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Catching trouble

Olave, Brown limited by lesser passing games

The Saints and Eagles obtained big-time receivers on the first day of the draft – New Orleans with the 11th pick in the first round, Philadelphia via trade. But I’m not confident that either team has the infrastructure to bring those guys to life.

Chris Olave is an unusually polished looking prospect, having played four years at Ohio State. He’s caught a lot of balls, setting the school record for touchdown catches along the way (including 20 in his last 18 games). He seems to be a better route-runner than a typical rookie.

But I have no confidence in Jameis Winston. I don’t think the Saints do either. In his six full games last year (I’m setting aside his final game, with him being sidelined early by a season-ending injury) he averaged only 25 pass attempts. That was not only the fewest in the league, but 4 fewer than every other team. About half the league averaged 35 pass attempts per game. They took the ball out of his hands.

I imagine the Saints will let Winston do more this year. I don’t think they really have a choice. But as they go down that road, I think we’ll see the interceptions and head-scratching mistakes resurface. Winston is 28 years old; he’s started 77 games, and I think we have all seen what he is. I don’t think Winston can maximize Olave.

Similarly with A.J. Brown, who’s now with the Eagles. Great player (and, unlike Olave, he’s already proven he can do it at the NFL level). But Philadelphia I don’t think has the quarterback to properly make that passing game go. Jalen Hurts is a great runner, which causes problems for defenses. But I don’t think he has the ability to play from the pocket, properly figuring out where the ball needs to go and throwing it with timing and accuracy.

The Eagles got good last year when they bailed on the passing game and went to run-dominated game plans for the final two thirds of the season. That’s what got them to the playoffs.

Winston averaged 25 pass attempts in his full games last year. The Eagles were the next team up – at 29 attempts per week (Hurts averaged 27 attempts in the second half of the season).

I like Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert. That’s a receiving trifecta a team can get excited about. But not with Hurts at quarterback. Not with that style of offense. (In a league where we’re getting into drafting backup quarterbacks, I’m thinking Gardner Minshew should be one of the first selected; should he get in there, that passing game might really take off.)

As with the Saints, I expect the Eagles will pass more this year. You don’t use first-round picks on wide receivers then ignore them. But unlikely, I think, that they improve enough to make Brown viable.

As it stands, the Saints and Eagles last year completed the fewer passes in the league. Perhaps they move up a few spots this year, but these aren’t passing offenses that interest me.

2021 PASSING -- COMPLETIONS
TeamComAttPctYdsTDInt
Tampa Bay49273167.35,3834312
Kansas City44867566.44,9373713
Dallas44464768.64,9634011
LA Chargers44367465.75,0143815
Las Vegas42962868.34,8082314
Pittsburgh42566464.04,0172311
Buffalo41565563.44,4503616
Arizona41559170.24,6192711
LA Rams40660766.94,8934118
Miami40461565.73,9362114
Green Bay40259367.84,526397
Minnesota39860465.94,450347
Baltimore39661164.84,2672118
Detroit39659366.83,8842314
Cincinnati38455569.24,8063614
Atlanta37757365.83,9872015
New England36453568.04,0982413
Jacksonville36160459.83,6741217
Tennessee35953567.13,7452214
NY Jets35760359.23,9592020
Washington35655064.73,7462115
Houston35454664.83,6302115
Denver35454165.43,856209
NY Giants35159359.23,4631520
Carolina34859958.13,5731421
San Francisco34351466.74,4372614
Chicago33254261.33,6351620
Indianapolis32452162.23,588278
Seattle32449565.53,815307
Cleveland32052061.53,6192114
Philadelphia30749462.13,5852010
New Orleans29350458.13,4372913

—Ian Allan

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