Bleacher Report The Clear-Cut Winners of NFL Free Agency

[EastStreet]

4 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

That all depends on who is grading the drops and catchable balls.

Each web site have different numbers. You can use one web site to make a point while another web site can be used to make a counter point.

It is not an exact science as long as a human makes the judgment.

Sites may differ a bit, but regardless of which site you look at, Ebron has a drop problem. Arguing that is silly. But like I said, his productivity and efficiency metrics make the drop problem something the team can live with. That may not be the case with a guy like Funchess who has a drop problem, but has pretty mediocre productivity and efficiency metrics. 

[shasta519]

That article is bad. The write up for the Colts isn't necessarily bad though...but Funchess being labeled a "steal" made me chuckle. 

[DerekDiggler]

4 minutes ago, shastamasta said:

That article is bad. The write up for the Colts isn't necessarily bad though...but the Funchess being labeled a "steal" made me chuckle. 

He may very well end up being a steal.  But agree.  Way to early to say 

[EastStreet]

1 minute ago, DerekDiggler said:

I have NBC showing 4 

 

https://scores.nbcsports.com/fb/playerstats.asp?id=28429&team=29

re-read my post. i was talking about Ebron. 

 

On Funchess, NBC is probably the last place I'd go for trustworthy stats. Pretty sure his own team credited him with 4 or 5 drops alone in the Detroit/Panthers game in November. Go to PFF or playerprofiler for the best stats, Fox or ESPN for second teir. Fox shows him with 7. PP has him with 11. 

[crazycolt1]

2 minutes ago, Irish YJ said:

re-read my post. i was talking about Ebron. 

 

On Funchess, NBC is probably the last place I'd go for trustworthy stats. Pretty sure his own team credited him with 4 or 5 drops alone in the Detroit/Panthers game in November. Go to PFF or playerprofiler for the best stats, Fox or ESPN for second teir. Fox shows him with 7. PP has him with 11. 

So Carolina is not going to sway the numbers to boost Cam's numbers? 

C-mon now?

[NewColtsFan]

11 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

So Carolina is not going to sway the numbers to boost Cam's numbers? 

C-mon now?

 

Boost Cam's numbers?

 

Whether it's a drop or a poor pass,  the pass goes down as an incomplete.    The completion percentage number doesn't change.

 

[Dark Superman]

2 hours ago, a06cc said:

Time to move on from AC if possible.

You must hate Andrew Luck then.

[crazycolt1]

2 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

Boost Cam's numbers?

 

Whether it's a drop or a poor pass,  the pass goes down as an incomplete.    The completion percentage number doesn't change.

 

I was just pulling YJs leg a little. 

[Rally5]

34 minutes ago, shastamasta said:

That article is bad. The write up for the Colts isn't necessarily bad though...but Funchess being labeled a "steal" made me chuckle. 

Why?

[DerekDiggler]

8 minutes ago, DarkSuperman said:

You must hate Andrew Luck then.

Not time to move on from him yet..... but for sure time to start looking for a replacement.  He will be 31 this yr and going into FA.  No guarantees he resigns with us without the tag.   And if he does re sign how long do you really want to sign a going on 32 yr old LT at a monster contract for?

 

Because he will get big money.   Time to find the next LT

 

 

[Rally5]

1 hour ago, Irish YJ said:

Changing QBs doesn't not always mean a WR will improve. You have to look at the reason for the drops. For instance, Ebron's catch rate / drop rate didn't improve when he came to Indy, but his TD production improved dramatically because the the Colts doubled or tripled his RZ targets from his Detroit days. 

 

Funchess's problem has never been catching inaccurate or hard throws. His problem is his instinct to body catch the ball. That's why he historically has looked like a phenom with an acrobatic catch, then dropped the next one to his numbers. He's actually better when the ball is not thrown at his numbers.  

 

And uncatchable balls are not counted as drops. Advanced stats are typically very generous to the WRs when grading drops. 

This is interesting because I just watched about an hour of tape on Funchess and not one body catch in fact, it would appear  he needs to use his body more in traffic.  His hands are so good he catches almost exclusively with them and in traffic get balls batted out of his hands.  That's very coachable.  Reggie does a great job of explaining how and when to do this.  I just did a post on Funchess and to be honest, the guy has special hands.  After watching all video I could find I'm somewhat embarrassed I didn't realize just how good he can be.  

[crazycolt1]

Jeez, I sure will be glad when there is something else to concentrate on.

 

[Rally5]

1 minute ago, crazycolt1 said:

Jeez, I sure will be glad when there is something else to concentrate on.

 

Well...just wait for the complaints on draft day when we don't draft a WR....

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

12 minutes ago, DerekDiggler said:

Not time to move on from him yet..... but for sure time to start looking for a replacement.  He will be 31 this yr and going into FA.  No guarantees he resigns with us without the tag.   And if he does re sign how long do you really want to sign a going on 32 yr old LT at a monster contract for?

 

Because he will get big money.   Time to find the next LT

 

 

Nothing wrong with signing him to two or three more years.

[crazycolt1]

9 minutes ago, Rally5 said:

Well...just wait for the complaints on draft day when we don't draft a WR....

You ain't  lying.

[DerekDiggler]

1 minute ago, Chloe6124 said:

Nothing wrong with signing him to two or three more years.

Not sure I agree.    With age comes tired bones and muscles.  More injuries.  Not everyone is in this box I know.  But I’d rather get younger for sure.   This line has a chance to be great and together for a long long time 

[EastStreet]

58 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

So Carolina is not going to sway the numbers to boost Cam's numbers? 

C-mon now?

Watch the game lol. It was brutal. Doesn't impact Cam's numbers one way or another.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

17 minutes ago, DerekDiggler said:

Not sure I agree.    With age comes tired bones and muscles.  More injuries.  Not everyone is in this box I know.  But I’d rather get younger for sure.   This line has a chance to be great and together for a long long time 

Dude has plenty left in the tank. He had one of his best years this year.

[EastStreet]

39 minutes ago, Rally5 said:

This is interesting because I just watched about an hour of tape on Funchess and not one body catch in fact, it would appear  he needs to use his body more in traffic.  His hands are so good he catches almost exclusively with them and in traffic get balls batted out of his hands.  That's very coachable.  Reggie does a great job of explaining how and when to do this.  I just did a post on Funchess and to be honest, the guy has special hands.  After watching all video I could find I'm somewhat embarrassed I didn't realize just how good he can be.  

I'm guessing you watched an hour of highlights... I've watched the guy since college as I pay particular attention to UM because I'm a ND fan. I've also seen a lot of his Pro games given I'm in Falcon country and they are on the TV a bunch here.

 

I'll say two things. 1) getting balls batted out of your hands is a PBU or pass defended, not a drop. And 2) just about every review of him I've ever read talks about his body catching being an issue. 

 

Here are few

 

From the pros up through last season, which is actually pretty complimentary overall. 

Quote

While I believe his hands are better than stats suggest, drops are a big concern. His main issue is consistent use of proper technique, as he allows too many passes to hit his chest. This turns easy catches into incompletions.

There is film that go along with it.

https://www.stampedeblue.com/2019/3/12/18260983/film-room-what-does-new-colts-receiver-devin-funchess-bring-to-the-team

 

 

From NFL.com coming out of college

Quote

 Pass-catching is labored. Allows throws into his frame and catches back half of football at times. Tagged with 20 drops over last three seasons. Isn't a lock to high-point a throw and doesn't attack throws. 

 

[shasta519]

1 hour ago, Rally5 said:

Why?

 

The teams in this article don't really make sense overall. His criteria seems to be all over the place.

 

 

[ScotColt]

4 hours ago, superrep1967 said:

Ebron's your favorite player I guess you don't mind all the drops then and leadership is done thru example but he does seem to catch a lot in the endzone maybe it's because he doesn't have to run afterward. 

 

13 TD's, Pro bowl selection and a great locker room guy in his 1st year with the Colts....

 

I'm also baffled why Chloe6124 seems to like him 

 

 

[superrep1967]

4 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

10 or 11 drops in a season is very high.

 

The math is there...   if you are targeted with 100 passes and drop 10 or 11 then the drop rate us 10 or 11 percent.   That’s too high.    

 

Reich says he’s willing to live with a high drop rate.   But it’s NOT desirable.   You don’t want that from all of your receivers.   

 

Preferable is under roughly 8 percent.   Desirable is roughly 4-6 percent.   Ebron is a long way from that.   So is Funchess, which is part why he was such a surprise signing.   

I agree also on Funchess I hope he can figure it out because if he doesn't he'll be another disappointing WR signing we've had plenty of those in recent years. 

[crazycolt1]

2 hours ago, Irish YJ said:

Watch the game lol. It was brutal. Doesn't impact Cam's numbers one way or another.

This is a tired old subject.

I was funning with you with my comment.

I am very weary of this same ol same ol.

[Rally5]

6 hours ago, Irish YJ said:

I'm guessing you watched an hour of highlights... I've watched the guy since college as I pay particular attention to UM because I'm a ND fan. I've also seen a lot of his Pro games given I'm in Falcon country and they are on the TV a bunch here.

 

I'll say two things. 1) getting balls batted out of your hands is a PBU or pass defended, not a drop. And 2) just about every review of him I've ever read talks about his body catching being an issue. 

 

Here are few

 

From the pros up through last season, which is actually pretty complimentary overall. 

There is film that go along with it.

https://www.stampedeblue.com/2019/3/12/18260983/film-room-what-does-new-colts-receiver-devin-funchess-bring-to-the-team

 

 

From NFL.com coming out of college

 

Well if you've been studying him since college that would be hard to argue, so fair enough. The stampede blue video really doesn't show a guy with a problem with letting the ball get in on him.  The video actually shows him dropping passes where he gets into awkward positions in short passing routes.   There's an out route, a sliding slant route, and an end zone ball where's he's running backwards (poor route really).  Frankly, the narrative doesn't fit the video whatsoever.  I would like to see a video of him dropping balls getting in on him because I couldn't find any examples of it.  Sometimes guys get pinned with a reputation.  Now, you've watched him for years which has value and thank you, based on what's out there the guy has amazing hands, I'm sure every drop as a Colt will end up here.  BTW, I'm in Falcon country too...

[gspdx]

Anyone got a picture of the trophy the winner of free agency  gets?

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

I saw this tweet today about Ebron.  There is no question what he brings to this team.

 

 

[EastStreet]

14 hours ago, Rally5 said:

Well if you've been studying him since college that would be hard to argue, so fair enough. The stampede blue video really doesn't show a guy with a problem with letting the ball get in on him.  The video actually shows him dropping passes where he gets into awkward positions in short passing routes.   There's an out route, a sliding slant route, and an end zone ball where's he's running backwards (poor route really).  Frankly, the narrative doesn't fit the video whatsoever.  I would like to see a video of him dropping balls getting in on him because I couldn't find any examples of it.  Sometimes guys get pinned with a reputation.  Now, you've watched him for years which has value and thank you, based on what's out there the guy has amazing hands, I'm sure every drop as a Colt will end up here.  BTW, I'm in Falcon country too...

He does have terrific hands (sometimes), and will make some crazy acrobatic catches. I used to worry playing UM when he was there. I remember 2013 at UM and he had a great one handed grab, but overall wan't that big of threat IIRC. Gallon was a huge stud that game I think.  It was a down year, with not a great ND team that year. He had a better year in 2014, but ND destroyed them in SB. After 2013, I thought he'd be a 1000 yard guy in 2014, but he just kind of stalled out. IMO he should have stayed at TE instead of jumping to WR. 

 

Drop highlights are typically hard to find lol unless someone is roasting a guy on twitter or something like that. I remember watching the Panthers/Lions game last year when he had 4 or 5 drops. I wasn't watching closely enough to diagnose, but I know the fans were pretty brutal. He also took some heat for giving up a lot on plays at times, but honestly that doesn't worry me as much as the drops. Reich won't tolerate that kind of stuff. 

 

Regardless, it's a new year, new team, new QB, and hopefully a fresh start. Even without the drop issue, I just don't like the thought of him at X. I do like the thought of him in the slot though. I'd love having TY at Z, an early draft pick (or Cain) at X, and Funchess working as a big slot opposite Ebron. That line up would be pretty hard to defend if the X was legit and kept doubles away from TY.

[Rally5]

16 hours ago, Irish YJ said:

He does have terrific hands (sometimes), and will make some crazy acrobatic catches. I used to worry playing UM when he was there. I remember 2013 at UM and he had a great one handed grab, but overall wan't that big of threat IIRC. Gallon was a huge stud that game I think.  It was a down year, with not a great ND team that year. He had a better year in 2014, but ND destroyed them in SB. After 2013, I thought he'd be a 1000 yard guy in 2014, but he just kind of stalled out. IMO he should have stayed at TE instead of jumping to WR. 

 

Drop highlights are typically hard to find lol unless someone is roasting a guy on twitter or something like that. I remember watching the Panthers/Lions game last year when he had 4 or 5 drops. I wasn't watching closely enough to diagnose, but I know the fans were pretty brutal. He also took some heat for giving up a lot on plays at times, but honestly that doesn't worry me as much as the drops. Reich won't tolerate that kind of stuff. 

 

Regardless, it's a new year, new team, new QB, and hopefully a fresh start. Even without the drop issue, I just don't like the thought of him at X. I do like the thought of him in the slot though. I'd love having TY at Z, an early draft pick (or Cain) at X, and Funchess working as a big slot opposite Ebron. That line up would be pretty hard to defend if the X was legit and kept doubles away from TY.

I remember that Lions game, it was bad but it seems more the exception than the rule but I hear ya!  I hadn't thought of him as a slot to be fair, that could be a legitimate match up issue. I do think he can play on the outside but frankly whatever works is good by me.  My gut says we're not drafting a WR early, so to me, only Cain (in theory) has the raw goods to start over him at X but let's see what the draft brings!  Thanks for the feedback!!!

[EastStreet]

1 hour ago, Rally5 said:

I remember that Lions game, it was bad but it seems more the exception than the rule but I hear ya!  I hadn't thought of him as a slot to be fair, that could be a legitimate match up issue. I do think he can play on the outside but frankly whatever works is good by me.  My gut says we're not drafting a WR early, so to me, only Cain (in theory) has the raw goods to start over him at X but let's see what the draft brings!  Thanks for the feedback!!!

I'll take wins however they come! And I hope DF turns it around and balls out. I'd love to be wrong.