I didn't have room to get this into my column today on third-year Panther receiver Dwayne Jarrett, but I did ask him Tuesday what he is concentrating on most as a wide receiver this offseason.
Said Jarrett: "Not dropping a ball. I hate dropping balls. That’s my worst pet peeve. I’ve been doing this since I was eight years old (and thus shouldn't drop any)… But it happens. It's part of the game. You just can't let it get to you. You have to act like it never happened."
Actually, I think Jarrett's hands are OK. Both Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad have been known to drop a few balls every season, and it has turned out all right for them.
I think Jarrett's biggest problem as a pro thus far has been two-fold: 1) simply learning the playbook and 2) "separation anxiety." What do I mean by that? He simply isn't quick enough to get a lot of separation between those fast-twitch cornerbacks that populate every NFL team, which means a lot of catches in traffic, which means a whole lot of contested balls.
Jarrett does believe QB Jake Delhomme trusts him more now after he had a few key catches toward the end of last season. And Delhomme says that's true. But we all know that when harassed No.17 usually looks to No.89 (and wouldn't you?)
What Jarrett really needs to become in 2009 is this team's Ricky Proehl -- a guy who catches 30-40 balls this season, takes some heat off the constant double-teaming of Smith and sneaks deep down the middle occasionally for a big one.
We're moving!
9 years ago
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5 comments:
Agree 100%
In our offense, there aren't 30 catches for the #3 to make. Proehl topped out at 34 in '04, and that was when he started 3 games with Smith out after Week 1. Jarrett won't get his chance to shine until Moose is done, if ever.
I disagree with that statement. Jarrett can get those catches when the Panthers go to a three wide out set. You know and I know that when Jake gets any heat, the first thing he dose is try to go to Steve. But so dose every other NFL team. If we could just get Jake to look off corner backs, he would be able to come back to other wide outs. But that might be a little to much to ask of Jake.
You're right, he's never faked out a DB in his life. I mean, there was that one time he won a game with no time on the clock in SD with the aid of an excellent pump fake where he threw a TD to a backup TE, but hey, he's TERRIBLE.
Its always about Jake Delhomme. I hate you guys.
Go Panthers
Go Jake
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