In total the ‘23 draft yielded 3 WR in DJ Moore, Chase Claypool, and Tyler Scott.  Collectively that’s a pretty good haul for a single draft.  I definitely believe Scott was best available when we took him.  He hedges things a bit with resigning Mooney and to a lesser extent Claypool.  
 

With Scott on board it brought to mind a question about how would a team defend a 5 WR set.   I include Velus in this not ESB because he is the better runner.  Fields can run of course so we don’t need a RB on the field.  You’ve got potential jet sweeps from either side with Scott or VJJ.   Potential routes at all levels of the field.  Going to a dime defense leaves a single LB on the field which the Oline  should easily handle in a run play.  You know it could be a play action fake or read option  for Fields.  
 

for that to work we need the expected improvement out of the Oline.  This is not something I’d want to see a lot of just enough that defenses have to spend time planning for it.  That’s what the wildcat was used for but with our roster this year I like this option better.  

The WR  room was bottom 5 last year, maybe the worst in the league. One year later,  Poles turned into top 10 .( IMO) Obviously Fields taking a giant forward makes that happen.  

DJ Moore is a top 12 WR in the league. Mooney and Claypool are above average WRs in this league.  Venus Jones will be a gimmick player. Tyler Scott will be interesting to see what role he develops. The key here is if we have any injuries, we have good depth.

How are we play action faking or read option without a running back on the field?

I don't think it's an option to leave Fields as the only one inn the backfield.  You can't read option or play action.  With the empty backfield, the defense can call a run blitz and no longer need to spy Fields.  This would essentially shorten the field, making it easier to defend.  Now, if Fields were quicker on his reads, at lot would open up underneath.  That is the opposite of his strength.  Give him a couple of years and he could manage it.

I agree that 5 WR sets are risky, and not something youd do a lot.

However, the new rookie RB was a QB in high school and can run a pretty multidimensional version of Wildcat, so if we want exotic sets, or to continue the QB run success from last year without risking Fields, he might be just the thing.

2 hours ago, Mongo3451 said:

I don't think it's an option to leave Fields as the only one inn the backfield.  You can't read option or play action.  With the empty backfield, the defense can call a run blitz and no longer need to spy Fields.  This would essentially shorten the field, making it easier to defend.  Now, if Fields were quicker on his reads, at lot would open up underneath.  That is the opposite of his strength.  Give him a couple of years and he could manage it.

It’s not that hard to motion Velus into the backfield pre snap.  I definitely agree on the blitz concern with Fields. Again I would not do this very often just a rare look.  Even then I’d likely be telling Fields to just hand it to the jet sweep just to see how a team reacts.  

47 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

It’s not that hard to motion Velus into the backfield pre snap.  I definitely agree on the blitz concern with Fields. Again I would not do this very often just a rare look.  Even then I’d likely be telling Fields to just hand it to the jet sweep just to see how a team reacts.  

Or maybe you use Roschon or Homer, two good pass protection backs who can catch the ball, as the 5th WR, maybe even closer to the line of scrimmage, so they can act like WRs or block as needed. 

5 hours ago, dawhizz said:

Or maybe you use Roschon or Homer, two good pass protection backs who can catch the ball, as the 5th WR, maybe even closer to the line of scrimmage, so they can act like WRs or block as needed. 

Yes there is now a lot more versatility in our roster.  

The biggest thing Poles did was add WR depth so if someone gets hurt, minimal drop off. Everyone forgets about V Jones but he's going to have one WOW play a game with only 5 or 6 touches . Line up Mooney and Claypool on the outside and have Scott and Velus in the route package. That's a lot of speed.

This offense is going to be so good. Last year we had 5 games where we had over. 29 points a game. We are going to have that weekly this year.

58 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

The biggest thing Poles did was add WR depth so if someone gets hurt, minimal drop off. Everyone forgets about V Jones but he's going to have one WOW play a game with only 5 or 6 touches . Line up Mooney and Claypool on the outside and have Scott and Velus in the route package. That's a lot of speed.

This offense is going to be so good. Last year we had 5 games where we had over. 29 points a game. We are going to have that weekly this year.

Somewhere Matt Nagy is saying "OH so THAT was the why"

Seen a ranking for WRs groups in the NFL , by Mike Clay (have no idea who he is)

He ranked us 16th , top 5 WRs 

Its pretty realistic but I think there are several in front of us that we will be better than.

Zero chance the Cards are 6th overall if anyone has seen DHop play in the last couple years.  Plus DJ Moore > Calvin Ridley, Chase Claypool > Christian Kirk (watched him for years in AZ) so IMO we're better than the Jags.  I'd put Kirk on par with Mooney and Claypool wins over Kirk simply because he's the better redzone target.  Between the 20s I don't see much difference between Claypool and Kirk, they each have strengths and weaknesses.    

15 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

Seen a ranking for WRs groups in the NFL , by Mike Clay (have no idea who he is)

He ranked us 16th , top 5 WRs 

Its pretty realistic but I think there are several in front of us that we will be better than.

That is an interesting list. Surprised to see teams like Buffalo and Detroit so low, but I guess if you take out the #1 WR for every team, what does it look like? The Bears would have the same WR corps as last year.