Jerome Simpson. Thoughts?

06-16-2008, 12:36 PM

Per Rotoworld:

"Bengals rookie second-round WR Jerome Simpson has continued to struggle during practice.
Simpson is reportedly in "no way ready to replace Chris Henry as the No. 3 receiver." He may be limited to special teams play early in his career while he develops his receiving skills. The No. 3 spot will likely come down to Antonio Chatman, Glenn Holt, Marcus Maxwell, and third-rounder Andre Caldwell."

I've been down on this guy ever since I saw his gauntlet at the combine... Brutal!

I've posted a couple times on how I felt and it seemed as though no one saw what I did.

So...

My question is that with all the negative pub he's getting(performance wise) how are Bengal fans feeling about him?

PalmerToCJ · 06-16-2008, 02:32 PM

None of us (at least I hope), expected him to be an immediate impact type player. He's the sort that explodes in their third year as opposed to right out the gate. Everything I've seen points to him being one of the hardest workers on the team. At this point, I'm not concerned in the least bit.

Paranoidmoonduck · 06-16-2008, 02:38 PM

Jerome Simpson really really reminds me of a more explosive Brandon Lloyd. Usually that would be a huge red flag for me, because Lloyd was about as incapable a receiver as I've ever seen, but he failed partly because he simply didn't have a chance to beat 90% of the corners in the NFL. Simpson has tremendous leaping ability and nice speed, but he's raw, and more importantly, really unrefined.

His route running needs a lot of work, but I think the potential is there. Coming from Coastal Carolina University, he appears to have developed a fair number of bad habits.

PalmerToCJ · 06-16-2008, 03:11 PM

Yeah... I fully expect Caldwell to be more productive this season, possibly next as well. With that said, I love the Simpson pick... It's just going to take some developing to get what we need.

I don't expect him to see the field on offense much this year. Holt/Maxwell/Caldwell should get that PT but I expect some flashes.

LonghornsLegend · 06-16-2008, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PalmerToCJ

None of us (at least I hope), expected him to be an immediate impact type player. He's the sort that explodes in their third year as opposed to right out the gate. Everything I've seen points to him being one of the hardest workers on the team. At this point, I'm not concerned in the least bit.

Exactly, Simpson is raw, he wasn't even playing at a D-1 school, I didn't expect him to come in right away in the slot, but he has alot of upside when he puts it all together he could be an explosive #1 WR...Which in Cincy's case is fine, TJ and Chad will probably play this year, and probably next year at most, when one or two leave Simpson should be seasoned enough to be a serious weapons for Palmer.

06-16-2008, 04:57 PM

Do you think he should have been taken in the 2nd?

M.O.T.H. · 06-16-2008, 05:01 PM

Cant say I'm surprised...right now, he's just a freaky athlete. His route running was noted as being rather raw. He rounds everything off and although, he has great speed...he's never really learned how to use that yet. He certainly has the speed to get great seperation but, this has not been a strength of his game. It's going to take him a little longer than some others to get up to speed...but, when he does, he can become something special.

He reminds me a lot of Sam Hurd on the Cowboys, just w/ more speed. W/ Jerome's speed he most likely has the bigger upside but, these two are very similar. He's a hard woker and wants to be great...it will take some time but, I think he'll get there.

Bengalsrocket · 06-16-2008, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AaronGrayisKing

Do you think he should have been taken in the 2nd?

Yes. Word is he would have been gobbled up if we waited till the 3rd. We still got our immediate impact receiver in caldwell. But Jerome is a project this offense needs to replace chad (which, if anyone on this team has the potential to actually put up the same numbers as chad or more when he leaves, its Jerome).

Projects suck if you need em to produce early, but we're heavy on receivers and we don't. He was a good pick.

TheGreatEscape · 06-16-2008, 05:07 PM

Simpson's extremely raw, what did you expect? He's got great physical skills but mentality he's got a long way to go before he's an impact receiver. Let this guy learn how to run routes better and then judge how he's doing.

PalmerToCJ · 06-16-2008, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheGreatEscape

Simpson's extremely raw, what did you expect? He's got great physical skills but mentality he's got a long way to go before he's an impact receiver. Let this guy learn how to run routes better and then judge how he's doing.

Agreed. That and lets at least get to training camp...

06-16-2008, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PalmerToCJ

Agreed. That and lets at least get to training camp...

I agree. However, my intention with this thread was to argue whether or not he should have been taken in the 2nd. After seeing his combine and watching the way he reacted to certain things I was almost certain this guy will never be anything more than a 4th wr.

I think the Bengals really misjudged this pick. At best he's a 4th-5th round pick IMO.

PalmerToCJ · 06-16-2008, 09:09 PM

Supposedly the Steelers were going to pull the trigger on him later in the round, so they did what they had to do to get a player they wanted.

themaninblack · 06-16-2008, 10:20 PM

I'm not worried about this either, dude has some crazy physical tools but just needs to learn some real technique. You can argue the pick all you want but we'll see if he pans out in 2-3 yrs. Even if he doesn't become what we all kind of expect him to be I believe its worth it to take that chance.

BeerBaron · 06-16-2008, 10:51 PM

thats sad to hear about him. he was one of my favorite prospects in the draft and I really wanted him to end up on my Bears.

He should be able to get out of this funk though....maybe hes just one of those players that turns it on when he's in actual game conditions.

BengalMedic · 06-17-2008, 09:40 AM

Nothing we didn't already know going in... He is raw and needs work. Great athlete with a ton of upside that doesn't need to produce right away. While I still like the pick, the only thing I will say is, there were far greater needs that we could have addressed on the defensive side of the ball.

06-17-2008, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BengalMedic

Nothing we didn't already know going in... He is raw and needs work. Great athlete with a ton of upside that doesn't need to produce right away. While I still like the pick, the only thing I will say is, there were far greater needs that we could have addressed on the defensive side of the ball.

Thats what I was thinking... If I was a Bengals fan I would've been irate with this pick. This kid has tools (jumping,running) but his lack of hands and route running will keep him on the sidelines for his career(however long or SHORT it will be).

BengalMedic · 06-17-2008, 01:28 PM

I will politely disagree that he will have a career on the sidelines. That is what coaches are for and I will hold out any final judgements for at least the kids third year is over. The one position that has been hard to question the Bengals organization on in reference talent, is wide receiver. They just know how to evaluate the WR position better than average.

PalmerToCJ · 06-17-2008, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BengalMedic

The one position that has been hard to question the Bengals organization on in reference talent, is wide receiver. They just know how to evaluate the WR position better than average.

Amen to that... I don't question them when it comes to Oline, WR or CB. Anywhere else is fair game.

BengalMedic · 06-18-2008, 08:15 AM

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...son/index.html

Nice article on Simpson I found...

06-18-2008, 08:38 AM

&@^$ it! I still think he won't be a decent player......But its tough to not root for a guy like that....

BengalMedic · 06-18-2008, 08:42 AM

Always hard to judge how a WR may or may not do before he's even put on the pads and runs routes in a training camp. Not only that, given the fact it takes most WR's a couple, if not three years to get to a point where they are really productive, I will hold judgement. The Bengals ability to scout WR's should be reason enough to hold off right now.

Yeah, you have to love a kid like this though !!!

themaninblack · 06-18-2008, 02:21 PM

I am pulling for him. Reminds me a lot of David Pollack from a character standpoint. Gotta love this kid.

Bengals78 · 06-18-2008, 04:17 PM

I never expect most rookies to make an immediate impact on the field or garner much playing time. Yeah I like to talk and hype them up but thats to keep my own hopes high.
I never expected Jerome to be a starter. I thought he was the absolute right pick at our spot. The Bengals wanted him and so did teams later in round 2.
We werent looking for a big tall receiver who is pretty much at their peek (Sweed/Hardy). We wanted the guy to groom to take over a big role not a slot guy.
And it is just wayyyy too early to tell. Everyone struggles at some point.

brat316 · 06-18-2008, 04:25 PM

Simpson will have trouble, but he will be fine. Sidney Rice had trouble but now look at him seems to be coming out.

BengalsPwn · 06-18-2008, 07:15 PM

I would of been happier with the pick if Sweed and Jackson weren't still there. I was actually shocked that we passed up on the bigger names. But hopefully he turns out ok I guess....