I don't think his down year had to do with not being able to adjust to the zip on Favre's passes, I just dont think he was put in a position to succeed. By the end of the season he was only running deep streaks that Favre couldn't hit
cotchery has good hands. dropping balls is not an issue with him. i think that ball was tipped last sunday.
another quick point about my man cotch... He ALWAYS shows up to play the patriots, usually having some of his best games of the season. Im excited for sunday! My first year with season tickets!!! 310 is going to be rocking!!!
I'm not doubting his hands, but he doesn't have Chrebet hands either. If you guys watch that replay in the endzone, that ball WAS in Cotch's hands. You can tell that he knows he dropped it, by watching his reaction just after the drop. Don't get me wrong. Nobody was jumping around and praising Cotch more when he made that crazy one handed catch against the Pats last year.
Nobody the Jets have had in a long time had hands as good as Chrebet before the concussions. That said, a lot of catchable balls went over his head that Cotchery would have caught. Vinny probably lost as many completions a year to that as he gained from the fact that if the ball was in reach Chrebet was going to come down with it. Chrebet is still my favorite Jets WR of all time. Nobody did more with less and I'll never forget the 7 week run in early 2000 when he and Vinny kept beating teams in the 4th quarter even when the game looked hopeless.
I don't buy the "nobody did more w/ less". Just b/c he was underrated coming out of college doesn't mean he didn't have immense talent. I think his athletic ability is severely underrated.
I love how Stuckey, Cotchery, Leon, and Keller have a real natural talent in getting YAC and knowing where the 1st down marker is at all times.
He was probably the slowest, shortest WR (combination of the 2 qualities) in NFL history. He would have been a slow, small receiver in 1950, let alone 2000. To balance against that he had great hands, good elusiveness in patterns and a quickness that gave him three step speed as if he was much faster at the beginning of patterns. Look around the NFL today and find a player as small and slow as he was that is playing and not kicking the football. I bet you can't even come close.
He definitely wasn't the slowest or shortest and Chrebet while slower w/ straight line speed was very quick and shifty plus he was very strong. people act like this was some good HS player that got lucky, the man was incredibly talented and blessed w/ many physical gifts. height was not one of those gifts but he was more than fast enough and he was quick and strong.
He is no doubt in my mind a #1 Receiver. Yeah yeah, a #1 receiver is relative but I have never had a doubt of Cotch's abilities. Even when Herm had him on the bench and we were wondering why he wasn't playing, when he did he made plays. Excellent Hands, Knows the field, Makes acrobatic type plays. What more do you want? Ok, so he Isn't a burner but as others have said, I'll take the Possession guy over the burner. We can have 10 burners but if None can catch the key 3rd downs it's moot.
Exactly what I was going to say. Height was the one area in which he was clearly deficient, but I've never understood the argument that he survived in the league on heart and dedication alone. This is the NFL. Heart may get you onto a practice squad, but it's certainly not enough for an 11 season career. His hands and his shiftiness made him who he was.
While I do agree that Cotchery has done well honing his craft, he seems to have an innate ability to react to defenders. He has a deliberate motion with the ball in his hands and never compromises himself by trying to make one too many moves. While a ton of receivers in the NFL attempt to dance around defenders and give up a measure of strength and balance, Cotchery always seems to react and use the advantage he has when a defender gives up those things to try to make the tackle. It's intelligent, quick reflex running, and it's made him great to watch.
He's averaged about 1000 yards over the last 3 seasons as a #2 receiver. If Stuckey and Keller have more yards than him I think we'll be in great shape. I doubt either does though.
Assuming Sanchez is what he seems to be and barring injuries I think they wind up something like this for the season: Cotchery - 90 catches, 1200 yards, 7 TD Keller - 75 catches, 975 yards, 7 TD Stuckey - 60 catches, 810 yards, 6 TD Then you'll have Washington out of the backfield with 60 catches for 510 yards and another 4 TD's and everybody else filling here and there. That would be the Jets A-plan for how the ball gets spread around in Sanchez rookie season if he's the gunslinger he looks to be. If I'm low on anybody it's Keller. I used Gates and Gonzalez as the template for how well a TE can do with a good QB rifling him the ball up the seams. It's starting to look like Keller is more an oversized WR than a fast TE though so he could be able to do more than those guys in his peak season if he's used spread right a lot.
