'23 CA WR Rico Flores (UCLA Transfer)

PutuporShutup

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I think you're letting your disappointment in Tobias skew your overall opinions of the WRs this year. I think Greathouse, Flores, and Thomas have been about as good as advertised.

Tobias on the other hand has been disappointing all year and I think at times it has negatively impacted the rest of the group because he's supposed to be the deep threat that gives the rest of them room to operate.
jayden after 5 games (before missing duke game) was on track for 500yds, 30 receptions, and 3 tds. NO one on this board thought he would have that low of stats. I thought he would push for 1000, and 10tds.
 

lcaps20

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jayden after 5 games (before missing duke game) was on track for 500yds, 30 receptions, and 3 tds. NO one on this board thought he would have that low of stats. I thought he would push for 1000, and 10tds.
I'm not sure anyone thought Thomas would approach those numbers, but that's fair then to your standards.
 

Rockin’Irish

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jayden after 5 games (before missing duke game) was on track for 500yds, 30 receptions, and 3 tds. NO one on this board thought he would have that low of stats. I thought he would push for 1000, and 10tds.
That’s also an indication of Hartman spreading the ball out to multiple receivers (well, at least for the first few games). He wasn’t dependent on Thomas being the primary receiver. We’ll see if that changes going forward. Evans and Staes emerging as weapons should help Thomas and the other WRs being targeted. Ideally, I hope we see Hartman keeping as many players involved in the passing game as possible that way the defensive secondary is under much more pressure. Obviously couldn’t do that against Duke with too many receivers out.
 

CanadalovesND

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No one is frichan coming for Rico. All i stated was he's less athletic than I expected. Even i said he will probably be a solid reliable WR.

People need to stop making up stuff that's not true.

With that said, our WR play as a whole was terrible saturday and hasn't been very good this year.

His TD vs OSU was a busted coverage, he didn't beat anyone, his big catch vs duke the DB fell down. He still made the play, that's awesome. But we don't have a WR right now that can win vs 1-1. Rico is a frosh, he will improve, he was put in an unfair situation saturday, but it is what it is. Parker also didn't help the WR group out at all. We just need WR to be better, it's our biggest weakness and what could hold us back from a great season. If we need to rely on Rico this year to play a ton then like freeman states, he needs to improve with urgency, he's far from alone.

His TD was a busted coverage?

I posted this in reply to you in the Braylon James thread and got nothing in response, so I’ll try again here:

On who? The safety? Linebacker? Ohio State was in man coverage.

Flores just swatted the CB two yards off from the line of scrimmage.

It was trips to the left. OSU had all the receivers covered. Eichenberg went in motion to follow Price's motion. Steele Chambers was in the middle of the field and stayed hovering at the goal-line. Unless you are saying Chambers should have dropped deeper? Even if he did, he wouldn't have been able to close that amount of distance between himself and Flores in two seconds.
 

Lberry

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Not going to bump his thread since this one is hot, but upon rewatch. When Tobias dropped the ball right in his chest on the final drive (after he PI'd), did you notice he summersaults into a flop? Lol you can't make this up.
 

NDpendent

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fair, a bit of it is around concerns with stuckey and what he's coaching or not coaching because I think we all thought our WR group would be significantly improved, and it's not. I gave rico credit about his mental side of the game, physically ready, good hands, it's just he's less athletic than I expected, when we need some athleticism and ability to beat 1-1. I'm significantly more disappointed in Tobias than Rico. I don't know why he's not running better routes with his speed that he does have. Why is he not running more deep posts, more crossers (he was open on one but it was a bad hartman pass), why are our WRs jogging a lot (this happened vs OSU too). There's a lot goin on here, and little of it is good with the position group.
1.) In last year's class, Stucky brought in the most well rounded group of receivers that should compliment each other ND as seen in a while. Saturday you did not see that due to injuries and redshirts.
2.) Your expecting more from Rico then what he was brought in to do. He will never be a receiver with the most athleticism who will burn corners. He was brought in for his exceptional route running ability and sure hands. He was asked to do alot more this Saturday.
3.) To already claim he is not an NFL caliber receiver because of lack of athleticism is crazy. Cooper Kupp is one of the best receivers in the NFL and it's not for his athleticism but because no one is better then him at running routes.

When we are at full strength receiver wise and Rico can focus on the role he was brought in to play you will see a much different player
 

PutuporShutup

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That’s also an indication of Hartman spreading the ball out to multiple receivers (well, at least for the first few games). He wasn’t dependent on Thomas being the primary receiver. We’ll see if that changes going forward. Evans and Staes emerging as weapons should help Thomas and the other WRs being targeted. Ideally, I hope we see Hartman keeping as many players involved in the passing game as possible that way the defensive secondary is under much more pressure. Obviously couldn’t do that against Duke with too many receivers out.
Yeah, i was one on the higher end of the predictions for thomas as he came in as our clear #1, but no one predicted under 500 yards that I can remember or less than 5 tds.
 

PutuporShutup

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His TD was a busted coverage?

I posted this in reply to you in the Braylon James thread and got nothing in response, so I’ll try again here:

On who? The safety? Linebacker? Ohio State was in man coverage.

Flores just swatted the CB two yards off from the line of scrimmage.

It was trips to the left. OSU had all the receivers covered. Eichenberg went in motion to follow Price's motion. Steele Chambers was in the middle of the field and stayed hovering at the goal-line. Unless you are saying Chambers should have dropped deeper? Even if he did, he wouldn't have been able to close that amount of distance between himself and Flores in two seconds.
Eichenberg went into motion but never covered Price. The corner had a choice to make, either take price or flores. In the end he just stumbled since whomever was supposed to cover price didn't do it. It kind of looks like the corner was handing off rico to the inside and was going to take price. They triple teamed Staes, so clearly someone busted their coverage because both Rico and price were wide open. It was a complete busted coverage probably by 2-3 osu people.
 

PutuporShutup

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1.) In last year's class, Stucky brought in the most well rounded group of receivers that should compliment each other ND as seen in a while. Saturday you did not see that due to injuries and redshirts.
2.) Your expecting more from Rico then what he was brought in to do. He will never be a receiver with the most athleticism who will burn corners. He was brought in for his exceptional route running ability and sure hands. He was asked to do alot more this Saturday.
3.) To already claim he is not an NFL caliber receiver because of lack of athleticism is crazy. Cooper Kupp is one of the best receivers in the NFL and it's not for his athleticism but because no one is better then him at running routes.

When we are at full strength receiver wise and Rico can focus on the role he was brought in to play you will see a much different player
I agree with almost all of this. I just noted that my stock was down on him because i thought he would be more athletic than he is. I never expected burner, but he really struggled to get separation. I agree on how he will be utilized going forward in a better role for him, and i agree he was put into a really tough situation saturday, but it was a situation that allowed me to see, especially in person, his struggles athletically to beat outside man 1-1.

Also, I never claimed he is NOT or will Never be an NFL wr, i was just taken back by someone posting that Rico is an NFL WR. How someone can make that claim right now is absurd. I sure hope he develops into one, but there is no inclination he's going to be an NFL wr YET.

He's contributing as a frosh, that's awesome for him, but he has a ways to go/develop and needs some help around him (hopefully gets that this weekend).
 

CanadalovesND

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Eichenberg went into motion but never covered Price. The corner had a choice to make, either take price or flores. In the end he just stumbled since whomever was supposed to cover price didn't do it. It kind of looks like the corner was handing off rico to the inside and was going to take price. They triple teamed Staes, so clearly someone busted their coverage because both Rico and price were wide open. It was a complete busted coverage probably by 2-3 osu people.

The CB stumbled over or Rico swatted hin away and broke free into the open zone in the end zone?

I think you and I are seeing two different things.

It was a simple route for Flores but he executed it perfectly, got separation, and scored a touchdown. He beat his man, one-on-one.
 

PutuporShutup

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The CB stumbled over or Rico swatted hin away and broke free into the open zone in the end zone?

I think you and I are seeing two different things.

It was a simple route for Flores but he executed it perfectly, got separation, and scored a touchdown. He beat his man, one-on-one.
yeah, no. Why was staes triple teamed, who was coverin gprice? Wasn't Eichenberg, after snap he never looked at him and stayed with Staes.

Last i'm commenting on it. If you think that's a great 1-1 beater and OSU didn't have a busted play, cool.
 

Riddickulous

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Not going to bump his thread since this one is hot, but upon rewatch. When Tobias dropped the ball right in his chest on the final drive (after he PI'd), did you notice he summersaults into a flop? Lol you can't make this up.
I think he was venting his frustration over the drop.
 

Irish#1

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Maybe Rico wasn't getting separation because he had to play the entire game? Maybe he was a little tired out from running every single play?
I will say a lot of it is learning/mastering technique And getting more explosive. I remember Davante Adams first year in the NFL he couldn’t get separation to save his life not to mention he had the drops.

He was also being covered by a 24 year old who has played in 54 games with 20 starts in Al Blades Jr.
These comments are nothing but BS excuses. A freshman is supposed to come in and play at an NFL Pro Bowl level. Did I get that right LB and PU?

BTW, you don't need athleticism to get separation. Just ask Brandon Stokely, Julian Edelman and a bunch of other guys that made a living in the pros catching passes.
 

CanadalovesND

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yeah, no. Why was staes triple teamed, who was coverin gprice? Wasn't Eichenberg, after snap he never looked at him and stayed with Staes.

Last i'm commenting on it. If you think that's a great 1-1 beater and OSU didn't have a busted play, cool.

Agree to disagree. If I come across a Football Analyst breaking down the play on one of the few websites out there, and that person concludes similarly to you, I’ll own it and give you your props.
 

PutuporShutup

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Agree to disagree. If I come across a Football Analyst breaking down the play on one of the few websites out there, and that person concludes similarly to you, I’ll own it and give you your props.
Don’t want to listen so I haven’t… what did urban analyze, was it just osu’s final drive?

I think Rico’s best route was his 2 pt conversion vs duke not td vs osu… that was great call and route and execution
 

PutuporShutup

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These comments are nothing but BS excuses. A freshman is supposed to come in and play at an NFL Pro Bowl level. Did I get that right LB and PU?

BTW, you don't need athleticism to get separation. Just ask Brandon Stokely, Julian Edelman and a bunch of other guys that made a living in the pros catching passes.
They’re more athletic than you think and also predominantly play slot… I like rico better at slot but greathouse and tyree are there… I think greathouse and Rico have a lot of similarities, and neither are really outside wrs imo. I do think greathouse is a little more athletic
 

Me2SouthBend

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No one is frichan coming for Rico. All i stated was he's less athletic than I expected. Even i said he will probably be a solid reliable WR.

People need to stop making up stuff that's not true.

With that said, our WR play as a whole was terrible saturday and hasn't been very good this year.

His TD vs OSU was a busted coverage, he didn't beat anyone, his big catch vs duke the DB fell down. He still made the play, that's awesome. But we don't have a WR right now that can win vs 1-1. Rico is a frosh, he will improve, he was put in an unfair situation saturday, but it is what it is. Parker also didn't help the WR group out at all. We just need WR to be better, it's our biggest weakness and what could hold us back from a great season. If we need to rely on Rico this year to play a ton then like freeman states, he needs to improve with urgency, he's far from alone.
Finishes previous post under D LBerry, switches laptops and rifles off this one.
 

Terry Jillery

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Rico is exactly what you want him to be. Great routes, rarely drops passes. He’s a true freaking freshman. He shouldn’t even be on the field and he’s already twice the receiver Colzie and Merriweather likely ever will be. Nobody with a brain expected him to be Will Fuller fast. He’s going to catch a lot of passes in his career, especially as Greathouse and Cam Williams start taking on a larger role.
 

CanadalovesND

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Don’t want to listen so I haven’t… what did urban analyze, was it just osu’s final drive?

I think Rico’s best route was his 2 pt conversion vs duke not td vs osu… that was great call and route and execution

I don’t waste a single second of my life listening to what Urban Meyer has to say.
 

Irish#1

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They’re more athletic than you think and also predominantly play slot… I like rico better at slot but greathouse and tyree are there… I think greathouse and Rico have a lot of similarities, and neither are really outside wrs imo. I do think greathouse is a little more athletic
Doesn't matter what they played. They weren't as athletic as you think, yet found a way to get open. Flores just needs experience. He'll be fine.
 

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