Devin Thomas vs. Malcom Kelly

[honejc]

this discussion is moot.

marko mitchell... the greatest wr to ever have walked this earth. you will see.

[jflow78]

Malcolm has the reach but Devin's definitely got the speed. I'd have to say it would be a tie, unless one of them has armor on, if Devin has armor on, then you've got to give Malcolm some monkeys, rabid ninja monkeys, just to make it fair. Like 3 or 4. Then it would be on again.

Still, Malcolm IS tall, but maybe if Devin were trained by someone real good.....say Chuck Norris, hmmmmm. And of course Moss would come out to back up his guy (DT), probly dressed as a leperchaun or somethin'.

Now that would take this **** to a whole other level.

[[[ghost]]]

DT can be more like Torry Holt or Reggie Wayne, in that he's got all around skills. He's not one of those burners, but he's pretty damn fast, and his athleticism is phenomenal. If he can get his route running under control, he'll be amazing.

Kelly is more like Plaxico or Vincent Jackson, he's got very good hands and uses his size to his advantage.

Hopefully with the help of some of the best offensive minds in teh game, and one of the most productive receivers in the history of the game despite not being the most naturally gifted, these two can excel.

[sikizler]

];7439465']DT can be more like Torry Holt or Reggie Wayne' date=' in that he's got all around skills. He's not one of those burners, but he's pretty damn fast, and his athleticism is phenomenal. If he can get his route running under control, he'll be amazing.

Kelly is more like Plaxico or Vincent Jackson, he's got very good hands and uses his size to his advantage.

Hopefully with the help of some of the best offensive minds in teh game, and one of the most productive receivers in the history of the game despite not being the most naturally gifted, these two can excel.[/quote']

Would not mind someone like Torry Holt or Reggie Wayne lining up across from someone like Plax or Vincent Jackson for the next eight or so years,

[ADF]

I agree, Cason just made a great play to run him down. Looks like right around midfield, it was apparent that he wasn't going to score. Maybe he could have taken a different angle or hurdled at the end or ran full speed ahead instead of looking back but that's easy for me to say.

Yeah, he probably should have kept straight and fought him off physically. There was nobody else in sight. He ran a LONG way. How many yards do you think Kelly ran on that play? He started on one side of the field and ended up on the other.

Great play by Cason at the end.

[SkinSince87]

I like Kelly's size better but both are big and strong and I"m hoping for 600-1000 yards from each

[sikizler]

Yeah, he probably should have kept straight and fought him off physically. There was nobody else in sight. He ran a LONG way. How many yards do you think Kelly ran on that play? He started on one side of the field and ended up on the other.

Fighting him off physically would have been cool to see and certainly would have gotten him a lot of play around the highlight shows. Hell, maybe I would have even noticed. Yeah, one set of numbers to the other probably added about 20 yards to the actual north/south gain.

[seantaylor=god]

Both are nice players. DT I think has a better ceiling. There are not a lot of guys in the NFL who have elite top end speed, are big (have you seen how huge DT is? He's like 6'2 220!), runs aggressively (like a running back once he gets the ball). His hands are average and he needs to improve route running, but he is a beast and will have a break out year.

[terrifNick21]

As I said earlier in this thread, I'd love for them to be our Rod Smith and Ed McCaffrey.

In 1999, Ed (similar to Malcolm's size) had 71 catches for 1018 yards and 7 TDs.

Rod (bit smaller than Devin) had 79 catches for 1020 yards and 4 TDs.

Now I know those numbers aren't THAT likely from those two with Moss, Cooley, and Davis, but maybe each getting 75% of those numbers would be great in my opinion.

[Enter Apotheosis]

There were a couple of times last year when we tried to throw the fade to Kelly. One I remember vividly was Malcolm went up for it but didn't have the correct positioning and ended up out of bounds. The commentators indicated that the ball was thrown fine it was just that Kelly had to twist in a way that he couldn't come down with the ball properly. Hopefully though he'll get many opportunities to do that in games this year. Once or twice in the RZ all year just doesn't cut it for a guy with his size.

I believe there were a couple of plays where Kelly's body control and positioning seemed awfully suspect. The few that come to mind were mostly along the sideline, within 12-15 yards of the LoS, and instances where Campbell just lobbed it in MK's direction.

[sikizler]

As I said earlier in this thread, I'd love for them to be our Rod Smith and Ed McCaffrey.

In 1999, Ed (similar to Malcolm's size) had 71 catches for 1018 yards and 7 TDs.

Rod (bit smaller than Devin) had 79 catches for 1020 yards and 4 TDs.

Now I know those numbers aren't THAT likely from those two with Moss, Cooley, and Davis, but maybe each getting 75% of those numbers would be great in my opinion.

Maybe not this year but if they break out like we hope, these two will likely outlast Santana and possibly Cooley in Washington. I was thinking Shannon Sharpe may have been on that '99 team so I wouldn't worry about Davis taking balls away from them but I looked it up and he only played in 5 games that year.

[TheLongshot]

Their routes really weren't the problem... It was more about Kelly running out of gas and not being as fast. Lol.

Actually, Cason was practically right next to him when he caught the ball. Kelly just didn't have that extra gear to get away from him.

[Whiskeypeet]

I'm sorry, but I'm not too optimistic about either. :doh:

Agreed. Make or break year for both. With DM at qb not many excuses this year.....

[Ghost of]

These two guys (I'm not picking sides here) are why I want us to STAY AWAY from Marshall. First of all, I think if we traded a pick for him, that's taking away from the potential to improve our team in more significant ways. Let's say they took a second, well, I'd rather draft Best or Ryan Matthews or a RT prospect with that than get a guy who has attitude issues and may be in trouble with the law again (maybe not a serious case, but suspensions cost games and wins.)

I don't necessarily think either DT or MK will be at the level of playmaker that Marshall is but last time I checked, teams are winning SBs with good to very good receivers, not necessarily because they have the best wideout in the game. I would like to see us give MK or DT a chance to step into that role this year and make those big plays. and unlike some teams (say the Eagles with FredEx on the field lol) we will have a possible formation of:

1)DT

2)MK

3) Moss in the slot

4) Cooley

Throw in a fifth receiver, Davis and think about the sheer talent differential between our receivers and a given secondary.

[sikizler]

I'd rather draft Best

If this happens, I'm going to have to go to training camp this year to see if there are any lasting effects of...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAJGmVY48rs

[Assassin 21]

Devin is far more explosive. He really just balled out completely in that Saints game last year.

[JoeKnowsBest]

Kelly isn't a very polished route runner but he has outsanding hands and freakish ability to go up and make the grab. (It's a shame Campbell didn't know how to throw up a fade route.)

Thomas on the other hand runs better routes and is very good in stride, but he doesn't have the kind of size or high circus catch ability that Malcolm Kelly has.

I think Kelly is the better deep threat down the field to catch the ball. But Thomas has the ablitiy to catch it in stride and turn it into a huge gain or TD. Thomas might be the more traditional WCO style of reciever.

[Travdaskin]

Devin is far more explosive. He really just balled out completely in that Saints game last year.

That game made me feel better about him and the whole team. Hopefully Shanny can bring that out of us EVERY game...

[Yeen80]

I swear we have a post with this exact same title every offseason

[VRIEL1]

Bring on Marshall or T.O. or both.

Thomas was in some games not in others.

Kelly was non existant except for maybe one game.

Moss is usually hurt or double teamed.

Waiting on my man Mitchell.

Someone has to fill ARE's spot.

We need playmakers. I too hope the new WR position coach can coach them better but after 2 yrs I think we still need playmakers. Bring in T.O. for 2 yrs at his requested 5 mill. That gives the new coaching staff time to coach up Thomas and Kelly before letting T.O. go. Getting Marshall also would be icing on the cake.

T.O.

Marshall

Moss

Thomas

Kelly

Mitchell

see how it plays out in preseason, if Kelly does not step up cut bait. We'd still have...

T.O.

Marshall

Moss

Thomas

Mitchell

[flexxskins]

Like many have already mentioned, Thomas seems to be the big playmaker of the two, especially after the catch.

I don't know if I am alone in noticing this, but Kelly scares the hell out of me after he catches the ball. It almost looks like Kelly doesn't know how to lower his shoulders to either run over a defender or absorb a hit properly.

But, Kelly does look like he has the better hands of the two.

[RemoveSnyder]

I'm pulling for both, really like Devin Thomas though.

I forget if it was last preseason (2009) or not, I believe it was however. It was a preseason game versus the patriots.

Thomas took a short pass, maybe it was a drag route or hook, not sure (short pass within 5 to 7 yards from the line of scrimmage). Anyway, he was facing back toward the LOS, he took the pass and spun himself around in one motion, headed upfield with his first step or two and a pats defender (LB) came flying up, ready to make a collision. Thomas probably caught him out of his peripheral vision in that split second, I mean it was *bang (catch), *bang (spin/first step), *bang (defender in your grill) all within 2 seconds.

Well Thomas juked that fool right out of his shoes, left the pats LB facing one way while he was already heading upfield for what I remember being something like a 15 to 16 yard gain. Thomas dropped a little shimmy shake and bake on him. It was a sight man.

I mean, I darn near lost it with excitement. It was just an incredibly athletic move. And what's more, I was looking to see if either Thomas or Kelly would step up during the course of their second years respectively. That play really said something, at least to me. Even though it was just preseason.

Anyway, someone mentioned his game vs. the Saints during the regular season and that was an impressive game for him, from my perspective.

Somebody has to have some clips of his 7 catches from that Saints game, somewhere. Oh, and a clip of his downright ill moves he laid down versus the Broncos this last year. He did something very similar where he took a short pass and did some "full stride to stop on a dime" and spin and "fake you out of your shoes" moves versus the broncos.

Hoping for the best with both. Go DT.

[Sikbug]

DT I wannt see do really well, but of course I'd love to see Kelly step it up too.

Remember this one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn1K2Jl5vng

[Going Commando]

I hope they're our Rod Smith/Ed McCaffery.... That'd be fantastic.

That would be pretty awesome. How about Boldin and Fitzgerald? Devin Thomas has the same running back style that Bolid does in the open field and Kelly is a leaper with great hands like Fitzgerald.

[Warhead36]

With a proven QB in McNabb, this year is a make or break year for both of them. Thomas showed a lot more last year, but I still think both can be solid, productive receivers in this league.