Yeah, I guess if a player can find a team that actually finds ways to use his talent it would make for a happier player.
I distinctly remember Baker feeding 13 when other routes were open. In fact, I remember being miffed at 6's seeming obsession to get him the ball early in all those games leading up to the CIN game where he ended up on IR. It's not like he wasn't provided an opportunity. I think the disconnect was threefold:
1. He was never invested enough in the playbook. He was constantly being re-aligned pre-snap, wasting precious play clock time.
2. He would improvise routes, based upon his own post-snap reads
Both the traits are killers in a precision/timing offense.
3. I think he was miscast here. Trying to feature him as a #1 was part of the problem, imo. His present skill set makes him a top-shelf #2, as we are seeing now. Double-teams on Kupp mean man coverage for 3. He can win those matchups, especially on plays designed with him as target, and Cooper as decoy.
I'm not in the camp that thinks OBJ was a cancer. I think he was 'square pegged' into this team. Dorsey hired him to take the top off defenses and hit the home run. Then Dorsey was gone. Enter an offensive design that requires players to be in a specific place at a specific time. Odell just never did that consistently. He could run good routes, an when he did, it was often money. Far too often, his improvisations took him out of the play's design, ending in plays where he was out of position or mis-timed to that position. Add to those elements his lack of time with #6 (because of injury, lack of TC/preseason reps, etc), and it's easier to understand why he and Baker never married up.
Sometimes, it's not really a matter of fault or blame. Sometimes, it just doesn't work. Chemistry is hard.
.02
*edit* see... this is what happens when you start a post, and then get up to do other things before finishing: someone else makes some of your points for you. After hitting the 'submit' button, I looked at the post above mine.
