I don't have time to dig through football stats at the moment. All I can say is I know Randall Cobb has been consistently producing recently and Finley hasn't contributed much. It's one thing to drop passes, but if one is still producing, it's not as big of a deal. But several drops in addition to a lack of production isn't good. I'd be looking for Randall Cobb before Finley, unquestionably (and Nelson, Jennings, and Jones). Unfortunately, I'm not the QB of the Packers, though. =/


EDIT: And constant talk to the media doesn't help his case, even if it's minor comments. Just shut up and keep practicing and playing hard.

Finley's comments Re: Jags game: http://profootballtalk.n...d-after-beating-jaguars/

And what is wrong with his comments? Was he not right?

Is it suprising that Finley has gone down in production, when Jennings has been out of games, when defenses can shift coverages to him? NO. Is is suprising that Cobb has increased? NO. It was expected. Much of Cobbs production comes from routes that get cleared by Finley pulling coverage away.

DO they still fear him?

He's still tall, but he's not nearly as athletic as pre-knee injury, imo.

From my initial views of all the snaps, I'm not convinced they "fear" him. They cover him, yes, but I wouldn't call it fear. He's accounted for, and that helps, but his impact lately has not been monumental. I've got most of the games recorded, so I'll try to go back through if I have time, but at this point I'm not convinced. Finley hasn't gotten a lot of separation in some time now.

Dude's a glorified Donald Lee.

Hoping Quarless pushes him down the stretch.

Now his value vs his price is an issue that can be looked at, its the Drops, Besides a couple games early this year, he hasn't had a drop problem, and 1/2 of those I wouldnt' even consider drops, yet it is constantly talked about.

As for his comments, people, media mostly, WANT to make them into something so they have topics to talk about. When in reality, they are nothing.

I agree with everything but the comment about drops. Yes, a lot of his drops are kind of borderline where the pass was either behind him, or he needed to fight for the ball. The problem is that he doesn't have speed (anymore), he isn't great at blocking, and he isn't making the hard catches (and earlier in the year, the easy catches). On top of all of that, I think people don't like the fact that he tends to "showboat" (or get excited and dance a bit) after seemingly routine plays, oftentimes not too long after he drops a manageable one. He is who he is, Clay Matthews has that kind of attitude and showboats a fair amount, although Matthews is a completely different caliber of player.

I've given James Jones tons of crap for his drops in the past, however he's never been one to draw attention to himself (intentionally or otherwise) and he HAS dramatically improved with the dropsies this year in particular. Finley was outstanding before he got hurt, I really do feel for the guy and I don't think he WANTS to draw attention and drama to himself, but he does. Some of that is on him, a lot of that is on the media for wanting to make a story about nothing, but the fact of the matter is that he is playing like an utterly average first or second string TE and he is getting paid a lot more than he is worth. That in and of itself isn't bad, people are just going to be a lot harder on a guy when he goes from very good to average versus someone very average. Perceptions about his attitude, real or imagined don't help either.

Hell, maybe I should just straight-up calling for Finley's head. It turned Jones, the special teams, and Jarret Bush around, and I'd love to have Finley make me look like an asshole.

And I have less dropped passes than Finley, doesn't mean I have superior hands. I'm willing to bet all of the above (especially Gronkowski) have significantly more targets.