The Great Mistake of signing Hartline: A Waste of #2 WR Money + Foolish Strategy

[Playmaker76]

Answer these questions about Hartline.

Can he beat press coverage?

Does he scare opponents to the point you have to double him which creates one on ones for other players?

Does he create mismatches in the red zone?

The clear answer is NO, NO, and NO.....Conclusion: Hartline is a mediocre talent who had inflated stats because of a monster game against Arizona where he caught two long passes because of missed defensive assignments. Contrary to popular belief he was not double teamed the last half of the year. He was simply shutdown because teams figured out he couldn't beat single man press coverage. It really is that simple. I'm not saying he's a bad football player. I'm saying he is the classic definition of a mediocre talent. The questions I posted above is what differentiates a mediocre talent from a #1 or #2 WR talent on a good offensive team.

 

[Kevlared]

i bet you that Ireland thinks that if we get wallace, our WR core will be fine. meaning we probably wont draft a WR till round 4 knowing ireland... i hope he realizes that we need more than hartline, bess and wallace, because we saw that happened when he had marshall, hartline, and bess. our offense was still mediocre...

 

[PlexGod]

Hartline had a 1000 yards with a rookie QB. Hartline Had A 1000 yards with Ryan Tannehill. He got paid and now you wanna Hate. That is some babyback bullsh*t. I'm just getting my popcorn ready for year two with a real QB. p.s. when a WR is instramental in a drive and then Ja'Horse'kie Lane punches it in, Don't act like the guy is garbage. Touchdowns are a team effort.

Yeah but when you QB hits u in the numbers and u turn upfield to make a play and got one guy to beat for a TD and he taps u on the hip or ankle and u fall like a B*tch every time then it starts becoming a personal thing. It happened a bunch this year with him. The same thing people complained about ginn running out of bounce all the time , hartline does the same stuff but hits the ground as quick as possible. He catches the ball turns to try to run and lets the first player near him take him down every time. 0, none, nada, zip, zilch no ability to make something happen once the ball is in his hands. Thats not a team thing thats a lack of ability thing. Unless u hit the guy in stride in the endzone he cant score

 

[1-4-damoney-Tua-4-dashow]

I have only read the first page but I can go no further. LDaniel7, your crazy bro. Tannehill and Hartline were great compliments to each other last year, only real positive we had on our offense and Hartline had no off-season and a rookie QB. Defenses knew he was the only legit WR we had and he still compiles 1000 yards. This resigning is a very good move for a player who does his job the right way and provides comfort and security to our young QB. I predict he closes in on 1,000 yards again this season whether we have Mike Wallace or not. Great job so far Ireland.

 

[FinHopeful]

First Hartline was our #1 not number 2 WR.... So the 1000 yard thing is not that big of a deal as a #1 wr, and when he was our #2 guy he sucked and not only couldnt score but only had like 650 yards as a career high. I dont understand y poeple think him as a #2 with wallace is going to be any different then him as a #2 with marshall. The facts r the guy cant score. Tds win games and he cant score them. 6 mill a year for a guy that averages 1.5 Tds a season sucks. Out of those handful #2 WRs with 1000 yards ur talking about please tell me how many had 1 TD or less. I bet you Hartline is the only one. I would rather have a #2 that give me 700-800 yards but scores 4-5 TDs a year. I just hope all the hartline lovers come back on here middle of next season when he is underachieving and has like 300 yards and 1 TD 10 games into the season and eat crow, cuz ill be here ready to say i told u so.

One reason is his 15.0 career AVG. Another reason is that he is always in the top 30 WR when ranked by AVG. His average position is 19th, and his median is 24th. I am curious to hear how a receiver with no talent, no business being called a #2 receiver accomplished these numbers.

 

[JFoxx]

I'm personally reserving judgement on this deal until I see how he performs this year. Essentially he got this deal because of one good year in yardage (not TD's). Now if he gets 1000 yds again and a few more TD's, then I'll be ok with the deal. But if he drops in yardage, doesn't get more TD's, or gets hurt again, then this deal is going to be just wasted cap space we could have used on another need. Here's to hoping it works out for the best!

 

[Fins1971]

When we go 7-9, Ireland gets fired, and we're stuck with hartline for an extra 4 years. I'm going to bump this thread.

It is essentially a 3 year contract, After the 3rd year if Hartline isn't perfoming they can cut him and take a small cap hit.

If he is balling then he gets the big money at the end of the contract in years 4 and 5.

 

[Phinfan407]

It was a great move. Hartline is a blue-collar guy. Comes to work everyday and performs. Why wouldn't you sign a guy like this? It's sending the wrong message to the rest of the team. If you come in and work your butt off you should get rewarded. Hartline is a number 3 receiver playing the 2 spot. He shouldn't be on the outside, he was forced to do that because we were so bad at the position. It will workout. Wallace, Bess, Hartline, and a speedy 2 in the draft. It's all falling in place.

 

[Noodleman]

First Hartline was our #1 not number 2 WR.... So the 1000 yard thing is not that big of a deal as a #1 wr, and when he was our #2 guy he sucked and not only couldnt score but only had like 650 yards as a career high. I dont understand y poeple think him as a #2 with wallace is going to be any different then him as a #2 with marshall. The facts r the guy cant score. Tds win games and he cant score them. 6 mill a year for a guy that averages 1.5 Tds a season sucks. Out of those handful #2 WRs with 1000 yards ur talking about please tell me how many had 1 TD or less. I bet you Hartline is the only one. I would rather have a #2 that give me 700-800 yards but scores 4-5 TDs a year. I just hope all the hartline lovers come back on here middle of next season when he is underachieving and has like 300 yards and 1 TD 10 games into the season and eat crow, cuz ill be here ready to say i told u so.

So let me get this straight....your argument is that because he had 1100 yards and 74 catches against teams number 1 cbs......he will not be as good when consistently being guarded by a teams number 2 cb? Hmmmmn not sure the logic of that statement. Also, I have to assume that RT gets better on the deep ball as he missed Hartline WIDE OPEN at least 3 times that I can remember. SO the 1 td argument is bogus.
As far as his talent goes....WR is a position that usually takes a few years to develop so the fact that Hartline, in his 4th year, had a good season is not a surprise. Hartline got paid what he is worth...dude is only 26 years old. If he falls flat, he will be gone. The contract he signed is by no means going to hamstring the dolphins. If he continues to improve then Miami got a steal. Either way, they made a good signing. I don't think you need to worry if you are getting punked...you are obviously high.

 

[D0lphan72]

I certainly pay a guy who just had a nearly 1100 yard season under 7 Mil a year. its a no brainer

 

[Killerphinz32]

R u serious?!?!?!? No way you r serious.... i mean really?!?!?! you think Hartline is going to have multiple 1000 yard season with 100+ catches..... hahahaha. Wow you know nothing about football. He is a terrible #1 WR and a below average #2 WR and u think he is going to be a top 10 Wr in the league. Wow now i have heard it all. This guy wont have more then like 60-65 catches again for the year and if he has another 1000 yard season its because the real #1 guy gets hurt game 1 and hartline will be the only guy out there. He didnt do it with Marshall here what makes u think it will be any different now. Wow just wow..... This cant be a real post. Am i getting punked?

If this team gets a true number one receiver like wallace, and Hartline slips to the opposite side as a number 2, then he will be the best receiver for that position. You can bash me all you want, but he 1100 yards with top corners covering him. To me i see hartline as bigger, faster welker. He works hard, he has good hands and despite what you does not ted ginn the ball when he catches it. Hartline had some really good catches this year, that most people would of dropped. He is worth the contract, just like welker was worth it when the phins let him go. you can respond to my post, but just wait and see, and actually watch the games because i haven't seen anything bad that you mentioned about hartline last year.

 

[dolphans1]

The Patriots would have signed him and he without a doubt would have become a future Hall of Famer.

d-1

 

[Fins1971]

The Patriots would have signed him and he without a doubt would have become a future Hall of Famer.

d-1

totally agree with you on this one. We aren't making the same mistake twice. (see wes Welker)

 

[J. David Wannyheimer]

I certainly pay a guy who just had a nearly 1100 yard season under 7 Mil a year. its a no brainer

T.Y. Hilton was drafted in the 3rd round by the Colts, was the team's #2 wide receiver option (not the #1 as Hartline was), and caught 50 balls averaging over 17ypc (!) and scored more touchdowns than Brian Hartline has to date in his 4 year career.

He made $500,000 this year. The 'no brainer' is for Jeff Ireland to sack up and start drafting some wide receivers before round 5.

 

[Fins1971]

T.Y. Hilton was drafted in the 3rd round by the Colts, was the team's #2 wide receiver option (not the #1 as Hartline was), and caught 50 balls averaging over 17ypc (!) and scored more touchdowns than Brian Hartline has to date in his 4 year career.

He made $500,000 this year. The 'no brainer' is for Jeff Ireland to sack up and start drafting some wide receivers before round 5.

Very easy to compare the best performing rookie to anyone with 4 years experience. There was only one of those players in last years draft and 32 teams choose to pass on him several times.
Not a very good argument from you RG, you are usually better than that.