Mark Clayton and Torrey Smith

[RavenScallywag]

Week 1 of 2010 certainly looked amazing for Clayton...10 catches for 119 yards vs Arizona. The next week, he only had two catches, but each were in the endzone.

But yeah, I think he's bounced around the league trying to come back, but I think he doesn't have anywhere close to the same abilities as he did before.

[lowrider]

Mark Clayton was a bust to me long before he left the Ravens. From dropped passes against the Patriots to never being able to get open even though he was fast. He was a first round pick that never worked out.

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This.

Torrey is a football player who is fast. Clayton was fast but was never really had the heart of a football player. There were many who thought we should have never drafted him.

[Iscull]

Torrey Smith ran a 4.43 40 yard dash. Mark Clayton ran a 4.41.

How does that happen? Watching them on the field, Torrey Smith looks 10 times faster. Torrey looks like he runs a sub 4.3, but Clayton looked like he ran a 4.5 or so. He was barely any faster than an old Derrick Mason.

Easy, put on pads and a uniform. It's a whole new ball game.

[Jeremiah W]

Week 1 of 2010 certainly looked amazing for Clayton...10 catches for 119 yards vs Arizona. The next week, he only had two catches, but each were in the endzone.

But yeah, I think he's bounced around the league trying to come back, but I think he doesn't have anywhere close to the same abilities as he did before.

I think that had Clayton been drafted when Smith was, he would not have been seen as a bust. Clayton had a good season with McNair at QB. He had to deal with Billick and Boller from the start. He also was too similar of a skill set to Mason and one of them had to be on the LOS. He did not pan out the way everyone hoped, but I do not think he was a bad pick or a bad player. He was stuck in a bad offense, he was a little injury prone, and then he got really hurt, right after he started to prove that maybe he could be a good starting WR.
He certianly had his moments, like his downfield blocking on long Ray Rice runs such as the stunner in NE that has been my sig pic for a while now.

[bacchys]

Mark Clayton was a bust to me long before he left the Ravens. From dropped passes against the Patriots to never being able to get open even though he was fast. He was a first round pick that never worked out.

Hmm. I always wonder how much of it was Clayton and the other not-Mason receivers never getting open or Flacco not trusting them unless they were wide open (3-4 steps). Perhaps it's just my faulty memory, but outside of Heap and Mason, the only time I recall Flacco throwing to anyone those first two years they were at least 3 steps on a defender, generally speaking. With Mason and Heap, you'd see him throw into tight coverage, but no one else.

A receiver's job is to get open, and the QB's job is to throw him the ball. If the QB doesn't trust a wide-out enough to throw it when the receiver has just a step on a defender- which in the NFL is open- that's not really on the receiver. Part of it might be, of course. That lack of trust comes from somewhere. But Flacco was a young guy thrust into starting with a "manage the game, don't turn it over" approach coming from the head coach and the offensive coordinator. Mason gained his trust. Mason was a great receiver. Heap, when he wasn't held back in max protect, was a great tight end. Everyone else? I wouldn't call 'em great.

I think that view was somewhat justified by the success, relatively speaking, Clayton had in the more-open offense of the Rams. I don't think Bradford is a better QB than Flacco, and overall their offense isn't better talent-wise.

With the combo McNair-Boller throwing to him in '06, Clayton had his career year, with 67 catches for 939 yards. That was mostly McNair, of course, but Boller had a few games coming off the bench where he did fairly well in that capacity. And that's in Billick's offensive scheme, which made Cameron look like Mike Martz.

[Sirdowski]

Always liked Mark Clayton the person. Mark Clayton the player... Always found a way to not make the play.

[darb72]

Easy, put on pads and a uniform. It's a whole new ball game.

Yep. Big difference between running fast in shorts and running fast with 30 pounds of equipment on.

[PurpleApocalypse37]

Yep. Big difference between running fast in shorts and running fast with 30 pounds of equipment on.

30 pounds?

[ActualSpamBot]

30 pounds?

Really only about half of that. The helmet is 7-8 pounds, the shoulders are 3-5, thighs, knees, shoes, and cup are maybe 3 between them.

[wickedsolo]

Really only about half of that. The helmet is 7-8 pounds, the shoulders are 3-5, thighs, knees, shoes, and cup are maybe 3 between them.

Not even that. The Revo Speed helmets and DNA helmets are 5 or less depending on the facemask. And they're safer than the other heavier helmets.

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[wickedsolo]

Furthermore, I always thought Clayton would be a good fit in a WCO...he just wasn't a good fit in Cam's. I also thought that as a #3 receiver, Clayton wasn't too bad.

That knee injury really killed his career though. But hey, he hung around a lot longer than most guys do.

[HKusp]

Clayton really was looking like he finally was going to be the player people thought he was when he ws drafted, in St. Louis. He was lighting it up in thewide open style thy were playing. It's a shame he tore his knee up.

[JAB1985]

I always thought clayton was solid but not utilized properly. If he were still here and didnt injure his knee i think youd have a totally different opinion. He did have a few good weeks with the rams before blowing it out and really made it look like we might have let go too soon, really.

As far as speed, i never really thought clayton was slow, so its not really shocking to me. You can certainly train up for the 40 but he was drafted as a deep threat but didnt have the same abilities torrey does outside speed.

Torrey may not have had the statistical year i expected but he really impressed me with his improvement, particularly catch radius which ive been critical of. Hes a better football player than clayton but i do agree if clayton had a time machine to play with joe now i think it would be closer than some feel.

[HoustonRaven]

No first round draft pick should have had that many drops.

That alone places him in the bust category. He was a class act for sure but he was one Ozzie's very few misses.

[bacchys]

No first round draft pick should have had that many drops.

Take that, Terry Owens!

[The Excellector]

Always liked Mark Clayton the person. Mark Clayton the player... Always found a way to not make the play.

I feel the same way. He was a great guy off of the field, by all accounts, and a great teammate. When Derrick Mason became upset that McNair was throwing to Clayton more than him, you didn't hear a single negative word from Clayton.

However, at the end of the day, he just rarely got it done.

[The Excellector]

Yep. Big difference between running fast in shorts and running fast with 30 pounds of equipment on.

Even before the weight of the equipment, the equipment itself restricts your flexibility and comfort.

[StingerNLG]

No first round draft pick should have had that many drops.

That alone places him in the bust category. He was a class act for sure but he was one Ozzie's very few misses.

Yep. I put him in the same category as Travis Taylor. And we all wanted both those guys to succeed. I would have loved for either of them to live up to their 1st round status. They just didn't.

[The Excellector]

When you see a WR drafted in the first round, you expect a guy that will make your QB look good, even better than he really is.

[bmoreraventerp]

I always remembered Clayton having some kind of nagging injury. I believe he had nagging minor hamstring issues early on in his NFL career that crept up a few times. If my memory is correct that could affect his ability to get separation and show his speed. As others said, 40 times are really like track running while running in a game is different especially with pads, contact, and making cuts and moves while running.

He was a bust for Ravens but Travis Taylor was a bigger bust as Taylor was selected higher and seemed to show less signs of producing versus Clayton. Also Clayton looked very good when he was with the Rams until his devastating injury.