The type of receiver we need

There were 2 articles in today's Web Rumblings that were really fascinating to me. This post is not about pay Stevie the money. I am already assuming Stevie will be back and all this talk is much ado about nothing.

I want to talk about our Z type receiver. The first article is Z's remain dormant in Bill's offense.

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/article689841.ece

This article shows how Bills' yards/catch at this position is the lowest in the league at 9.7 yds/catch.

As a lot of you might know there are 3 types of receivers - X, Y and Z.

Wikipedia does a decent job of explaining what those are:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_receiver

Guys at link below also do a really good job of explaining it:

http://www.footballsfuture.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=324366

The article explains that we are set at our X and Y positions. The X receiver is the guy who faces press coverage. He is good at it either because of his size like calvin johnson or due to his hand-use and skills like reggie wayne. Stevie is the Reggie Wayne type. X receiver is usually the go to guy.

The Y receiver is the slot receiver. I think between David Nelson and Parrish if he returns, we have that covered.

The Z receiver is where we have the problem. The Z receiver lines up off the LOC to avoid jamming. This guy is usually the deep threat in the team and lines up on the strong side. Our group of donald jones, brad smith and cj spiller is not working at this position. They are the worst in the league. Some of the best Z receivers this year in the league are Jordy Nelson, Desean Jackson, Julio Jones, etc...

The other article related to this is Fitz missing the deep ball by espn

http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/36214/ryan-fitzpatrick-missing-the-deep-ball

This shows how Fitz is connecting on only 27% of the deep passes. The article goes on to say we need a deep threat next year either through the draft or FA.

But which kind? That's the question.

You might point out that we already had Lee Evans and we traded him away. But if you read these links here, it explains well that the Z receiver needs to be a really good run blocker as well. Teams usually like to run on the tight end side. Since the Z receiver lines up on the tight end side, he needs to be good at run support. As we know, Lee was not good in run support and lacked the desire to improve on that. Plus the fact that he is injured most of this season makes the trade good.

If you put the two articles together, here is the result. Fitz will never be a Drew Brees or Michael Vick in deep ball accuracy and arm strength. So speedsters like Desean Jackson, or Lee Evans are not what this team needs. Even if these receivers outrun the corner backs, it's worse than a coin toss if Fitz will find them. He will most likely overthrow wildly or underthrow and get intercepted. Plus these guys are small in size and will not be of help in run support.

Who we need for our deepthreat is a tall and big receiver. A guy who wont outrun a CB but will be very physical to contest and win the ball. This guy also because of his size will be a good run blocker. Deep-threat doesnt only mean speed.

You might point out that we already have David Nelson who is 6'5. But if you see our roster, none of the guys are physical. David Nelson is tall but lanky. He is not going to come out a winner every time he contests. He is better suited in the slot because of his skills. Donald Jones is neither tall or big at 6'0 and 209 lbs. CJ Spiller is the exact opposite of what we need. Brad Smith can be the guy at 6'2, 215 lb but he hasnt shown anything yet. Hagan and Aiken are also of the same build but even they need to show something. Marcus Easley is 6'2 221lbs and runs a 4.38s 40. He really could be that guy but with his uncertain future, I dont think we should depend on him. When asked if he will be in next year's plan, Gailey said, " It's upto him.". That's a weird answer.

But there are plenty of options in the draft in all the rounds. We dont need a Michael Floyd in the first round to make this happen although that would be good. (Did you guys see that contested TD he scored yesterday in the bowl game?). I say we target one in the 4th round.

Jeff Fuller at 6'3 220 lbs and Marvin McNutt at 6'2 215 lbs are 2 guys I would target in the 4th round.

But speedsters like Jarius Wright and Joe Adams are exactly the guys who we dont want.

Who do you guys think we should get?