Are we good enough?

TNThunder...

Playing QB in HS doesn't count in terms of helping you in the NFL! VY IS a rookie and didn't even start the season as a starter. Comparing them is not even as close as apples and oranges...

TO has a lot of drops this year and percentage wise, he and Drew may be the same or close. But that doesn't excuse Drew...TO's dropping an uncharacteristically high # of passes this year....and that's bad! If it's bad for him...it's bad for Drew.

And this isn't a down year for Drew in terms of inconsistency catching the football. He just gets the dropsies sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I like Bennett and think he's one of the real underrated players in the NFL. I want him to stay here with the Titans because he is an asset to this team. And with Givens being hurt, we're gonna need Bennett and then some next year.

Dude, when the passes are easy...they ARE easy. If the ball hits you in the numbers, it's easy - especially when you're standing still. I CAN CATCH those and no one's paying ME millions to play toss and catch with VY. Come on!!!

And the fact that we've seen Bennett make some very tough catches illustrates the point. He's simply a little inconsistent sometimes. Good player though.

Gut

 

My point was that usually the person selected to be QB has some passing skills. In HS it's not that big of a problem, but in College they can usually throw the ball. What difference does it make when Vince started, he is a QB that is supposed to be able to throw an accurate pass. The long pass to Drew was a tough catch. Receivers are taught to catch with their hands, not their body. The pass was behind him, and it was low. I just get tired of people holding Drew to some higher standard than the rest of the NFL. Look at the names on the list of receivers that drop balls. It's not an exclusive club. Compound that with the fact that this is the first year Vince and Drew have played pass and catch, and I think it's understandable. Wade and Troupe have more drops than Drew does, but since Drew gets open more, people only notice his mistakes. Every receiver on our team (and several DB's) have dropped passes from Vince. I can only assume he throws a unique type of ball that takes some getting used to. I would contend that since Drew was our leading receiver last week, that he and Vince have finally developed some chemistry together, and things will get better. So it's either Vince, or every receiver on our team is overpaid and should be replaced. You decide.

 

TNThunder...

Who is holding Bennett to a HIGHER standard? When WR's drop catchable balls...they catch flak for it. TO's caught plenty for his drops....funny I haven't heard anyone on ESPN talk about Bennett's drops...?

Um...decide what? Every player in the NFL is 'overpaid.' However, none of our WR's nor is VY overpaid compared to the rest of the NFL. I'm not sure what this has to do with Bennett being inconsistent catching the ball sometimes......

Are you suggesting that no one should comment on Bennett's hands because he doesn't make elite WR money? Frankly, I don't care if you play for free (the love of the game) or you're the highest paid player in the NFL. When the ball hits you in both hands....CATCH THE BALL!!!

BTW, what's your answer to your own question?

Gut

 

You haven't heard about it on ESPN because it's not the problem you perceive it to be. He isn't even listed on the chart, even though there are some people that "think" he drops passes. Perception is a funny thing, and even when confronted with facts people don't believe it. Drew has very few missed passes this year, and those are the facts. Every team in the NFL wishes receivers caught every pass thrown to them, but that is not reality. Get over it.

 

Really?

Please explain to me how your 'perception' is a 'fact?'

The reason there are few blocking/defensive stats are because it's very subjective. Dropped balls is just such a stat. What is YOUR definition of a dropped ball?

Under what conditions SHOULD the WR have caught the ball? If Bennett has to leap high in the air and stretch to his fullest but gets 2 hands on it but drops it....is that a drop or a bad pass? Of course the ball could have hit him in the chest (a more accurate pass), but what if the ball was thrown a little early and got there a half second after Bennett turned his head. It hit him in the chest but he dropped it because the ball got their quicker than he anticipated. Is that a drop or a badly thrown ball?

Even tackle numbers are inconsistent between our team stats and NFL.com sometimes. It's very subjective. How much do you have to be in on a tackle to be credited with an assist?

It's like baseball....when the shortstop gets a tailor made dp ball but bobbles it but still makes the play at 2nd (but they can no longer complete the dp), statistically it's a good play and he gets no error. Those are the stats. But if you watch the game and that bobble leads to a big inning when the pitcher SHOULD have been out of the inning....you can blame the pitcher, but don't tell me the shortstop had nothing to do with it.

So your stat list is there opinion and they are no better than ours. In fact, with regard to our team, I'd take the clear-headed people who know football and watch all the games over a reporter who doesn't follow the team.

Get over it? I never was on it. Bennet is a good WR who occasionally gets the dropsies. You are the one complaining that someone is overpaid or should be cut (though you haven't said who in your opinion), Bennett is being held to a 'higher' standard (where's your proof of that?), ect. ect. ect.

Bennett has dropped several easy balls. He's also not caught others that would have been more difficult catches (balls he's capabale of catching). 'Very few?' I think not.

But you are perfectly entitled to your opinion...I just disagree with it.

Gut

 

So when Drew "drops" as pass he gets called out because he is a veteran, but when Vince sails one 3 feet over a receiver's head it's OK because he is a rookie. Check.

 

No, when Drew drops a pass that hits him in the hands, I call that a dropped pass. When VY throws it 3 feet over his WR's head, I call it a bad pass.

See...now that wasn't so hard!

BTW, is there any kind of semi-official site which lists EVERYONE's dropped passes? If not, then I'm very skeptical of this list of 'league leaders.' Plus, some of them look a bit dubious! Brandon Jones and Troupe made a list but Bennett didn't? Furthermore, 2 Titans non-starting WR's made the list (but not Bennett)? There are 64 starting WR's in the NFL and most of them don't have 4 drops but 2 non-starting Titans players do? This doesn't smell right and I put no stock in that list. In fact, now that I found the Washington Post list I see it's done by Stats. They are very good with real stats...not good with subjective ones. In fact, I was once asked to do stats for them. You go to the games, watch them, and write down the stats. So these dropped ball stats are basically an amalgam of a bunch of fans watching the game. They have no more validity than the fans watching on this website.

Gut

 

One more thing...

Poking through their stats I found some interesting stats...(according to STATS LLC on the Washingtonpost.com page)

Out of all eligible receivers (WR, TE and RB's) in the NFL, Bennett was 20th in most thrown to. He had 86 balls thrown his way. Bennett is also 11th in passes NOT CAUGHT with 44. That means he's catching LESS than 50% of all balls thrown his way. And yet he has LESS than 4 drops?

To put this into better persepctive, those 44 not caught balls also represents a large chunk of the 138 passes VY did NOT complete (about a third of his incompletions). Meanwhile, of the 94 other incomplete passes aimed amongst our 4 TE's, 3 RB's and various other WR's, 9 of those incomplete were dropped by 2 guys and yet Bennett with FAR more opportunities dropped 3 or less? Furthermore, Reggie Wayne was thrown at 30 more times and yet has AT LEAST twice the number of drops Bennett has? Sorry, that is not correct!!!

And frankly, I personally have seen DB drop more than 3 passes this year.

Gut

 

The reason people continue to talk about #83 dropping passes is that he continues to do it. Last week he dropped not only the first pass thrown to him but also the second one on the sidelines.

You can make all the excuses you want about the pass being slightly underthrown, him having to wait on the ball, and the defender coming back to him but that doesn't change the fact that he had both hands on both of the first two passes. Anything else mentioned about both of those two plays is nothing more than an EXCUSE.

Bennett is an average WR. The position needs to be upgraded, along with some others.

 

TNThunder = Drew Bennet ...?