Why the wide receivers need to come from free agency

[Valandui]

there have been misses in both the draft and free agency, I notice he conveniently left out Bess when downplaying the draft

Because he wasn't drafted.

[CANDolphan]

with ireland i'd be worried about the wrs he'd draft and hell the free agent wr he'd covet also...it's not like he's really hit in free agency

I think he hit his defensive F/As. He also recognized Bush's ability. I think he'll bring in Jennings. Honestly, Im not worried at all.

[Valandui]

Why Swope when we have Hartline? They're essentially the same player.

Swope is faster and doesn't fall over repeatedly for no apparent reason.

[Dolph N.Fan]

Signing Jennings in FA, drafting Allen in RD1 and a CB in RD2 would be ideal.

[SQuinn17]

I think Hartine has peaked and he has proven that he cant score TDs on a Regular. Even coming out of Ohio state he had 1400 yards 12 TDs in 3 years.

Swopes has a higher ceiling and produces TDs with excellent YAC plays. Swopes to me plays Welker type football with a bigger frame. He is a better athlete than Hartline I think as well. In 3 years Swopes has 2900+ yards 23 TDs. With his best year in 2011 with Tannehilll in the exact same offense 1200yds 11 TDs.

In the scenrio below you can see I dont put too much stock in Hartline. $4Mil a year and you can easily cut him next year if Swopes does well.

You can't really compare stats between the two in college though...both came from completely different offenses. Swope had a heisman winner AND a top 10 pick throwing to him while Hartline had some clowns throwing to him. Both mirror each other physically and are both good route runners with good hands. They're really not that far apart.

[CANDolphan]

Swope is faster and doesn't fall over repeatedly for no apparent reason.

Also isn't 1/2 the route runner and DAMN sure doesn't have nearly the body control Hartline does

[SQuinn17]

Swope is faster and doesn't fall over repeatedly for no apparent reason.

Hartline ran a 4.52 coming out of college where Swope runs a 4.53.

[Dolfan Dave]

If he is discrediting 7th round picks then he might as well praise undrafted signees like Bess.

---------- Post added at 12:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:38 AM ----------

Also would you take Sidney Rice + Golden Tate or Brian Hartline and Davonne Bess?

[rent this space]

Because he wasn't drafted.

technically no, but it's not like they got him a month later. he was signed within hours of the draft, because of the scouting they did for the draft. it's also common to include the group of UDFA's signed immediately after the draft with each draft class. leaving Bess out is just cherry-picking to make his argument look better. you could actually make a case that while neither has been good, Ireland has done better drafting WR's than in he has aquiring them in free agency.

[Digital]

Why Swope when we have Hartline? They're essentially the same player.

Hartline has more size and is exceptional at the sideline catch. He is definitely best as an ourside receiver, which is the hardest type to find actually. Possession receiver, maybe, but he has more speed than DB's expect so he can get deep from time to time. Hartline looks like a good fit at the Flanker (Z) position to me.

Swope is a RB converted into a WR. He plays the slot but really it's like throwing to a RB, because he generates good RAC, is physical enough to run through arm tackles, has more quickness and burst than Hartline, and uses that quickness to generate pretty good separation. He was Tannehill's favorite target at Texas A&M because he does exactly what Sherman wants from his WR's, which is run good patterns, use quickness to create separation, catch the ball, and then run well after the catch. Swope will be a productive player in the NFL. If we draft Swope, I see him rotating into the slot position with Jennings so Jennings can occasionally line up as the X or Z to generate mismatches or confuse the defense.