Targets, And Bryce

[Fletch59]

 I'll admit there are a number of things wrong at this point in a potentially cursed season, but I want to really underline one thing - man, skill is dogshit right now. It's tough to use this as an excuse for play-calling, but what do you call when nothing is open?   What run do you call if no one will gain yards? I've always leaned toward the idea that scheme is cool, but that if you can't do basic things you won't do exotic things, and certainly not well.   But regardless of taking that out of the equation, I'm not at all happy with the WR, TE, RB in the passing game and the running game is also hell; I can't leave out a ragged, disorganized OL. So I've come, hat in hand, to say that the people always clamoring for more WR were right.   Not only does Carolina use so much more WR snaps than I anticipated, so many snaps and targets are just bad.   Now, if this were a John Fox team, some mitigating circumstances limit all this - he liked two good WR, that left the field rarely, and maybe a third who specializes in the slot.   In that case, you don't need a lot, but you need good (and we saw in the 2004-05 years they could make hay with one, but after that, no).  In this case you struggle in both directions - depth and quality.   Can't say enough for Adam Thielen getting it done but even he really isn't getting open, and that makes what could be routine with enough separation, a very tight ball.   But that's at least production.    Hayden Hurst seemed the best of the group at ATL but, even looking back, 5 for 41 isn't killing it; and he's 1.6 rec/gm since. Jonathan Mingo is a rookie, so expecting too much this year would be folly. So then him being 2nd in targets and catches, yikes.  He outpaces DJ Chark, who at least scores. There was the feeling of getting everyone involved, which - it's easy to build on success, hard to build on this level of failure so I don't care if Ian Thomas catches a ball or two. Laviska Shenault, with or without injury, just isn't a factor, Tommy Tremble is doing fine as a 2nd TE I suppose - in so much as, he makes enough of a play to want more, which won't come, but he blocks like hell.   He just is who he was at Notre Dame and I don't know if we should have expected more.  Tommy had hype in the fanbase that he was going to become George Kittle. The idea of spreading things around also suggests that there's value in that - if no one's getting open, does it matter which guy gets the target?  Does it matter who s open if the line is failing?  Frank Reich is 'taking over play-calling', which - let's be honest, the change to Thomas Brown and the change back to Reich encompasses lip service. I don't see why the situation should have ever been just one guy, or why we have to tell the opponent all about our plans. Definitely want more product, better product, and whatever that is, it's fine.   Moment to moment, it doesn't matter who says what to the QB, just have success.  I don't suppose I'd be the first person to say this smells of David Tepper, or preludes a further shift in the off-season that would also probably be spurred by ownership.  I'm disappointed, as it seems a good staff, but the result is no better than the revolving QB Ben McAdoo days (and they could at times run the ball well, so this is worse by far, really saying something - McAdoo was out of work before Carolina, and is again). 

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