The "golden years" phrase isn't literal but it represents a vibe I have been getting from some posters here. I think we might have been on the verge of something special in 2016 which finished with that glorious Patriots Super Bowl comeback against toxic Atlanta.
I want to take a look at the WR situation then and now. In 2016 we saw-----
Jordy came back from his ACL tear with a massive season with a 97-1257-14.
Edelman was great and Adam Thielen finally emerged as a top player albeit he was jilted out of a 1,000 yard season with a 69-967-5 stat line. Slot receivers Cole Beasley (75-833-5) and Adam Humphries (55-622-2) were solid and on the upswing. And Chris Hogan emerged out of the blue with a big play 38-680-4 stat line and led the league per catch with a 17.9 average.
These days CM has been terrific and a huge breath of fresh air but he alone can't mask the slip we have seen in WRs since 2016. I know TE play is at a great level but they aren't wide receivers as much as like a lot of them.
I am citing my own post because due to a technical issue the rest of this post was accidentally deleted and it was out of my hands.
Just to sidetrack for a second about attendance. Don is right to say the league has a very strong revenue foundation and is loaded with safety walls. But Truthteller is exposing some cracks which can get larger and if allowed to fester unattended could cause some structural damage.
Now to complete my wide receiver thoughts.
One word about my "negative posts" which it seems has rattled some members. I would much rather post positive news especially about an up and coming young white star. But I also think it is very important to access things as realistically as possible and not sugarcoat stuff when things aren't good. We owe it to white athletes to hold them to a standard which is above and beyond "settling" for a state resembling mediocrity or something slightly above it.
But back to my theme about why things have slipped since the end of the 2016 season. And by the way I wasn't doing a hell of a lot of bitching back then because the future at WR was looking up. The 2017 draft saw Ryan Switzer and Chad Hansen picked in the fourth and Trent Taylor in the fifth. They looked like solid reinforcements to the stable of white WRs who were coming off big seasons.
The back drop today is much different. This was one of the worst years ever for college white wide receivers and even beyond this shaky senior class ( I see three draft types but the NFL surely won't) the ranks are all of a sudden absurdly thin. If the college situation was better I wouldn't be as prone to being down.
But a look at the WR situation at the NFL level suggests a drop off from that high from 2016. Cooper Kupp is now a star and Adam Thielen was coming off his best season but his injury, which might linger who knows, put a pall on the season. Even the one rookie WR making some noise,Hunter Renfrow, a longtime favorite here, looks to be out perhaps the rest of the season with a rib injury.
There is Julian Edelman of course and I pray every day he sails over 1,000 yards this season to finally quiet the critics who don't think he belongs in the Hall Of Fame.
Cole Beasley, see above, has been pretty solid and it is nice to see Josh Allen have white targets this year see above post. Danny Amendola has had some moments but his career is likely to end in a year or two? Jake Kumerow of the Packers? I wouldn't hold my breath the way they are barely using him.
But elsewhere most of the news is negative. Chad Hansen never got a sniff and Trent Taylor's future due to injuries is in doubt.
College stars Ryan Switzer and Trey Quinn could be exiting very soon thanks to the noxious dink and dunk program they have had to endure.
Adam Humphries who was on the rise has shriveled up since joining the Titans although I hold out some hope now that Tannehill is his QB now. Once promising Chris Hogan might be gone for good? And Justin Watson of the Bucs has all but disappeared as well.
Braxton Berrios was let go of the team that drafted him and is now a punt returner for the Jets but he hasn't played WR except for last week a couple of snaps where one resulted in long chunk play. But there is no indication the Jets are serious about playing him at WR on a steady basis. Ditto Alex Erickson of the Bengals despite his good play in limited action. Another UDFA like Erickson from his same class is Jordan Taylor and he kind of fell off the radar. Same for promising Dylan Cantrell from the 2018 draft who was let go by the Chargers.
This last draft college star David Sills suffered the indignity of not being drafted and now languishes on the Giants practice squad. We were all shocked beyond belief. The two speedsters who were drafted we were all excited about Andy Isabella and Scott Miller have been nothing but blips on the radar screen this year so far. I am not overly confident that the Bucs and Cards see them as future staples? Time will tell but it is discouraging to see them languish where other less talented young black wide receivers are given ample playing time. Our best hope is they do click next season and maybe make some noise the rest of this season. Hopes are thin but you have to hang onto something.
So for all the reasons above I am less optimistic about the white WR outlook than I was going into the 2017 season. My blowing off steam after the Monday night disaster wasn't just about Lamar Jackson. It was Cooper Kupp in dink and dunk mode in a big TV game and the culmination of the WR situation in the NFL this year that brought me to a boil.
In the meantime I will try and look for positives and keep my negativity ( which is hard for me) to a minimum.