DGB can get good, patient coaching, and is mentored by high character types and watched, he could develop into a stud, but the likelihood is that he'll be a flash in the pan, one who will tantalize with his ability, but never reach his potential, and wind up being a bust. No way I burn a 2nd round pick on him.
Decker was and is a better, more reliable red zone option. Amaro caught a grand total of 2 TDs last year. The guy dropped critical passes in key situations that hit him in the hands or numbers. At this stage he is a red zone threat more in the eyes of optimistic fans than opposing defensive coordinators.
Did you feel better about Stephen Hill busting because he failed on the field as opposed to off the field? Randy Moss was a guy with character concerns who didn't run routes coming out of college. I'm not saying DGB is a sure fire prospect. There's undeniable risk. But the upside is off the charts. As far as On the field, This isn't Cordarrelle Patterson we're talking about. You won't need to gimmick or scheme him the football. He can play WR.
I never wanted Hill. I ALWAYS thought he would be a bust. He had stone hands at GA Tech. Maybe my memory is faulty, but I don't think Moss had anywhere near the character concerns of DGB. I know he didn't get kicked off his college team (Marshall). Listen, I really liked DGB 2-3 years ago and wanted him for the Jets at that time, but then all the character concerns reared their ugly heads. While the rewards are great if a player like that develops and stays out of trouble, how many like that actually develop and manage to stay out of trouble? 1 out of 3? 1 of 4? 1 of 10? Even for those who develop on the field, they can be major distractions and headaches for the CS & FO, even if they manage to not get suspended. For how many teams in the NFL did Randy Moss wind up playing? Even the Raiders could only stand him for 2 years. NE didn't keep him, either, after all the big numbers he put up for them.
Hill got separation on go/nine routes he dropped so many that our QBs lost confidence in him and stopped looking his way. If you've ever been to a game or watch an all 22, you'd see he had the straight line speed to get by guys. Gearing down on short intermediate routes, route running and catching the ball was the issue. The kid sucks at everything else lets not take the one thing he can do, run fast, away from him.
