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I think it's critical with the new offense to have a legitimate 4th WR, preferably someone who can play outside and let Julio slide inside. I would have preferred someone like Toon in the draft, but since we didn't go that way, what do you guys think of Gaffney?

I haven't watched a lot of him. I know he's at least an NFL caliber receiver, but can he adjust to the ball and go up and catch it, or is he more a one trick pony? Do you think better will get cut before the end of training camp?

I'd rather have someone young, Gaffney has shown his best and I'm not that impressed. If we are gonna go with a veteran I think we should wait until someone better is cut in August.

Yeah, that's what I was wondering. I'm not looking for a young guy, but a stop gap...mostly since the stopgap will be 1M vs. a young vet at 4M or so.

So, they don't have to be great, but it has to be someone who can keep the offense from falling apart if RW is out for 3 games, and someone who can be a legit threat in the slot or outside in 3WR sets. Just a guy a mild step up from Jenkins would help a lot.

Well when they were together in Houston, Dunta called Gaffney one of the top slot receivers in the league: http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archi ... affne.html

Gaffney has always been a great No. 3, decent No. 2 that can work the intermediate routes. Would he be a nice addition as a No. 4? Sure. But the Falcons are looking for the No. 4 guy to be a special teams player. So I think the odds are much higher the Falcons would sign someone like Jacoby Jones or Kassim Osgood than Gaffney.

New offense? What.....? did I miss something? Where's it say we're going 4 wide?

A 4-receiver set is going to be pretty rare for Atlanta. Heck, a 3-receiver set probably won't be all that common as long as Tony G remains in town.

Atlanta really only needs threats 3 deep at receiver. The 4th & 5th receivers are ideal for development guys and returners.

Oh, there's going to be a ton of 3-wide sets. Pretty much every 3rd down we'll be in 3-wide sets. Harry Douglas was playing between 40-70% of all offensive snaps last year, even in games where Julio Jones was healthy. In games that Julio missed, Weems was still seeing playing time on 40% of snaps. That's about the average league-wide, somewhere above 40% of all plays feature 3 WRs.

Adding a veteran WR is more about depth than it is about thinking it's going to make the offense that much better. Especially once you consider Jones injury issues. Not saying he's injury prone, but you should never assume someone will make it through an entire season until they do.

I always felt Gaffney was a pretty good wideout, never great, but pretty good. I never thought he'd be a #1 or even a #2 in a successful offense, I think as a slot/part time player he could be a very solid, and likely very inexpensive add for the team. But I do not expect it at all. Using one or two of the undrafted players playing that role, especially since I'm not sure how willing he will be to play special teams.

I was thinking of the 4th WR being important since the top 3 are "starters." You need someone to fill the gap for when those guys get nicked up.

I also wanted a guy who can play outside, because then there are two very different 3 WR packages. One has Julio and Roddy outside, and HD inside. One has Roddy and new guy outside, Julio in the slot.

Being able to run both of those slot types effectively (quick slot, tall slot) gives a lot more flexibility to attack teams weaknesses in the middle of the field.

They did this reasonably well over the last quarter or so of the season when Jones scored twice on drag routes. Against the Jags and someone else; CAR, maybe?

Gaffney just signed back with the Patriots, so he's out. It's a shame, as he would have fit reasonably well.

Shame Gaffney's already gone.

This style of receiver
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/14 ... ewestfirst

is who I'd like to see competing for the 4th, but would rather have a vet. A tall, wide catch radius, will "go get the ball" inside is very powerful working from the slot.

Meh...I watched him with his first stint with the Pats. Hands of a lineman.

Donald Driver is suppose to be cut from Green Bay. He's old but he knows how to get open!!

Well I'm throwing this thread off topic with this question but whatever. Do you think Donald Driver is a Hall of Famer?

Probably not. There's a glut of good receivers with good stats right now. Driver has always been good, but never been dominant. I think the only thing that might give him some chance is the Super Bowls, but it would have been way better if he were instrumental in the playoff/SuperBowl run this last time.

I can't remember all the names, but there are a lot of guys, the Tim Browns, Cris Carters, Andre Reeds, he'll have to show he's better than to get in.

A lot of very good WRs from this era won't get into the Hall. Driver won't be a HOFer. Cris Carter, Andre Reed, and Tim Brown all definitely have HOF resumes, but the voters are keeping them out because they played WR in an era known to pad stats. I think Carter & Brown will get in eventually (Reed not so sure), but will probably have to wind up waiting a few more years.

It's ultimately why Roddy White won't be a HOFer unless he has 4 or 5 more seasons like his last 4 or 5 and also gets a ring in that time span.