Sucktitude of the Titans' Receivers becomes science

by August West on Aug 25, 2008 9:17 AM CDT

AOLFanhouse blogger JJ Cooper recently posted a story that quantifies just how terrible our WRs have been this preseason. These are the kinds of details that lazy national/Indy lovin' writers (especially ones who name themselves after the size and color of their footwear) miss and casual fans quickly forget. Many of us hardcore fans, however, have been getting nauseous just thinking about it for 8 months now.

IMO, If the Tennessean had the balls and talent to run a column like this a lot of the bluster and negativity spewed by the local VY haters would be shown for the buffoonery it is, and the front office would be hammered for not addressing this situation at all.

Here's an excerpt detailing how they came up with this info, with a little love thrown out to the kings of advanced statistical analysis, footballoutsiders.com:

The Football Outsiders have popularized the catch percentage stat, which looks at what percentage of passes thrown to a wide receiver are caught. Now, admittedly, the quarterback has something to do with a catch percentage, but as they've compiled the stats through the years, they've found that receivers catch percentages stay pretty consistent, regardless of who is throwing the passes (the example they aways give is that Hines Ward always had a consistently better catch percentage than Plaxico Burress no matter if it was Kordell Stewart, Tommy Maddox or Ben Roethlisberger throwing the passes).

Here's what he found that killed me:

In three games, Justin McCareins and Justin Gage, the two receivers who are expected to start, have five catches for 67 yards. And it's not because the two wideouts haven't been targeted. Vince Young and Kerry Collins have thrown 17 passes to McCareins and Gage, but almost all of them are falling incomplete.

5 catches in 17 attempts. Thems our aces, folks.

I understand that there weren't many great WRs on the market this offseason, and the ones who were usually got paid stupid money, but our WRs have taken a step backwards so far, I swear. The whole damned crew is a... a travesty, a sham and a mockery... they're a TRAVESHAMOCKERY!!!

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Our #1 objective in the post-season was to get some weapons for Vince...

which usually means passing weapons, when you talk about finding weapons for a QB.

But as somebody mentioned in another post, few, if any teams in the NFL devalue the WR position as much as the Titans.

Yes, we got Crumpler, and yes Stevens may one day be a stud.

Yes, we got Johnson, who can catch short passes out of the backfield.

So do we have weapons? Kind of. We’ve equipped Vince with a couple of targets in the flats and in the backfield who can catch the 5-10 yard passes he’s able to throw.

We just don’t have wide receivers, and unless McCairens, Gage, and Jones step up and do their job, we’ll be facing eight-man fronts all year long because our aerial attack will not be a legitimate threat, which will again mean painful, low-scoring battles punctuated by the occasional Bironas field goal.

Last season was very painful to watch; I really hope they somehow turn this around.

by BeansCarter on Aug 25, 2008 9:43 AM CDT 0 recs

Yup. These guys really are that bad, and in fact, they are probably even worse.

McCareins couldn’t make it on the JETS, and let’s face it, that was no offensive juggernaut there. And Gage’s story with the Bears is, if anything, even worse. But them’s our numbers 1 and 2.

As I’ve said before, Hawkins is the best receiver on the team. Easily. Without question. Even as a rookie with no command of the playbook whatsoever. Every other WR on the team is downright terrible, and I will continue to say it until they do something to make me stop—which probably means that I’ll be bashing them until they are released because they all suck so bad. These guys all suck. They have no clue at all, and on the off-chance that they actually get seperation and/or make it to the right spot on the field, they drop the ball.

VY really is a better QB this year, but he has no help at all, and he still has plenty of work to do on his own to improve. But surrounding him with this unbelievable dearth of talent is just gonna set the guy back again and again and again. Honestly, if this was the strategy, they should have just drafted a QB in the fifth and spent even more money on RBs and DTs. Why even bother to throw? Just put some jobber out there to manage the offense on the cheap, and let the RBs and D-Line to EVERYTHING.

Urgh. Jimmy was right after preseason week 1. The Titans can win 8 games without throwing a pass. So I’m changing my prediction: 8-8 is our final record.

DannoE

Go read FRIDAY MAD SCIENCE at www.paperbackreader.com
Go Titans!

by DannoE on Aug 25, 2008 9:53 AM CDT up 0 recs

"if any teams in the NFL devalue the WR position as much as the Titans"

true, but they may have devalued it to a fault this offseason…

Michael Roos doesn't eat pitas because NOTHING BREAKS THE POCKET ON HIS WATCH!!!

by August West on Aug 25, 2008 9:53 AM CDT up 0 recs

As in Jared?

Titans Blogger at Music City Miracles

by Jimmy on Aug 25, 2008 10:02 AM CDT up 0 recs

nice!

Jared’s going to be studly this year if he can avoid those Kentucky cheap shots.

/still violently pissed about UK fans booing and yelling insults as he was carted off the field last year

Michael Roos doesn't eat pitas because NOTHING BREAKS THE POCKET ON HIS WATCH!!!

by August West on Aug 25, 2008 10:06 AM CDT up 0 recs

thanks for posting this

it was a good article you linked too….

our WR’s are the biggest bunch of bums ever assembled….

by zackmann on Aug 25, 2008 9:56 AM CDT 0 recs

Well, the FO article shows that both R. Williams and J. Gage were...

…considerably better last year. Gage caught 65% and Williams caught 59%. Both were above average, Gage by quite a bit.

By comparison, Joe Horn caught 52% of passes thrown at him, for a whopping 30+% below average performance.

Still, Gage has sucked a high hog this year. Perhaps all that guaranteed money destroyed his work ethic.

DannoE

Go read FRIDAY MAD SCIENCE at www.paperbackreader.com
Go Titans!

by DannoE on Aug 25, 2008 10:14 AM CDT 0 recs

That's the weird thing

our WRs were bad last year, but not like this. If they were screwing up routes I’d understand since they’re learning a new system and ‘Dinger was brutal on WRs last time around, but they’re dropping the easiest passes ever… somehow they’ve managed to suck even more this year!

Gage was very consistent last year, but he couldn’t make a JUCO squad dropping passes like the one on 3rd down last Friday.

Michael Roos doesn't eat pitas because NOTHING BREAKS THE POCKET ON HIS WATCH!!!

by August West on Aug 25, 2008 10:22 AM CDT up 0 recs

8 and 9 man fronts

ya, we are going to see a ton of 8 and 9 man fronts….

it’s pretty sad when faced with a one-on-one situation, our WR’s can’t get separation and beat their man….

it is going to make our offense look horrible, b/c I’m sure Dinger is preaching to Vince to identify and throw towards one-on-one coverage…..problem is that one-on-one coverage against our WR’s, is like one-on-three coverage against regular WR’s….

by zackmann on Aug 25, 2008 10:17 AM CDT 0 recs

So you are saying it is all on the receivers and None of the blame goes to VY

That is simply rediculous! VY may actually, possilby be trying to play his best this year, but come on. He is not the greatest passer out there, not even close. The numbers reflect that, 0 touchdowns this preseason in unacceptable. He has had opportunities to hit wide open receivers and FLAT OUT missed them. YES the WR could be much better, that I do not deny. Gage should have definitely grabbed a big one the other night. BUT to not call out VY to blame is more nauseating VY hero worship and irresponsible. I willingly admit Collins has struggled this preseason. I CAN admit that. It is time for some to admit that Young just has not looked like a starting QB this pre season. Ultimately I want what every true fan wants, the best player playing at each position. I know I will get crucified for saying this but for those of your who continue to hang on to this hope that Young will develop into the unprecedented super star dual threaght NFL QB will most likely be real disappointed . Right now he looks just like a repeat of last year. I am just trying to make you see the REALITY of this. I am negative about him only because I can see what is happening. I am extremely upbeat about the rest of the team with a few minor exceptions. I have faith in Fisher and beleive he will feel forced to replace VY with someone else this season unless there is a sharp turn around in performance.

by Joy Kat on Aug 25, 2008 10:34 AM CDT 0 recs

What is simply ridiculous

is the fact that you still cannot spell ridiculous.

Titans Blogger at Music City Miracles

by Jimmy on Aug 25, 2008 10:43 AM CDT up 1 recs

QBs are important to WR Catch Rate

Ex. Top 4 WRs, top TE, top RB

Indy average 71.3% catch rate
New England average 70.8% catch rate
Tennessee average 62% catch rate
Dallas average 62.7% catch rate
Green Bay average 66.5% catch rate
Chicago average 59.2% catch rate

If I hit a hole-in-one on this grand slam the dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate.

by jasonkylebates on Aug 25, 2008 11:13 AM CDT up 0 recs

Surprising to see

Dallas with such a low catch rate. My impression was that Romo and his receivers were a lot more effective than that.

It is very scary to see that Chicago is just marginally below us – especially considering their quarterback situation last year.

by BeansCarter on Aug 25, 2008 11:27 AM CDT up 0 recs

It's T.O.'s fault

He drops a lot of catchable balls for every ridiculous one-handed circus catch he makes.

It’s been worse since he hurt his hand in 2006; when he was given the choice of season-ending surgery or permanent nerve damage, he chose permanent nerve damage and kept on playing. Yeah, he’s a soldier who’ll play hurt, but now he can’t feel anything in one hand.

by hartley on Aug 25, 2008 11:32 AM CDT up 0 recs

Romo is accurate when things are going well and he's squaring-up.

But when things don’t go well his mechanics implode.

Michael Roos doesn't eat pitas because NOTHING BREAKS THE POCKET ON HIS WATCH!!!

by August West on Aug 25, 2008 12:11 PM CDT up 0 recs

Yeah

And Dallas throws a lot deep. Longer throws inherently lead to lower catch rates.

If I hit a hole-in-one on this grand slam the dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate.

by jasonkylebates on Aug 25, 2008 1:50 PM CDT up 0 recs

Is it ever too early

to ban Joy Kat?

by Big Bad Bulluck on Aug 25, 2008 3:31 PM CDT up 0 recs

Thanks for that...

Your disdain for VY is well documented, Joy Kat. In fact, you may as well just assume that we’re all aware of your depressing point-of-view.

There is not a single post above that makes the claim that the our wideouts are solely to blame for our offensive woes. However, it’s a posting about wide receivers.

YES the WR could be much better, that I do not deny.

exactly… this is why we are having this discussion. When someone decides to write a post about the suckitude of our quarterbacks, feel free to torture us with your incessant negativity.

by BeansCarter on Aug 25, 2008 11:07 AM CDT up 1 recs

VY deserves some blame, and he's getting it from everywhere.

But the WRs make him look SOOOOO much worse than his performance does. This post wasn’t about the QB, because everybody writes about him; VY’s struggles are well documented. This was about the guys who drop 5 passes a game and kill more drives than VY does!!!

Michael Roos doesn't eat pitas because NOTHING BREAKS THE POCKET ON HIS WATCH!!!

by August West on Aug 25, 2008 11:10 AM CDT up 0 recs

No one said that, JK.

We’ve all said that VY is having trouble, but that the receivers’ struggles are making it a thousand times worse.

DannoE

Go read FRIDAY MAD SCIENCE at www.paperbackreader.com
Go Titans!

by DannoE on Aug 25, 2008 11:39 AM CDT up 0 recs

ANGRY FAN SMASH!!!

I don’t have a FanHouse account, and I don’t intend to make one just to upbraid this a*hole. check out the first comment on the article:

JJ, which number is higher… the percentage of receiver targets Young hits or the percentage of questions he got right on the Wonderlic test?

I am so tired of that song.

by hartley on Aug 25, 2008 11:40 AM CDT 0 recs

Big Sam,

the guy who left that comment, is a racist prick. He trolls AOL for VY articles and columns to say some pretty disgusting things. Every comment is either racial or about VY being dumb because of his Wonderlic score… I gave up slamming him because he never responds; just another drive-by commenter.

He’s a Texans fan, so I guess we couldn’t expect much more.

Michael Roos doesn't eat pitas because NOTHING BREAKS THE POCKET ON HIS WATCH!!!

by August West on Aug 25, 2008 12:09 PM CDT up 0 recs