There's only 1 problem w/ your statement- Chrebet WASN'T the starter and as hard as it is to believe for some of you certain players aren't ready to play the minute they step on an NFL field. Cotch DID have a start last year and played in all 16 games and in '04 he played in 12 games and he never distinguished himself. He showed flashes which he has put together consistently this year.
Junc- I'm not pushing for starter title for the guy for the last 2 years. I would have been happy as a pig in shit with Cotch in the slot.... Don't give me the "He never distinguished himself crap." The guy had stellar camps both years and when the ball was thrown his way he was a playmaker, speed and route running were great and it took multiple defenders to bring him down. And "playing in all 16 games" doesn't count for anything if the ball is never thrown your way....Admit it and go anti-Herm for a second- Cotchery should have been our guy in the slot last year- Wayne should have sat....
if the ball is never thrown his way how is that Herm's fault? Now you want gameplans to specifically get him the ball? The bottom line is he wasn't good enough to play in 2004 and last year our O was a complete mess but he had opportunities. He did catch the 3rd most balls among WRs for us last year so it wasn't like he was buried. We had no Ol, no running game and no QB- hnow did you expect him to produce? you just like to blame everything on Herm(and now Chad).
You're saying that he never distinguished himself, I'm saying that he did. He had better camps than any of the other receivers and when he was on the field, he produced. Why can't you just admit that Herm screwed up by not giving him a more consistent role? I know that Herm can do no wrong in your eyes, but this one is as plain as day. Do you also think that Herm benching Vilma until Cowart was injured was also a wise move?
those 6 recs in '04 made a big impression on you, huh? last year he got a chance and he played well considering everything else that was happening w/ the injuries. You are just using this time to bash Herm again b/c everything herm did was wrong and we won in spite of him and now we are winning in spite of Chad.
Double speak etc. courtesy of Junc. '04 is the rookie season, I'll give that a pass, but he should have seen more PT. No excuses for last year. You still haven't gotten to the crux of my argument- Why does Herm place an aging, oft-injured and not nearly 100% Chrebet into the slot and forego putting a rising star with much more potential ala Cotchery into the game. For the same reason that he played Coward over Vilma. The guy can't evaluate starting talent and gives too much to his aging vets....
you give him a pass on his rookie year but not '05 when in fact he got alot of Pt in '05- I don't get what you are complaining about? pretend parcells or Mangini were the Hc and you won't have a problem. cowart was a beast in the first 2 games of 2004 before he got hurt as they returned him back to the middle but they were still getting Vilma on the field. you guys just love to bash herm no matter what the circumstances- you bash him for playing Robertson, for not starting Vilma day 1(evne though he was playing starter mins)- which is it? at least be consistent w/ your irrational hatred of the man.
I'm willing to give HERM a bit of a pass for '04- notwithstanding Cotchery's strong start- I'm being nice. '05 is a debacle on Herm's side re Cotchery. Explain to me again, why did Chrebet play last year instead of Cotchery? I still haven't seen a response on that? Could it be that Herm was coaching with his head up his ass?
Cotchery had alot of playing time last year, he even started a game. He din't have great #s b/c our O was terrible, we played 5 different QBs, had 1 Ol start and end the year in the same position, had no running game,... He caught 19 balls for 251 yards, he did well considering but even Coles' #s were substandard b/c of the problems on O. Are you going to blame Cole's lack of production last year on the way Herm used him?
AGAIN, are you defending Herm playing Chrebet in place of Cotchery last year? And if so, why? I don't give a damm about the O-line woes. He didn't have great #'s because he rarely saw decent playing time. I'm not touching Coles- this is Cotchery we're talking about.
Wow, I like Cotchery but UMMM....lets put away the annointing oil shall we Chrebet strung together multiple solid seasons of great play. Cotchery has 1. The truth will be told in the test of time, lets see if he can keep this up for the next 5 years...And that being said, yes most of the wr's were superior to Wayne, but it Chrebet's intangibles that pushed him up.
He didn't have #s b/c of the situation of the offense. you also forget we had huge expectations going into last year and Chrebet was our 3rd WR in 2004 and had a decent year. To throw essentially a rookie into the slot when you have those expectations may not be the wisest move and eevn if he ahd started and played most of the snaps he still wouldn't have put up good #s b/c of the offensive problems w/ injuries. He started 1 game and in that game he had ONE reception- mccareins and dante Ridgeway were the only Wrs besides Cotch and Coles- why couldn't he produce then? he had alot of opportunities to play last year. Moss wasn't ready t start right away but when he did in '03 he took off- this is a very similar situation.
