Breshad Perriman Versus Antonio Brown
May 23rd, 2021
Joe loves learning more about the wide receivers factory that is our beloved Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Only one Bucs assistant coach left the team after the glorious Super Bowl victory. That would be Antwaan Randle El. The former standout Steelers receiver and college QB took the Detroit Lions wide receivers coaching job, a step up from his time in Tampa under Bucco Bruce Arians.
Outspoken Randle El was talking to the Detroit Free-Press recently about the receiver he recruited hard for the Lions to pay $2.5 million in free agency this offseason: former Bucs WR Breshad Perriman.
Perriman starred for Tampa Bay when Chris Godwin and Mike Evans went down injured late in the 2019 season.
“He just kept showing up,” he said “And when I say show up, I mean (when) it’s time to make a play. At that time, he was our third wide receiver behind Chris and Mike in Tampa, and he just kept showing up like, we got to try and find ways to get him the ball because he kept showing up. Wide open here, wide open there. So that’s what we kept doing .,,
“”It’s about really just figuring out ways to be able to get him the ball. One of his biggest attributes is speed and then his speed and height together, him being able to go up and get the ball, and then being able to keep the defender on one side and catch the ball on the other side. So he’s proven to do that down the field, so with that vertical threat with his speed — it certainly helps him being able to run any of those underneath routes and he did a lot of that stuff in Tampa and even last year. That vertical speed that he brings certainly helps out.”
Joe read this and thought for a moment about what the Bucs would have been like last season if they re-signed Perriman versus going with younger receivers before locking down Antonio Brown at midseason.
It’s all moot, and Perriman was too expensive last season in free agency ($6 million to the bumbling Jets). But this year he was affordable and cheaper than Brown, who is five years older and coming off knee surgery.
Yes, this is the kind of thing Joe ponders on a late-May afternoon surrounded by Big Storm beer.
May 23rd, 2021 at 1:26 pm
Didnt Perriman have route or catching issues? I think the only reason they brought in another veteran receiver is that it was AB, and for 2.5 Mil. A more interesting notion is to think about is if there is a better gamble than AB, which there likely isnt. He was more than an insurance policy last year, and is it foolish to think he will be better with a full season?
May 23rd, 2021 at 1:31 pm
I didn’t know Randle El left. That was such a cool story.
May 23rd, 2021 at 1:35 pm
AB offers elite level play over the entire route tree. With proven elite hands and focus. Who understands and sees the game on a level to “freestyle” with Tom in key situations. There is not a legitimate comparison, but Perriman can be a dangerous deep threat. Good value for 2.5 mil, imo. I would not trade Miller out for him in similar roles though. We are so ridiculously loaded.
May 23rd, 2021 at 1:41 pm
Perriman played well for us, and I would have been fine with him coming back instead of AB. But the Go for Two objective feels better with all the players returning, even with all a year older.
May 23rd, 2021 at 1:52 pm
AB is a YAC nightmare for defenses. And he runs like an animal when the ball is in his hands. AB over BP all day.
May 23rd, 2021 at 2:09 pm
Perriman can be a dangerous deep threat, but does not have the overall talent or hands of Antonio Brown.
May 23rd, 2021 at 2:13 pm
Perriman was crap for 3/4 of the season in 2019 & didn’t show up until DEC…& it wasn’t because he wasn’t getting chances earlier in the season…He just wasn’t catching the ball & wasn’t making plays. (catching ~51% of balls targeted his way in 2019…36 of 70…Followed that up w/ 50% catch rate in 2020 w/ Jets – 30 of 60.
Perriman is the NFL version of “Featherstone” from the movie Necessary Roughness (circa 1991)
AB was = not available for half of 2020 & didn’t really show up as a major contributor until DEC…But at least he was catching a vast majority of his targets, basically from day he was allowed on the field in NOV…(catching ~73% of total targets over the season…53 of 73)
That’s worth the extra coin for AB to line-up at WR3.
May 23rd, 2021 at 3:07 pm
AB had 0 drops this past year.
May 23rd, 2021 at 3:15 pm
The biggest thing to me is that AB is so familiar with Brady. and visa versa. Frankly, other than Evans and Godwin, I don’t know anyone I would think is a better fit than AB…as long as he stays out of trouble.
May 23rd, 2021 at 3:37 pm
I don’t dislike Perriman. Yet to me and I think most everyone else (including probably you) Perriman’s ability compared to AB TODAY fails big time.
So not sure why you mentally debated this Joe. It seems simple that Antwaan Randle El was merely talking up a player that his new team acquired.
May 23rd, 2021 at 3:57 pm
Mark 2001
Exactly…..this difference is park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring, down-forgetting, handshake-stiffing, jet-ski-losing, biscuit-baking, tequila-shooting, smartphone-phobic, waffle-grilling, trophy-throwing, roller-coaster-scared, numbers-rules-peeved, Bucs-Super-Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady likes him.
We should all write the monikers when mentioning Brady……then see how Joe likes our posts (we know he reads all of them)
May 23rd, 2021 at 4:16 pm
Perriman has 125 receptions for his 5 year career–2 per game. A nice deep threat. Not comparable to the route tree of AB, as Natural Selection says.
May 23rd, 2021 at 5:03 pm
Apples to Onions!
May 23rd, 2021 at 5:24 pm
I’ll take AB any day older & banged up a lil… Perryman is good ,however, AB was $$ especially at the end of the season & playoffs… Better hands, juke, & sepration…
May 23rd, 2021 at 5:34 pm
Perriman was a stud for us and probably would’ve been even better with Brady. Happy with AB though, hope Perriman tears it up in Detroit. I swear Tampa turning into LSU wide receiver factory
May 23rd, 2021 at 5:43 pm
I don’t get the LSU wide receiver factory thing. He went to UCF
May 23rd, 2021 at 6:54 pm
Johnson and Darden will be fine AB is just an after thought.
May 23rd, 2021 at 6:56 pm
Really????? No disrespect to Perriman but he’s not half way on A.B’s level the only reason we can afford A.B is because of his off field issues. Perriman was too expensive at 6mil because his skills wasn’t worth the contract
May 23rd, 2021 at 6:57 pm
And we all know the knee surgery is a minor thing
May 23rd, 2021 at 7:23 pm
Is Perriman a 7 time first team all-pro ?
May 23rd, 2021 at 8:01 pm
Defensive coordinator nightmare. AB, Evans, Godwin, Miller, Gronk, OJ, Brate, Fornette, Jones, Bernard – all lined up together.
Oh, wait…
May 23rd, 2021 at 9:02 pm
Yeah catcart- so glad we have you to tell us AB is better than Perriman and of course, what would Antoine Randell-El know about a player he coached in 2019, who he says basically kept showing up and showing out.
May 23rd, 2021 at 10:25 pm
He did show up and good for him. But even with the age difference, I would take AB.
AB doesn’t drop balls, Perriman does.
AB is also waaaaay better after the catch
May 23rd, 2021 at 10:31 pm
You want the rookie wr , who according to arians has similarities to brown ,learn from AB or perriman?
May 24th, 2021 at 6:12 am
hmmmm …. guess it depends what he is learning
May 24th, 2021 at 7:54 am
So perriman had a couple big games. Did he make a big splash since? I don’t think he was missed last year. No big deal.
May 26th, 2021 at 9:20 am
Clearly a few of the folks making comments are clueless as to what AB. brings to the table. I’ve seen comparisons to Godwin for one example. First AB is arguably the best route runner in the game. Maybe the best ever. Also, his ability to improvise is second to nobody. Never gives up on a route. Third, Godwin dropped more balls these playoffs than AB has in his entire career. AB is a generational talent. Get over it.