Yeah, he's someone I'll have to do more digging on. I think I want to call him my 6th first round option for us (with 3 of them not really options). But I'm not there.

Yet.

But he brings some tools we could really use. Doubly so if you get someone like Brown in FA.

If they sign someone in FA......I think I'm ok waiting til that second wave of guys.

Classic X size. Big catch radius, good hands. Looks like he tracks the ball well downfield. He looks smooth, but I'm not sure how sudden he is or how good he is in scramble drill situations.

Yeah, I just want to find him running routes. Ideally against quality competition.

I'm not worried about the rest of it. Hands, body control, eyes, build - all looks good. I wanna see how he gears down and back up. I wanna see how he sets up DBs and stuff like how quickly he locates the ball out of a cut. Does he do that little underhanded crap to get open in a way that allows him to stay on sequence. Will he use his size for more than just jump ball scenarios?

The 'WR shit' I talk about being shocked that Hill essentially came equipped with from Day 1. So much of that is weirdly innate. How's he do all that stuff?

What is Rashee Rice for us going into the '24 season and beyond? Does he have the physicality to be our true "X" in this offense, or is he going to morph into the "Z" guy going into motion and lining up in the slot more often than not? Andy seems to like the Desean Jackson sized guys for his Z receiver, but with the production Rice has put out in his rookie season, what will he bring the next few years, and because of that, how will we draft AROUND him at the receiver position?

(I am willing to admit that is a dumb question given all the variables and data available, so light me up if you feel I've earned it)

Reid has evolved those tags so much over the years that it's hard to identify it really.

I use the 'z' designation as the strong-side WR in 11 personnel. Typically your first read and can work every blade of grass on the field. X receiver is weak side but with a slot in his pocket; typically going to work middle/intermediate with the slot designed to pull some coverage off him (or vice versa). This is not even kindergarten level stupid; this is pre-school simplistic but it's how I use the terminology for the sake of conversation.

In that sense, I think Rice is more of an X mold. But we've used that shitty little speed receiver from Indy in that role in the past (when we had Bowe as the Z). As you noted, he used to use Jackson in that role with Maclin as the Z. But when we had Hill at Z we used Watkins at X.

Honestly, I think in a perfect world, we get a different guy to play the Z who can be that guy who challenges everywhere. And I think that's probably what we'll try to do. We'll try to develop that Hill/Watkins setup. But if it doesn't work out, you could get away with Rice as your Z with a speed threat at X; more akin to Avery/Bowe or even Jackson/Maclin.

Short answer? We'll work with what we've got.

Brandon Aiyuk will be your z next year, with Rice in that big X role.

They're just so many outliers that could happen. I look at a guy like Puka Nacua and see that while he has size, he ran the 40 in 4.57 seconds and had a 7.32 3 cone. Granted he is a solid route runner but in no way should guys like that be doing what he's doing this year.

For me I think we need to get back to speed but get some size and route running mixed in.

Man I wish we would have taken a flyer on Trey Palmer instead of a run stuffing DT

Dude.

there's no ****in' way.

They're not going to take away weapons from Purdy, especially when they're not paying him.

They'll parcel out the defense before they do that.

Been wondering if he might be the guy recently.

He's got height, speed, and production.

Plus an avg catch of 18 yards.

Oh I totally agree on all this. You can't take these sort of middling athletes early at all. They're, potentially, great supplementary pieces, taken later.

Dez Walker I've been seeing the hype and I'm not sure I get it. He looks to me like a marginally more athletic Justyn Ross. Big, but I'm not sure much else is outstanding. Both him and Brian Thomas are the guys I see ranked highly, but of the 2 I prefer Thomas. Again, still not totally sold, but he looks pretty damn toolsy.

I like Dez Walker but damn if I'm not gun-shy after my last love affair with an NC WR (Dyami Brown), and they aren't too dissimilar.

Thomas is interesting to me but I worry about his ability to run routes, especially in Reid's offense. He was alot of go routes for LSU it seemed like.

Same thought on Thomas, but like the reverse of your thinking on NC WRs, damn, LSU ones...really there's a lot of guys I can talk myself into R1. Probably I'm hoping it's Franklin or Egbuka. If not there's maybe another 3-4 I'd be OK with, especially if those are gone. Coleman? No thanks. Legette, meh, maybe. Walker right now, I'm probably a no.

Thomas would be a good replacement / better version of MVS

PFF has him #4