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(02-16-2021 01:17 PM)Z-Fly Wrote:  

(02-16-2021 01:12 PM)OKIcat Wrote:  

(02-16-2021 11:18 AM)BearcatJerry Wrote:  The problem I have with the obvious picks of either Travis Kelce or Mardy Gilyard is that you have to have a QB who can consistently make the reads and then place the ball where they can catch it. Mardy could go "get the ball," but even he would struggle with the throws that Des Ridder typically makes. Yeah, you could "hit" Kelce over the middle all day long, but the question is whether or not Des is making that assessment and then putting the ball where Kelce can get it and run afterwards.

And...NO...I'm not trying to reignite the whole QB controversy. I'm just saying that, looking ahead to 2021, the glaring issue I see is not "who can we throw the ball to." We have a good TE and a couple of hot WR's. The question is, can the QB read the coverage accurately and get the ball into the hands of the WR's and TE? I love Mardy and Travis and Armon (Binns). I'm just not sure that adding "one" of those guys would radically reshape the results at this moment.

I think we saw an entirely different Des when Hudson joined the O line in Birmingham and set the stage for an impressive win against BC and an undefeated 2020. So while he has some limitations to his game, I think we'd see some amazing statistics from Mardy or Travis as Ridder's go to receiver with an effective offensive line.

I'm the biggest Des Ridder hater going, but some were projecting him as a 2nd round draft pick. He's not going to be an air raid specialist, but he's not the biggest hole. Remember, as of now, Metz is the Left Tackle. Hudson is the pick.

Ridder is a running QB. I wish I could count him as a "Dual Threat," but frankly we have not seen a marked improvement in his throws over the past two seasons. The Offense really would improve if they made him a "run first--pass second" type QB. He should be looking to either run or option it off every play and then looking to throw only if something ridiculous is open or as a last resort.

And that's not a terrible thing. Let Des be Des. He has shown that he can break plays with his legs more than with his arm. That's not a tragedy...unless you keep trying to make him into a thrower.