Reporter sees ‘lots of red flags’ with Dwayne Bowe
Oct 30, 2012, 7:53 PM | Updated: 9:22 pm
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By Brady Henderson
The Seahawks now have to worry about the health of their wide receivers to go along with questions that have persisted all season about that group’s overall effectiveness.
But if you think a trade for Kansas City’s Dwayne Bowe seems more appealing now that injuries have decimated Seattle at receiver, Adam Teicher’s conversation with “The Kevin Calabro Show” might make you think otherwise.
Teicher, who covers the Chiefs for The Kansas City Star, joined Jim Moore, Steve Sandmeyer and Danny O’Neil on Tuesday and discussed the reasons why he thinks the Seahawks or any other team would regret giving up anything of significance for Bowe.
“Dwayne Bowe is a guy with great numbers. I don’t want to lead anybody wrong there. He’s gotten some things done over the years,” Teicher said. “But there’s a long list of things that keep this guy from being an elite receiver.”
One of them is Bowe’s history of dropped passes. Teicher described Bowe as an unnatural pass-catcher who has struggled with hand positioning. According to ProFootballFocus.com, Bowe dropped 26 catchable passes from 2009-2011, the fourth-most among wide receivers during that three-year span.
“He’s dropped some big passes for them that have cost them games over the years. He’s just not a real reliable guy,” Teicher said, later adding that Bowe’s undisciplined route-running has also been an issue.
Longevity is also a concern. Bowe, a first-round pick in 2007, is one pace for his third straight season of at least 1,100 yards receiving. He came five yards short of 1,000 as a rookie and was a Pro Bowl selection following the 2010 season, when he led the league with 15 touchdown catches. But Teicher wonders how many more productive seasons Bowe has ahead of him.
“If I were Seattle or any other team I’d be wary of giving up something good for him because I just think he’s starting to get to that age when receivers start to lose their skills,” Teicher said. “He’s not been a guy who’s been real good about keeping himself in shape over the years, so you would think – and there’s no way of knowing this for sure – but you would think that Dwayne Bowe is not going to be a guy who’s going to have a long career.”
Teicher said Bowe showed up to training camp in good shape following a holdout. But he noted that the Chiefs’ unwillingness to give him the long-term deal he was seeking showed their doubts about his ability to stay motivated once given a big contract.
Teams might be willing to look past those faults if the asking price were merely a late-round pick – especially a team with the problems at receiver that Seattle has.
Braylon Edwards and Doug Baldwin, inactive for Seattle’s loss to Detroit, are no locks to play Sunday against Minnesota. Obomanu’s spot on the roster is being filled by Jermaine Kearse, an undrafted rookie who was on Seattle’s practice squad. That group, which also includes Sidney Rice, Golden Tate and Charly Martin, has been inconsistent even when healthy.
But Teicher thinks the Chiefs would want more than a late-round pick – possibly a first- or second-rounder – even though they could be headed for the type of rebuild that often precipitates a fire sale.
Bowe is playing under the one-year franchise tag, meaning any team that trades for him will only have him for the remainder of this season unless they sign him to a new deal. An early-round pick is a lot to give up to rent a player, even one as talented at Bowe.
“He’s probably the best guy out there who’s available,” Teicher said, “but there should be a lot of red flags with Dwayne Bowe.”