Don’t Leave Stroud Stranded

I'm just assuming at this point that if we do take a QB it'll be Stroud but it doesn't matter which QB is starting next year, the point still stands.

We have a serious problem at the WR position. There's no one in that room that would even be WR2 on most other teams. Evaluating them independent of QB play is possible and in doing so it reveals a glaring weakness.

Cooks should be gone this off season. He quit on the team and was not very good regardless. Collins is still trying to get better but he spent too much time injured and was inconsistent. He was raw coming into the season and I don't think it's wise to expect a big leap from him until he actually does it (seriously this year has taught me to stop doing this). Metchie (get well soon) has never played a down in the NFL and it will be a year since he's played football assuming he's even ready to go for the next season. We also just don't know how good he'll be. The rest of the receivers are at best WR4-5 depth. Don't try to convince me otherwise or else I'll think you've been mixing drugs in your kool-aid.

That being said, I want us to stop expecting to add just one piece in the later rounds will really be impactful. I'm sorry but no, adding Jalin Hyatt to a bad receiving core does not help Stroud much. Those speedsters, unless they're running a full route tree and get established quickly, are better off as complimentary pieces, meaning I wouldn't expect the offense to be much better by just adding a guy who hasn't shown much. I'm not trying to pick on Hyatt either. It's just a popular one I've seen.

I think many people want to go after MHJ next year and that's fair, I do too, but I need groundwork NOW. Get a security blanket TE and find a WR2 for all I care but don't just add one or 2 insignificant pieces and expect Stroud to do well. I don't care if you have to trade for one or if you use the second 1st round pick on a WR, just get someone reliably for Stroud and increase the chances of this teams weapons helping him.

PS. I like QJ but taking him at 12 is dangerous. He's raw af and won't really get open in the NFL which means you need to rely on a coordinator to scheme him touches and/or ask your ROOKIE QB to trust throws to another rookie who isn't open… Doesn't seem ideal to me tbh.

TLDR WR corps bad pls fix