Big Blue Huddle

This is from a good Dan Duggan article that is behind the Athletic's paywall


WR Wan'Dale Robinson: Robinson had surgery to repair the torn ACL in his right knee on Dec. 13, 2022. He said he didn't feel like he had fully regained his explosiveness until a year later. Beginning Dec. 11, 2023, Robinson averaged 4.8 catches for 52 yards in the final five games of last season. Extrapolated over a full season, that would be 82 catches for 884 yards. When Cole Beasley was the Bills' slot receiver in Daboll's offense from 2019 to 2021, he averaged 77 catches for 812 yards. The blueprint for Robinson's role in this offense is clear.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5606885/2024/07/11/giants-roster-training-camp-preview/?source=emp_shared_article

ACLs take at least a year to come full circle with very few exceptions.

He will blow up with more eyes on Hyatt and Nabers.

I'm very open-minded about Wan'Dale, but it's year three. Kind of needs to happen this year if this guy is going to be anything significant.

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on July 12, 2024, 10:31:16 PMI'm very open-minded about Wan'Dale, but it's year three. Kind of needs to happen this year if this guy is going to be anything significant.

I think when you are putting a clock on a player's career, we need to be mindful of significant injuries, like Wondale's ACL tear.

Quote from: MightyGiants on July 13, 2024, 07:33:58 AMI think when you are putting a clock on a player's career, we need to be mindful of significant injuries, like Wondale's ACL tear.

Sure, but I think we also need to be mindful of long-standing, strong trends. There aren't many receivers, certainly not in recent times, who were not very productive in their first three years in the NFL (for any reason, including injuries) and then went on to be significantly above average players thereafter.

I can't think of any at all, actually. Can you?

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on July 13, 2024, 08:01:52 AMSure, but I think we also need to be mindful of long-standing, strong trends. There aren't many receivers, certainly not in recent times, who were not very productive in their first three years in the NFL (for any reason, including injuries) and then went on to be significantly above average players thereafter.

I can't think of any at all, actually. Can you?

Off the top of my head, Armani Toomer.  He didn't come into his own until year 4

Quote from: MightyGiants on July 13, 2024, 08:07:52 AMOff the top of my head, Armani Toomer.  He didn't come into his own until year 4

Good one. But you're going back a quarter century, which I would not call "recent times."

So perhaps we can agree that it is very unusual?

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on July 13, 2024, 08:09:54 AMGood one. But you're going back a quarter century, which I would not call "recent times."

So perhaps we can agree that it is very unusual?

In fairness, I don't keep track of all NFL wide receivers, and this isn't easy to research. So, knowing one with my limited data set seemed pretty good, in my opinion.

Injuries slow down WanDale. I think he is going to have a fantastic year

I greatly hope these highly optimistic projections of what Wan'Dale will do this year prove true. If they are true, that will likely mean this offense is very productive. Because I am guessing even the biggest Wan'Dale optimists don't think he is a more talented player than Nabers.

So if Wan'Dale's season is "fantastic", that likely means we are going to have not one, but two, "fantastic" wide receiver seasons on the Giants this year, assuming neither he nor Nabers gets significantly hurt.

When was the last time that happened?

And the above does not even mention Hyatt, whom I know some here are also extremely high on, at least from the standpoint of potential.

The Athletic is a solid service. Wish I had enough time to justify getting a subscription, but I don't. Bob

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on July 13, 2024, 09:51:17 AMI greatly hope these highly optimistic projections of what Wan'Dale will do this year prove true. If they are true, that will likely mean this offense is very productive. Because I am guessing even the biggest Wan'Dale optimists don't think he is a more talented player than Nabers.

So if Wan'Dale's season is "fantastic", that likely means we are going to have not one, but two, "fantastic" wide receiver seasons on the Giants this year, assuming neither he nor Nabers gets significantly hurt.

When was the last time that happened?

And the above does not even mention Hyatt, whom I know some here are also extremely high on, at least from the standpoint of potential.

Put me in this camp of an expectation we will have one of if not the best WR/TE pass catching unit in the NFL. I sincerely believe Hyatt is a game changer. WanDale explosive and the new TE excites me and I remain confident in Bellinger. Slayton and Hodgens are now the vets who should make one or two key catches a game. I hope the new RBs can be better at receiving than Barkley showed. Add in the new star kid and we are off to the races....IF the QB is who the experts say he is

Quote from: Bob In PA on July 13, 2024, 11:46:33 AMThe Athletic is a solid service. Wish I had enough time to justify getting a subscription, but I don't. Bob

I don't consume as much content on The Athletic as I could, but I read it pretty regularly. Even though I could spend more time on it, I still feel the subscription (about $5 a month) is more than warranted given the price. I think I read that they're raising it to $6/month, but my point still stands even at that level. If it were a heftier number, say $150 or $200 a year, I'd probably have to either start reading more of it to justify the subscription, or cancel it. But at the current rate, it's well worth it even if I only read say three or four articles a week, which I think is probably about average for me. The content is just dramatically superior to the vast majority, if not all, of the competition, in my opinion. A comparison of the caliber of content of The Athletic to say, ESPN or SI, is so stark at this point that it's comedic.

He is an analytical darling, now we just needs those analytics to transition into yards and points.