Thread: We need Alex Smith

Originally Posted by Marrdro

You still harping that stat. Guess what, as I've repeatedly told you, that's because his most reliable receiver runs those routes.

You got that backwards. The reason Harvin & co. were running those short routes was because Ponder was more reliable at 5 yards and they were looking for that ever so popular stat of 70% receptions on 1st & 2nd down passes.

Harvin's shortest Y/R has been the past 2 years with Ponder throwing to him.

Those passes were not the worst in the world to throw. You can stretch the field vertically or, as the WCO was designed, you can stretch it horizontally. When you spread the defense horizontally and when they are keeping 8-9 in the box due to AP, it leaves a lot of open space and when they get past the first guy there is a lot of open field to exploit. harvin did a great job of that and I believe it really benefitted AP in that when he got past the LOS he was able to crank out some long runs because there were no defenders way down the field covering WR's.

If you watch Brady-he uses those types of throws all of the time too.

In the end I am not going to blame Musgrave for those plays because for years I have been upset because the coaches were not tailoring the offense to suit the strengths of the players. In this case I believe those throws are the best ones for Ponder to make and they also make the best use of harvin's skill set which is a hybrid between a RB and a short to intermediate rote WR. Get him into space and let him make something happen. He is not going to be a guy you are sending 40 yards down the field so why call those types of plays?

Originally Posted by singersp

You got that backwards. The reason Harvin & co. were running those short routes was because Ponder was more reliable at 5 yards and they were looking for that ever so popular stat of 70% receptions on 1st & 2nd down passes.

Harvin's shortest Y/R has been the past 2 years with Ponder throwing to him.

Thats your opinion based on the silly idea that you got from reading one scouting report on Ponder were the cat said he had a weak arm.

Truth is, the cat probably never watch Ponder play in college and if he did, it was only a couple of games his senior season were Ponder was throwing with a bumb wing.

Since the "Senior bowl" he has done nothing to make anyone think he has a weak arm other than not throw alot of deep balls. You attribute that to (incorrectly) his arm when in fact its based on our scheme and the WR's he has to throw to.

At some point next year you will be throwing out some drivel as you back pedal from this stance and I will continually point out how "Incorrect" you were and I will enjoy every minute of it.

Originally Posted by Purple Floyd

Those passes were not the worst in the world to throw. You can stretch the field vertically or, as the WCO was designed, you can stretch it horizontally. When you spread the defense horizontally and when they are keeping 8-9 in the box due to AP, it leaves a lot of open space and when they get past the first guy there is a lot of open field to exploit. harvin did a great job of that and I believe it really benefitted AP in that when he got past the LOS he was able to crank out some long runs because there were no defenders way down the field covering WR's.

If you watch Brady-he uses those types of throws all of the time too.

In the end I am not going to blame Musgrave for those plays because for years I have been upset because the coaches were not tailoring the offense to suit the strengths of the players. In this case I believe those throws are the best ones for Ponder to make and they also make the best use of harvin's skill set which is a hybrid between a RB and a short to intermediate rote WR. Get him into space and let him make something happen. He is not going to be a guy you are sending 40 yards down the field so why call those types of plays?

Damn fine post my friend. Only question I have for you is related to how you contend that AD benefited from Harvins production. How so?

When Harvin (and Ponder) were having their best production AD was having his worst.

Originally Posted by VKG4LFE

With all this talk about FA WR's, we all need to realize that we (we being our front office) can want them all we want, but THEY have to WANT to come to us. Are we that intriguing with Ponder at QB? Just a thought.

Thats a good question.....I think I have the answer......

Before Percy went down, were was he ranked in catches and yards? He was either tied or real close to Welker at the top of the stat board.

Were did Rudy finish with respect to TE's in the league for TD's? Tied for second with Graham, two behind the leader (Gronk) who had Brady throwing to him and one ahead of the future HOF'r Tony G who had Matty Ice throwing to him.

Seriously, I don't think our QB will hinder any of the WR's from coming here that our FO pukes are going to target.

Originally Posted by Purple Floyd

I think our QB prayers have just been answered. I say we step up and grab him before someone else does:

Jamarcus Russell wants to make a comeback | ProFootballTalk

Jamarcus Russell wants to make a comeback

I heard that he got down to 280 but can't get any lower. LOL

Originally Posted by Marrdro

Thats a good question.....I think I have the answer......

Before Percy went down, were was he ranked in catches and yards? He was either tied or real close to Welker at the top of the stat board.

Were did Rudy finish with respect to TE's in the league for TD's? Tied for second with Graham, two behind the leader (Gronk) who had Brady throwing to him and one ahead of the future HOF'r Tony G who had Matty Ice throwing to him.

Seriously, I don't think our QB will hinder any of the WR's from coming here that our FO pukes are going to target.

I hope you're right, I'm not gonna hold my breath on signing any of the top tier FA WRs. They may just use us as offer bait to re-sign with their old teams.

Originally Posted by Marrdro

Thats a good question.....I think I have the answer......

Before Percy went down, were was he ranked in catches and yards? He was either tied or real close to Welker at the top of the stat board.

Were did Rudy finish with respect to TE's in the league for TD's? Tied for second with Graham, two behind the leader (Gronk) who had Brady throwing to him and one ahead of the future HOF'r Tony G who had Matty Ice throwing to him.

Seriously, I don't think our QB will hinder any of the WR's from coming here that our FO pukes are going to target.

Gotta call you on a few tidbits. What was his target rate?
Also players are not pouring over stats, they unlike the multitude of Vikings faithful can see first hand what type of QB we have. He stinks! TDs can go to anyone in the redzon, they will be more interested in yardage...while Harvin had a lot of catches, he was way behind in yardage because our QB is not accurate and lacks arm strength.

Originally Posted by Marrdro

Damn fine post my friend. Only question I have for you is related to how you contend that AD benefited from Harvins production. How so?

When Harvin (and Ponder) were having their best production AD was having his worst.

I didn't say AP benefited from Harvin's production. I stated he benefited from the field being stretched horizontally. That didn't necessarily change when harvin left but it did reduce the number of plays we were throwing out into the flat and it increased the amount of touches AP was getting IMHO. The line also came together as the year went on and AP got stronger as his leg healed so I don't think there was any one thing you can point to.It was a combo platter of things that got better including the team becoming more focused after GB kicked our asses the first time we played them.