Thread: WR Rookie preview

[size=13pt]Rookie preview[/size]

Talented WR class likely to produce instant-impact players

By PFW staff
profootballweekly.com
July 20, 2007

Fourth in a series analyzing the fantasy football prospects of the rookie class...

Sidney Rice, Vikings — The Vikings are as thin at receiver as any team in the NFL, and Rice was the guy they tabbed to solve that problem. The South Carolina product is athletic, and his size should help the Vikings’ offense in the long run, but he’s very raw after logging only two full seasons at the NCAA level. That inexperience will likely prevent Rice from making an impact early on, although his keeper value is considerably higher.

Dwayne Jarrett, Panthers — Jarrett was drafted as Keyshawn Johnson’s future replacement. And the future came much sooner than expected when Johnson was released days after the draft. Jarrett will compete with Drew Carter for the No. 2 job, but even if the rookie doesn’t win the starting job, Jarrett is expected to see plenty of playing time and should be a factor in the red zone because of his size and strength.

You know, these stories that state how good Jarrett is gonna be and how it might take Rice a bit longer to produce because of his inexperience just make me wonder.


I did alot of study when I did my mock draft (You all remember that I had the Vikes taking Rice with thier second pick) and i didn't really see his inexperience as an issue.
I was kindof torn between Jarrett and Rice there, however, I saw a few things that made me go with him:

a. Seemed he could be a Red Zone threat 6'3", 40-44" verticle leap, possesion kindof guy.

b. 142 Passes, 2,233 yards and 23 TD's in two season. Thats one TD per start.

c.
2 years in Spurriers offense.

d.
Both Jarrett and Rice played against Chris Houston.
Seems the inexperienced Rice had his way with Houston and Jarrett struggled.

Rice had seven catches for 126 yards and a TD against Houston.
Jarrett had five catches, 35 yards

The Houston comparison was really the seller for me.

Throw in the fact that Rice is on a team that really doesn't have alot of depth at the position, makes me wonder why he can't have a Colston like season this year.

Again, just don't see how these bone head "Analysts" can't analyze things the way I do.
Am I missing something here?
;D

Only that Rice is many slots above the Mr. Irrelevant position and is expected to do better than Colston was expected to do.

"Prophet" wrote:

Only that Rice is many slots above the Mr. Irrelevant position and is expected to do better than Colston was expected to do.

I see your point as it relates to 2nd vs 7th round, but IMHO, in this day and age of only 7 rounds, every pick is important.

Back to my point, which I should have made better, I don't see it taking him 3 years to mature and become effective as most analysts say should/will happen for a young WR.
Especially when they tout Jarrett producing before that 3 year window.
:

I typically read the articles and gleen out the essentials....which are usually along the lines of one fact laden with speculation and opinion by some person meeting a deadline.
It's pretty typical to have a new NFL WR take a few yrs to get things going at this level.
The columnist is just playing it safe and going with the law of averages.
Personally, I think he'll contribute noticably this year,

Here's my take on the whole RIce vs Jarrett comparison.
Let me start by saying I was a little preturbed when the Vikes picked Rice over Jarrett but after reading a little more and watching a few highlights I'm now okay with the pick.

IMHO Rice could have way more of an impact than Jarrett.
Not because he's better but because of the situation.
Rice can compete for the #1 WR on the Vikings.
Jarrett on the other hand will be behind Steve Smith and most likely Drew Carter.
We can all agree that the Vikings immaturity at WR will cause teams to watch the run more than the pass.
That being said, the young talent the Vikings have can prove to be explosive.
They have talented and athletic WRs.
The only problem is they are unproven.
Every team has to respect the speed of TWill, Rice, Allison, Carter, Nance, and even Chandler Williams.
There is not one guy that doesn't have speed.
Throw in Wade at slot and defenses will have a tough time preparing.
If TWill starts catching the ball it will open up the field for the rest of the offense.

On the other hand Jarrett is in a good situation as well.
Being the 3rd WR (most likely) will probably get him some open field as well.
It should be interesting either way.
Maybe we should do the week by week comparison like we did with McMullen and Basket.

I'm not sure if this is oversimplifying the matter or not but basically if he can catch the ball consistently on the field(Like Colston) he will have an impact right away. If he cannot catch the ball consistently on the field(Williamson) then he will be labeled a project who will take a few years to develop.(Meaning if he learns to catch the ball there is still a future for him but if he doesn't,he will be out of the league in a few years).

I am glad they got Rice and not Jarrett from what I read about both of them and in a few days when training begins the whole story will unfold in front of our eyes and that is what I have been waiting for all summer. SKOL

I personally would have prefered Dwayne Jarrett but the fact that he was my favorite player in college had an influence on what I thought of him.
I think Sidney Rice should have stayed in school for one more year but if that took place he would probably end up as a first rounder next year and not a Vike.
I think Jarrett will be more effective this year but I think Rice may end up with the better career.
With only 2 years on the field Rice has a lot to learn but I think he could turn into a great player for us.
I like both of these guys and I'm happy that we got a player with a lot of potential.
With these players taken back to back it should be interesting to compare them as we watch them progress during their careers.

Whats even more scary is alot of scouts had Allison at or ahead of Rice in thier scouting reports.

If his numbers wouldn't have dropped in his last year he would have gone right up there to.


Man I can't wait to see what those two do with a bit of coaching from our staff.

I think we should ask Cris Carter to give a hand transplant to Troy Williamson.

He doesn't even need both of Carter's hands, one of Carters hands catch the
ball better than TWill does.

Then we can hire Carter as a WR coach.