Munch on Hawkins

That's all assuming you don't see Cook split out wide on some downs. I highly doubt that.

 

Why would he have a hate for Hawkins only? Hawkins is a 4th rd pick! He is not big or fast! He returned kicks in college and they wouldn't trust him to do that for the Titans.

The theory gets turned on it's head. The theory that Fisher won't play young talent yet it has been younger, newer, less experienced players that has kept Hawkins on the bench.

Britt-42 catches
Cook 29 catches
D-Will 16 catches

All 3 drafted after Hawkins!

D-Will was a rookie last year and had 3X the catches! Why is a rookie playing ahead of him? Because he was better!!!

People say that Hawkins delivers when he plays. He caught 5 balls!

Should we give any of those top 3 guys less playing time?

Quit talking about this guy like he was a top 15 pick and is ready to explode. He can't even beat out a 3rd rd pick rookie!

Note that Hawkins in his 3rd nfl season had a career low catches and yards.

 

That was Britt's fault he was terrible in the preseason.

 

I don't think that we can dismiss any player that didn't succeed under Fisher.

Fisher made some strange player decisions and often frustrated me by sticking with poorly playing 'experienced' players.

I remember Hawkins making every catch thrown to him.

Williams seemed to be one of our best players a WR but was sent back to the bench when Gage returned from injury.

I guess we'l soon find out if a few players just aren't good enough or wee held back by Fisher.

 

I've always thought Hawkins was going to develop and do something great, actually most people on this board think that... but every year he never gets a shot or wows anyone. I'm not getting my hopes up... again.

 

He was good when he came in against San Diego and I thought that performance would merit more oppurtunities in the season, but I guess Fisher didn't think that. I remember the pre-draft stuff with Hawkins when he caught a TD in the senior bowl. The guy can be a good player for us, and when he has played, he has done pretty well. I hope we give him more playing time.

Also....he can do THIS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5T3wCZj3J4

 

I would love to see some screen passes out to Mariani -- get some good initial blocking for him and that could be as lethal handing the ball off to CJ. I agree that Gage's time is short, but i see us keeping him for depth maybe. I still give him props for breaking his back and still coming down with the ball, setting us up for the Win at SF.

 

I agree that Hawkins didn't really get much of a shot under the old regime, but to me he's pretty much a jag type player. Although they have some good young talent at WR it's not as though the Titans are loaded with established players at the position. Even with that, barring injuries, I can't really see Hawkins getting beyond fourth on the depth chart. As has been said D-Will and Mariani showed more in just their rookie year... I'm actually pretty encouraged by what I saw from Williams. If Dumbass (#18) can remove his head from his butt, and Williams fulfills that early promise, the Titans might have their strongest 1-2 in years.

 

I don't question Hawk's physical skills; he's reasonably quick, has reliable hands, and seems to run tight, controlled routes. He has the skills to be a very good player.

However, I recall an article where Hawkins admitted to having too many blown assignments....missing reads, running wrong routes, not lining up correctly, stuff like that. Physical skills only go so far; it's hard to be productive when he's not running the plays correctly.

I got on the Hawkins bandwagon real early, and there's still a glimmer of hope for the guy. But he spent three years in the previous system, and was still having issues with blown assignments; I hate to say it, but I kinda doubt that his first year player in a brand new system will do anything to improve his consistency.

 

Missed assignments have obviously been Hawkins problem and the only reason he hasn't been given more opportunities. It might get better or worse for Hawkins under the new coaching staff. Hard for me to believe if he couldn't figure out his assignments for three years under the same system (after all he had guys who were in the system less time figure it out) that he will be able to figure a new one out but maybe they keep tings simple especially if Locker gets paying time early (hard to imagine it gtting any easier than it was for Young). Think about some of Hawkins greatest moments in a Titan's uni. The drive against Zona where in all honesty I thought the offense was simple but effective. Even Cook contributed on that drive. Maybe we see more of that kind of thing.

When you take the pieces of Hawkin's physical game you get a pretty good WR. Quickness, hands, body control, running ability after the catch. But we know in the NFL it takes something between the ears to be successful. That also explains why everyone's favorite Gage got so much playing time. He at least knew the plays and where to go and what pattern to run. Obviously a premium in Dinger's system. Could Hawkins just be the Ben Troupe of WRs?