Josh Gordon

I'm glad I didn't have time to blog heading into the supplemental draft, because I would have said...err ehh....that they would use a second round pick to nab Josh Gordon!  Yeah, that's the ticket!

And....and that Gordon was WORTH a 2013 second-round pick!  Yeah, that's what I would have said!

Nah.  Ok but now that it's done, I'm bothered by a lot of the comments I read.  "Great move!"  "Finally, a wide reciever!"

NONE of these people knows anything ABOUT Josh Gordon!

I'm not saying the guy won't be great.  I still have faith in Heckert and company, and their judgement.  You can't teach big hands, speed, or size, and this dude sure has those.  So did Mitchell...except Mitchell wasn't a Heckert pick, and was even more raw.

Gordon is indeed raw, but after his solid season with RG3 at Baylor, he did practice the whole season with Utah.  This means he's been running routes vs. defensive backs.  He's now worked in two different systems.

Sure, he'll immediately challenge to start opposite Little, but probably won't.  He hasn't been here for anything yet.  Hasn't even seen the playbook yet.  Maybe never heard of a West Coast route tree.  The West Coast is the most complex system for a wide reciever to learn.  No ad-libbing; there's only one correct read, and if you blow it there's a good chance it's a pick, because the ball was in the air before you made the wrong move, or didn't make the right one.

If you expect him to come right in and change everything in 2012, you should wake up.  This was a longer-term move.  He may be worked in gradually through the season, playing more and more, and might even be making a splash in the second half--or not.

Even if Mitchell emerges, along with one or two of the other non-Little guys, and push Gordon off the active roster in 2012, it hardly matters (if they're right).

He wouldn't have been drafted until 2013 anyway, and most legit experts agree that he'd have a good shot at being the first or second wide reciever drafted, maybe high in the first round.

Heckert just put the same guy on this NFL team, in this offensive system, a year early.  In 2013, he'll be better than he would have been after another season in college!  AND, on a second-round contract!!!

I've only been able to see Gordon make two plays on film.  One was a little insta-dumpoff to him at the line of scrimmage that he took 97 yards for a TD.  What shocked me about that is that he was pulling away from all the defenders with each stride.  His 40 time is good for his size, but I'll bet his 100-time is microscopic.

DB's in the NFL are faster, of course, but I really doubt that many could catch him if he got behind them.  I mean, their legs are simply too short.

The other touchdown was a bomb from RG3.  Here, he was around three yards ahead of the DB, who had no shot.

Mitchell never had a season like this guy had with Baylor and RG3.  The year before last, Gordon really proved something against elite competition, and now he's practiced with Utah for another season, so he's not at all as raw and unproven as Mitchell was when he was drafted (not by Heckert).

He also sounds pretty smart in his interviews.  And the mary jane stuff?  Big deal!

And hey, of he steps right in and surprises me by making an impact right away, that's great!  I mean, they can instantly use him situationally and say "just go to that corner of the end zone period".  Just scare this free safety and pull this cornerback over there so they stay out of the way.

I'm not counting Mitchell out, either.  This doesn't mean there's not room for two of those guys.

Hell, now they've got TOO many wide recievers!

Wow.