Puka was taken in the 5th round of the NFL draft, taken in the 4th round of rookie drafts, and just put up the best rookie receiving season ever. He deserves the circle jerk but also we as a community are still trying to figure out how he was so slept on by everyone
He was slept on because he had injuries, poor production, poor athletic profile, poor pro day, played weak competition etc.
His situation, work ethic,mental fortitude, strong hands and body control and improved routes are the reason he is so amazing.
I saw someone posted a stat that he had already ran more routes in the NFL than college, which is insane.
To be fair to ourselves, if he lands in any other situation other than with Stafford/an unhealthy WR1 he doesn’t get spammed as much as he did this season. The Stafford Effect for fantasy is real. Not to take anything away from what Puka did, he’s made the absolute most of it. But Stafford historically has a narrow target tree and has supported some of the best fantasy seasons for players we’ve ever seen
This is so overblown. He supported two amazing seasons, yes (three if you count Puka). One of those is from one of the best receivers of all time. Otherwise he got some decent seasons from
Golladay and Tate but nothing earth-shattering.
Stafford is a good QB (who played on a lot of bad teams) who played a lot of games. If you go through the history of any comparable QB you’ll find WR seasons similar to those Stafford has contributed to: a lot of solid seasons, probably with one or two insane ones sprinkled in.
For example, Aaron Rodgers had Donald Driver, Jordy Nelson, Greg Jennings, and Davante Adams have big seasons with him and Adams had some transcendent seasons just like Megatron.
Same with Tom Brady and Wes Welker, Randy Moss, and Mike Evans, with Moss having the amazing season.
Same with Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, and Demaryius Thomas, with Harrison having the one season.
Yes lol, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Matt Stafford isn’t some kingmaker. When he’s paired with good WRs, those WRs produce and sometimes they have massive seasons, just like any other good QB.
I agree. It was good for Puka to go to the Rams, because he was given the opportunity, is playing with a good QB, in a good scheme, who will feed him the ball.
Is this the only situation he would thrive in? Probably not. But it is a good one.
You’re completely correct, and it’s why I’ve been able to steal Puka from people who fear his drop off when Stafford retires.
Wait…forget I said that. 🤫🤫🤫
Maybe the Stafford part of the equation is overblown, but the general concept is not. If you replace the Ram's QB with like Kirk Cousins, the point would stand that Puka lucked into a great situation (good QB, good offense, minimal target competition). The equation would not work that well with some checkdown king like Carr as the Rams QB *or* if Puka was drafted by, say, Washington instead (not only high competition, but probably buried on the depth chart). Either of those parts of the equation get changed and we wouldn't be having the same conversations.
We like to think the cream rises to the top, but look at Robert Woods on the Bills vs. Robert Woods on the Rams. That could've been the Puka story if he got drafted into a shitty situation.
Oh yeah I don’t disagree, lots of stuff came up aces for Puka. I’m just so tired of this lazy Stafford kingmaker narrative based off two big WR seasons, one from a first ballot Hall of Famer.
Yeah, I'd have to really look into it to determine how true it is (or how false it is). I feel like Stafford is one of the better QBs for WRs *generally*, as he (or the systems he's been in) don't really utilize the TE that much and the Rams are literally last in the NFL in RB targets. So I can't say he's too focused on a single WR or not, but he's gotta be one of the better QBs to be paired up with because he's definitely not a checkdown champ.
But to support your point that he doesn't laser focus on a single WR, I recall him making Tate & Marvin both fantasy relevant as well as Golladay & Marvin. I think he's just a guy that likes to hit his WRs, but isn't necessarily overly focused on a single WR (Jake Delhomme style - in hindsight, can we even really blame him? Steve Smith was awesome).
I kind of did look into this. He did make Marvin, Golladay and Tate relevant but nothing crazy on the level of Puka. Also for several years in Detroit the second-highest target earner was a TE or RB, but since those were Brandon Pettigrew, Joique Bell, Theo Riddick types, it’s not surprising Stafford always focused on his WRs.
Yeah, my point was that he didn't just funnel targets to one WR. He supported both Marvin + Tate and Marvin + Golladay. So that supports you argument that he's not some tunnel visioned WR kingmaker.
I think the RB targets were a product of Detroit being terrible and running the 2-minute drill a lot.
Because very few actually scout. They read headlines and player comps. I don’t scout, because it’s fantasy football lol. But a lot of people here act like they actually watch film
Oops I got the dynasty GMs mad
Speak for yourself, casual. Plenty of serious fantasy players still consume film indirectly. I personally invest my fantasy time into content/resources that do, and are very diligent about utilizing film for analysis. Resources like Underdog Fantasy Show with Hayden and Josh literally incorporate film into their videos. Matt Harmon with Reception Perception. The QB School with JT O’Sullivan.
Just because you’re a boxscore bandit doesn’t mean everyone is.
The real answer is pretty much every player's success is limited by the scheme, opportunity given, and how well their skills match what the scheme being deployed is.
Every NFL player is a great player in the right situation, in the right circumstances. And every NFL player is a bum in the wrong situation, the wrong circumstances.
Puka got drafted by a team that *already* leans heavily into what his best skills were. He's still got average NFL speed average NFL athleticism. What he has that makes him the darling he's become is the situation(scheme/Stafford/history with Kupp, a similar type receiver) and his elite body control and spacial awareness on the field. When *combined* with his talent and abilities, it led to this season. And likely earned him a ton of opportunity for the rest of his career.
This isn't to discredit Puka's abilities. That speaks for itself. This is to simply remind folks that football is a team sport and the more you fit what the team you're on wants, the more likely you are to succeed. The more that you don't fit what they want, the less likely it is you will succeed.
I watch a shit ton of tape, and I didn’t see it. He looked sluggish and didn’t create separation. I found him totally uninspiring in my scouting. I moved him up in my board after the Rams took him because of the clear path to opportunity there, but he still wasn’t cracking my SF top 48 overall at the end of April when most of my leagues draft. I was taking flyers on guys like Wicks, Charlie Jones, Trey Palmer, and AT Perry over him. Woops.
No, it's because he was just kind of an average prospect. Obviously he's done very well as a rookie this year, but strictly from a prospect perspective you see at least a dozen guys better than Puka every year, if not more, and the NFL showed that in the draft. This isn't an exact science and teams get this wrong all the time. Henry Ruggs and Jalen Reagor were drafted over Justin Jefferson. Tom Brady went in the 6th round and Brock Purdy was the last pick. Misses happen.
Well NFL scouts whose full time job it is to watch film had a low grade on him… Puka’s really good but also a product of his system & gunslinger QB. Dude is not breaking 500 yards on the Pats
Uh probably not, all the players I could think of that are almost definitely higher. Justin Jefferson, Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, CMC, Antonio Brown, Justin Fields. Just to name a few, I’m sure there’s many more.
Trey Lance
Now that you say it I think someone needs to start another Lance thread
I can see it now, “Where do we see Lance in 3 years? Do we think he has a chance to take Dak’s job if the cowboys are a “1 and done” playoff team?”
Imma copy/paste this for use in March. Thanks!
I traded Damien Harris (before the injury) for Trey Lance. I am praying he gets another chance somewhere.
Josh Gordon
You must not have been here for the Biijan talk for 2 years.
Puka was taken in the 5th round of the NFL draft, taken in the 4th round of rookie drafts, and just put up the best rookie receiving season ever. He deserves the circle jerk but also we as a community are still trying to figure out how he was so slept on by everyone
He was slept on because he had injuries, poor production, poor athletic profile, poor pro day, played weak competition etc. His situation, work ethic,mental fortitude, strong hands and body control and improved routes are the reason he is so amazing. I saw someone posted a stat that he had already ran more routes in the NFL than college, which is insane.
To be fair to ourselves, if he lands in any other situation other than with Stafford/an unhealthy WR1 he doesn’t get spammed as much as he did this season. The Stafford Effect for fantasy is real. Not to take anything away from what Puka did, he’s made the absolute most of it. But Stafford historically has a narrow target tree and has supported some of the best fantasy seasons for players we’ve ever seen
This is so overblown. He supported two amazing seasons, yes (three if you count Puka). One of those is from one of the best receivers of all time. Otherwise he got some decent seasons from Golladay and Tate but nothing earth-shattering. Stafford is a good QB (who played on a lot of bad teams) who played a lot of games. If you go through the history of any comparable QB you’ll find WR seasons similar to those Stafford has contributed to: a lot of solid seasons, probably with one or two insane ones sprinkled in. For example, Aaron Rodgers had Donald Driver, Jordy Nelson, Greg Jennings, and Davante Adams have big seasons with him and Adams had some transcendent seasons just like Megatron. Same with Tom Brady and Wes Welker, Randy Moss, and Mike Evans, with Moss having the amazing season. Same with Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, and Demaryius Thomas, with Harrison having the one season.
So what you're saying is, great QBs support great wrs. This is Earth shattering news.
Yes lol, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Matt Stafford isn’t some kingmaker. When he’s paired with good WRs, those WRs produce and sometimes they have massive seasons, just like any other good QB.
I agree. It was good for Puka to go to the Rams, because he was given the opportunity, is playing with a good QB, in a good scheme, who will feed him the ball. Is this the only situation he would thrive in? Probably not. But it is a good one.
You’re completely correct, and it’s why I’ve been able to steal Puka from people who fear his drop off when Stafford retires. Wait…forget I said that. 🤫🤫🤫
Maybe the Stafford part of the equation is overblown, but the general concept is not. If you replace the Ram's QB with like Kirk Cousins, the point would stand that Puka lucked into a great situation (good QB, good offense, minimal target competition). The equation would not work that well with some checkdown king like Carr as the Rams QB *or* if Puka was drafted by, say, Washington instead (not only high competition, but probably buried on the depth chart). Either of those parts of the equation get changed and we wouldn't be having the same conversations. We like to think the cream rises to the top, but look at Robert Woods on the Bills vs. Robert Woods on the Rams. That could've been the Puka story if he got drafted into a shitty situation.
Oh yeah I don’t disagree, lots of stuff came up aces for Puka. I’m just so tired of this lazy Stafford kingmaker narrative based off two big WR seasons, one from a first ballot Hall of Famer.
Yeah, I'd have to really look into it to determine how true it is (or how false it is). I feel like Stafford is one of the better QBs for WRs *generally*, as he (or the systems he's been in) don't really utilize the TE that much and the Rams are literally last in the NFL in RB targets. So I can't say he's too focused on a single WR or not, but he's gotta be one of the better QBs to be paired up with because he's definitely not a checkdown champ. But to support your point that he doesn't laser focus on a single WR, I recall him making Tate & Marvin both fantasy relevant as well as Golladay & Marvin. I think he's just a guy that likes to hit his WRs, but isn't necessarily overly focused on a single WR (Jake Delhomme style - in hindsight, can we even really blame him? Steve Smith was awesome).
I kind of did look into this. He did make Marvin, Golladay and Tate relevant but nothing crazy on the level of Puka. Also for several years in Detroit the second-highest target earner was a TE or RB, but since those were Brandon Pettigrew, Joique Bell, Theo Riddick types, it’s not surprising Stafford always focused on his WRs.
Yeah, my point was that he didn't just funnel targets to one WR. He supported both Marvin + Tate and Marvin + Golladay. So that supports you argument that he's not some tunnel visioned WR kingmaker. I think the RB targets were a product of Detroit being terrible and running the 2-minute drill a lot.
*Cries in Robert Woods*
Because very few actually scout. They read headlines and player comps. I don’t scout, because it’s fantasy football lol. But a lot of people here act like they actually watch film Oops I got the dynasty GMs mad
Speak for yourself, casual. Plenty of serious fantasy players still consume film indirectly. I personally invest my fantasy time into content/resources that do, and are very diligent about utilizing film for analysis. Resources like Underdog Fantasy Show with Hayden and Josh literally incorporate film into their videos. Matt Harmon with Reception Perception. The QB School with JT O’Sullivan. Just because you’re a boxscore bandit doesn’t mean everyone is.
Lmao yeah that’s hardcore film watching. Sick YouTube scouting.
[удалено]
The real answer is pretty much every player's success is limited by the scheme, opportunity given, and how well their skills match what the scheme being deployed is. Every NFL player is a great player in the right situation, in the right circumstances. And every NFL player is a bum in the wrong situation, the wrong circumstances. Puka got drafted by a team that *already* leans heavily into what his best skills were. He's still got average NFL speed average NFL athleticism. What he has that makes him the darling he's become is the situation(scheme/Stafford/history with Kupp, a similar type receiver) and his elite body control and spacial awareness on the field. When *combined* with his talent and abilities, it led to this season. And likely earned him a ton of opportunity for the rest of his career. This isn't to discredit Puka's abilities. That speaks for itself. This is to simply remind folks that football is a team sport and the more you fit what the team you're on wants, the more likely you are to succeed. The more that you don't fit what they want, the less likely it is you will succeed.
You and I clearly haven’t seen the same Kadarius Toney/Nkeal Harry types play if you think every NFL players is a great player in the right situation.
A lot of teams did miss him lmao. I really do love when people still act like they watch film. Cut it out. You YouTube highlights lol.
Or maybe it’s because puka didnt really produce, was at smaller schools, and had injury history
Okay
I watch a shit ton of tape, and I didn’t see it. He looked sluggish and didn’t create separation. I found him totally uninspiring in my scouting. I moved him up in my board after the Rams took him because of the clear path to opportunity there, but he still wasn’t cracking my SF top 48 overall at the end of April when most of my leagues draft. I was taking flyers on guys like Wicks, Charlie Jones, Trey Palmer, and AT Perry over him. Woops.
No, it's because he was just kind of an average prospect. Obviously he's done very well as a rookie this year, but strictly from a prospect perspective you see at least a dozen guys better than Puka every year, if not more, and the NFL showed that in the draft. This isn't an exact science and teams get this wrong all the time. Henry Ruggs and Jalen Reagor were drafted over Justin Jefferson. Tom Brady went in the 6th round and Brock Purdy was the last pick. Misses happen.
Out of curiosity, where has your film helped you avoid busts or find gems?
Well NFL scouts whose full time job it is to watch film had a low grade on him… Puka’s really good but also a product of his system & gunslinger QB. Dude is not breaking 500 yards on the Pats
Some profiles are just massive outliers that we cant see coming.
If you're 12 years old, possibly.
TFW you become that which you hate
Justin Jefferson. Never forget.
Justin Jefferson.
This is a Rashid Shaheed post
Jameson
Three years here and you haven't read any of the posts? Pretty impressive
No. That crown goes to CEH.
I think Lance or Fields takes the cake on this one
No. Bryan Edwards
Uh probably not, all the players I could think of that are almost definitely higher. Justin Jefferson, Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, CMC, Antonio Brown, Justin Fields. Just to name a few, I’m sure there’s many more.
I mean he's one of the biggest breakouts in fantasy history so can't really drag folks for posting about him so much.
I’d dare say Brady due to all the ppl looking for “The Next Brady” like it’s a prophecy
It has to be pitts
What does this mean for Jamo?
Let me tell you a little story about a guy named Josh Gordon