Wide Receiver Breakdown:

[kreitmaster]

I don't see why people keep calling Bobby Wade "aged" he's only 29. He's actually been one of the more consistent WRs for us this preseason. He's been a pretty reliable possession WR for us. Grossman seems to like him, though I'm not sure if he has the same chemistry with McNabb.

I agree. I think Bobby Wade is being overlooked here. He's not old and he has had some fairly productive (50+ catch) years. Not sure about his special teams ability but I'm fairly certain he can play ST. Also Galloway didn't do anything against the Ravens but against the Bills he should have had a deep TD. He beat his man easily but Donovan threw it out of bounds. I guess my WRs would be:

Santana Moss

Devin Thomas

Joey Galloway

Anthony Armstrong

Bobby Wade

Brandon Banks

Terrence Austin Practice Squad

[CMonster]

Teaching is why Galloway is here. Experience to drive the young players.

Armstrong, not only does he look "good" against starters. (preseason), but most importantly, McNabb has been looking for him. I think HE gives him the deSean Jackson type receiver he's been successful with, and I really want to see them work on timing.

The bomb Armstrong caught in the first qtr Saturday was underthrown by five yards, he had those two BURNED for a TD.. and later in the half he was once again 5 steps past everyone and McNabb overshot him.

Once they get synched up, that could be nice to see.

I thought Moss' work in the crossing routes was impressive vs Baltimore, he was wide open several times and had excellent YAC.

I think that the position still has question marks, but I am starting to see that they might be answered.

And I tell you,, I think most of it has to do with the fact there's a veteran QB back there who can slip the rush, buy time, step up and find the open man. Several times Sat. I flinched because I flashed back to the last few years where outside rushers got sacks, fumbles and TDs. To see OUR quarterback slide a shuffle step and move up and away from pressure is like a breath of fresh air after having been in a burning building..

~Bang

I think to compare Anthony Armstrong to Desean Jackson is a leap too far.

Sure, Anthony has looked good against starters, but that's also because of the opportunity he's received. The fact is, so far during preseason there have been WRs running open all over the place, so I'd assign as much credit to Kyle Shanahan as a I would Armstong.

Armstrong is playing well, but seems to me to be pretty far away from being a starting caliber player. He'd be 7th or 8th on the depth chart in Giants camp, so I think we should all keep that in perspective.

That being said, I don't think this offense requires all that much physical talent. Shanahan liked Ed McCaffrey and Rod Smith, Kevin Walter and David Anderson were threats in a downfield attack in this system and as we've mentioned McNabb has done more with less, so I'm not overly worried.

Also, I don't see how we can count on Galloway to make an impact this season. Should he play and play well, the chances of him staying healthy seem pretty remote to me. They are holding him out in the preseason, and rightfully so.

And to that point, I have zero confidence in a 150LB WR to make any impact on offense, in the event he makes the team as a PR.

My depth depth chart:

Moss

RWilliams

DThomas

Armstrong

Someone on another roster

Banks (PR)

Austin- Practice Squad

[maskedsuperstar]

I think we run with 6 and keep galloway.

Galloway is making the team and will start.

[maskedsuperstar]

My depth depth chart:

Moss

RWilliams

DThomas

Armstrong

Someone on another roster

Banks (PR)

Austin- Practice Squad

Sorry, Galloway is making the team. I don't know why everyone thinks he won't. Roydell Williams has been out of football for 2 years? And has done what?

Banks has talent. I don't care how much he weighs. "But he is only 150lbs". Yes, and he can run by you. Give him the ball in space. Thats a quick 7 yds before anybody will touch him. And he caught a ball for 29 yds, where he found the soft spot in the zone.

[maskedsuperstar]

We need to scan the waiver wire to round out this WR corp.....Kevin Curtis? Amani Toomer? Trade for Eddie Royal or Vincent Jackson? Do something to add because we are terribly thin at WR.

The Skins are fine at WR.

[Skinsfanatic_1]

Sorry, Galloway is making the team. I don't know why everyone thinks he won't. Roydell Williams has been out of football for 2 years? And has done what?

Roydell has caught the ball every time it's been thrown to him. It's Galloway who has done squat.

[hoskins]

Sorry, Galloway is making the team. I don't know why everyone thinks he won't. Roydell Williams has been out of football for 2 years? And has done what?

I agree, Galloway makes the team

Banks has talent. I don't care how much he weighs. "But he is only 150lbs". Yes, and he can run by you. Give him the ball in space. Thats a quick 7 yds before anybody will touch him. And he caught a ball for 29 yds, where he found the soft spot in the zone.

But what about blocking? He's not just a poor blocker, he's a zero blocker.

And on that fake punt it was the same deal. Everyone focused on HB missing the tackle, but Banks was in great position also and didn't even try to make the tackle (because at his size he would have just been run over anyway). Essentially on that play we were playing with 10 players. Even our kickers can probably tackle and block better than Banks.

Banks is awesome to watch, and I really want to see him on the team from a "fan" point of view, but I think there's a big catch there when teams actually start to game plan against him.

[sjinhan]

Moss

RWilliams

DThomas

Armstrong

Galloway

Banks (PR)

Austin- Practice Squad

and lets not put R. Williams in with the "older guys" ala Galloway... R. Williams in only 29 this year and has "fresh body" since he hasnt played too much due to injury.

[TheShredder]

I wasn't that disappointed in our WRs against the Ravens as the separation was pretty good. Obviously the catching was poor, but that can be worked on. I'm particularly not worried because the guys who were dropping balls are normally safe hands so I don't see it being a long term problem.

I wasn't disappointed in the WR's at all. I watched the game. McNabb was a little out of sorts in this game as the rush wasn't making things easy or comfortable for him. Had he a little bit better protection he would have put 2 TD's on the board instead of just the one that Davis dropped.

As far as the McNabb to WR connection...I see him in sync with Moss. I see him in sync with Cooley. I see him on the same page as Armstrong. I think the other receivers are dropping some balls that should have been receptions, and some balls that were just plain misses. I think with 264 passing yards 1 TD's 1 INT in 3 Quarters of Preseason, really isn't bad at all.

Skins have a lot of weapons...I like Armstrong for sure!

McNabb targets:

Moss

Cooley

Armstrong

Davis

Thomas

Galloway

That's a serviceable bunch and one of them is going to blow up!!!

:dallasuck:eaglesuck:dj:

[Sweet Sassy Molassy]

I agree. I think Bobby Wade is being overlooked here. He's not old and he has had some fairly productive (50+ catch) years. Not sure about his special teams ability but I'm fairly certain he can play ST. Also Galloway didn't do anything against the Ravens but against the Bills he should have had a deep TD. He beat his man easily but Donovan threw it out of bounds. I guess my WRs would be:

Santana Moss

Devin Thomas

Joey Galloway

Anthony Armstrong

Bobby Wade

Brandon Banks

Terrence Austin Practice Squad

The reasons Galloway was invisible against the Ravens is because he didn't play. The coaches know what he can do, and are seemingly comfortable enough with him to let him have the game off, which also gives the younger guys more of a chance to shine. I think Galloway getting wide open deep for what should have been a TD, had McNabb not overshot it, was enough for the coaches. Also the fact that we have 11 WRs on this team means that there's no way every single WR is going to get a fair shot if we try to force every guy to play. Likely Galloway will play against the Jets and someone else will have more limited reps. Similar to what they have been doing with the RB rotation, notice Torain didn't get any looks Saturday.

[jnhay]

How can Galloway possibly make the team when he hasn't caught a ball this preseason? I'd say MK has a better chance of making the team because at least he's injured and not playing. I don't see Austin making this team, because he hasn't done much. Everything he's done, Banks has done better.

[CM916]

Here are Armstrong's AFL stats through 20 career games:

105 receptions, 1,388 yards, 22TDs. He also has a couple of special teams tackles and a 40 yard KR TD. The only bad thing is that he did it for a Jerry Jones owned Dallas team.

[hoskins]

How can Galloway possibly make the team when he hasn't caught a ball this preseason? I'd say MK has a better chance of making the team because at least he's injured and not playing. I don't see Austin making this team, because he hasn't done much. Everything he's done, Banks has done better.

I don't think he even had his pads on in the second quarter. It's not like he was in the game to make the catches.

I guess you could read it either way. Either the coaches are more interested in developing Armstrong, etc. OR they already know what they have with Galloway and he's essentially a lock, and so they're focusing on the other guys.

But, admittedly it doesn't make sense that they gave Moss so much time though, since he's obviously a lock as well.

I suppose we'll see in two weeks.

[jnhay]

I don't think he even had his pads on in the second quarter. It's not like he was in the game to make the catches.

I guess you could read it either way. Either the coaches are more interested in developing Armstrong, etc. OR they already know what they have with Galloway and he's essentially a lock, and so they're focusing on the other guys.

But, admittedly it doesn't make sense that they gave Moss so much time though, since he's obviously a lock as well.

I suppose we'll see in two weeks.

I think if he disappears next week that he doesn't have a good chance. I've been following the camp reports, and now that I think of it, I don't remember Galloway's name ever coming up.

[hoskins]

I think if he disappears next week that he doesn't have a good chance. I've been following the camp reports, and now that I think of it, I don't remember Galloway's name ever coming up.

I've went to three practices this year (semi-retired finally!), five if you include minicamps and OTAs, and Galloway looked very good in all of them, FWIW. I saw two pretty spectacular TDs where he outran our secondary and make diving catches. Don't forget he outran the Bills D deep early in that game and McNabb just put the ball a little too far outside.

In practice he also ran those sort of deep in routes like we saw Moss run and I didn't see him drop those either. And he was getting good separation. One thing I didn't see was Galloway drop balls (or Moss and Armstrong for that matter). I saw a couple drops from Williams and Austin.

And Thomas, well, he reminded me of a receiver we used to have around here called "50/50". I wish they would implement the numbered balls that Sonny Jurgensen was saying Vince Lombardi used to do with them.

[rk3025]

We should be able to find a receiver that can block and tackle some day.

I agree, Galloway makes the team

But what about blocking? He's not just a poor blocker, he's a zero blocker.

And on that fake punt it was the same deal. Everyone focused on HB missing the tackle, but Banks was in great position also and didn't even try to make the tackle (because at his size he would have just been run over anyway). Essentially on that play we were playing with 10 players. Even our kickers can probably tackle and block better than Banks.

Banks is awesome to watch, and I really want to see him on the team from a "fan" point of view, but I think there's a big catch there when teams actually start to game plan against him.

[Guest Spearfeather]

Cool down on the Armstrong stuff, guys. Remember Marko? Remember Marcus? It is the preseason. Of course I am impressed with him as well, but just keep in mind that the guy is 27 and was not able to stay on with an AFL team. There is no way that the guy can start in this league.

That last statement is pretty bold.

[rk3025]

Did you go to any practices?

How can Galloway possibly make the team when he hasn't caught a ball this preseason? I'd say MK has a better chance of making the team because at least he's injured and not playing. I don't see Austin making this team, because he hasn't done much. Everything he's done, Banks has done better.

[hoskins]

We should be able to find a receiver that can block and tackle some day.

Well, within reason. Obviously you won't find a receiver who blocks like an OLineman out there.

But on a running play against a pro defense you have to at least be able to sort of block a corner. In looking at both preseason games again, it doesn't look like Banks can even slow down a corner coming on run support. That's a big issue if we expect him to have a future as a WR.

And then again on the punt return team if the opponent kicks away from Banks or fakes the punt, then we're essentially playing with 10, maybe 10.5 men. That's another issue.

It's just physics when you are that tiny. We're talking, what 25-30 pounds less than Darrell Green? 10 pounds less than Mike Shanahan?

[CommanderDOOM]

Moss

Armstrong

DT

Williams

Banks

Galloway

M.K ---IR if possible.

[Guest Spearfeather]

Moss

Thomas

Galloway

Armstrong

and ..... I don't know ..... still up for grabs. Last week, I was still thinking Kelly, but as for now, I think some of it depends on how many wide receivers we keep. I really don't see how Armstrong does not make the roster.

[darrelgreenie]

Re: Wide Receiver Breakdown:

Im curious as to your thoughts:

Banks and Austin have similiar skill sets i can't see us keeping both.

I think that either Roydell or Wade will make the squad as a proven reliable 40-50 catch type guys.

I can't imagine Joey making the team but all reports seem to indicate that he's found the fountain of youth and i'm sure Joey still runs crisp routes.

Devin Thomas may have found a niche as KR and even if he doesn't emerge as bona fide NFL WR he's still fast and can can still makes plays after the catch.

I like Armstrong he look like he has some speed and if he keeps making plays i hope he makes the team.

Even though McNabb was off on Sat he still throws one of the best deep balls and between Austin/Banks, Armstong and Thomas there's speed to burn. And hopefully the threat of those guys will help Tana get more open more often (especialy with Kyle Shanahan's passing game prowess).

I think Tana is gonna have one of the best seasons of his career.

I'm still intrigued by Malcolm Kelly, yeah yeah the guys gets hurt but if any one say Malcolm in college the kid has exceptional hands and i just don't see cutting a WR with hands like his after all is said and done catching the football is kinda important and when healthy he would have the best hands (WR) on the team.

[Bang]

I think to compare Anthony Armstrong to Desean Jackson is a leap too far.

Sure, Anthony has looked good against starters, but that's also because of the opportunity he's received. The fact is, so far during preseason there have been WRs running open all over the place, so I'd assign as much credit to Kyle Shanahan as a I would Armstong.

Well, to clarify,, I'm not really comparing Armstrong to Jackson, he hasn't proven anything. What I am saying is that Donovan seems to be developing rapport with him, he goes to him a lot, including in tight situations. I think he likes the kid, and that is where my comparison comes in. McNabb hasn't got any time in with any of these guys, and his trust level of Armstrong seems to be growing.

Other than that, I agree with everything you've said.

~Bang

[bulldog]

the only reason Thomas is ranked at #2 is because of his draft position in 2008.

there is nothing objective to use in placing him that high on the roster.

if you were looking at him for the first time this preseason and were told he was a #7 pick and Armstrong was a #3 pick, you would put Armstrong in the #2 slot and say that Thomas has been inconsistent and may have trouble making the final roster.

Too many of you guys buy into draft position and pre-draft rating in continuing to overvalue players YEARS after those picks were made. And in this case made by a GM that was fired in disgrace.

The Rams could have taken Thomas but took Avent instead. The Eagles could have taken Thomas but passed.

[Atlanta Skins Fan]

the only reason Thomas is ranked at #2 is because of his draft position in 2008.

there is nothing objective to use in placing him that high on the roster.

Agreed. He also lacks maturity and focus, as shown by off-field self-absorption.

I'd much rather have young and hungry, or come-back stories, or the grizzled vet. We need character on this club, and we need to reward performance over draft position.

Keep:

Moss: everything we want except size, great sync with McNabb

Armstrong: young, hungry, fast, focused, great attitude

Galloway: grizzled pro, disciplined, still fast, but fragile

Williams: reliable pro, come-back story, plays short game a little like Monk

Banks: speed project and PR

Cut:

Kelly

Hodge

Trade:

Thomas: somebody must still want him. If team trades for Jackson, they should put Thomas in that trade. Otherwise cut.

P.S.

Austin: if room on P.S. ... or cut. Banks took his meal ticket.

? Wade: I haven't seen him enough to judge. Maybe keep him. Curious that he's on his 5th team since 2003. Defer to Shanahan.

Probably Shanahan keeps Devin Thomas due to "potential" ... and if so, I'll defer to Shanahan's judgment. I'd rather see the other guys on the field. I want to see guys who think about football 24/7, and that's not Thomas. Physically he has the tools.

I'd be really pleased if Shanahan started Armstrong, just to see what he's got in real games. Too often these guys languish and never get a shot when the regular season arrives. I'd start him three games and then reevaluate. If he plays behind the vets, his time will never come.

It would be fun to start Armstrong and leave Thomas inactive for half a season ... if Thomas makes the squad. Maybe that will get through to Thomas.