Shane Weston, the Wide Receiver out of the San Jose SaberCats organization, has been seen returning to San Jose this week to get back to work on this new training regimen.
After a fairly disappointing season in season one, where Shane Weston barely reached some of the major milestones he’d set out for, and barely missed out on others, he came out of the season generating no buzz about himself. Despite being drafted 69th overall in the first ever National Simulation Football League draft, and still putting up 700 yards and 3 touchdowns, and being one of the hardest working players in the league, he doesn’t even get credit for being drafted so late.
So, with that as a motivating force behind him, Weston has come back early from an offseason vacation to return to the SaberCats gym and get back to work. Despite the lack of a solution to the SaberCats quarterback situation, and still being firmly the #2 wide receiver behind Bailey Cook, Shane Weston has not let that stop him from putting in the effort to compete.
He had a good catching season, catching 56 of the 78 passes thrown his way, yet here he is in San Jose working on his hands, to show whatever quarterback ends up in San Jose that he’s a reliable option anywhere on the field, and can be used as a safety valve when needed. Something that last season did not happen, as he ceded a ton of targets to tight end Break Bottles, and running backs Demetrius Wiley and Vick Bowers Jr. – who were the top 2 in receiving yards for running backs. So Shane Weston has worked on his catching ability, but that’s not all.
Weston has also spent a lot of time in the video room, studying the defensive backs he’s most likely to line up against. And spent a lot of time at home studying the SaberCats’ own playbook, to make sure he’s on exactly the same page as his future quarterback.
Finally, Shane Weston has been working a ton on his shiftiness. Something that was probably a big reason for his struggles last season, he could not create space away from the defensive backs covering him, and even when he did haul in a pass, he was not quick enough side to side to evade the guys attempting to tackle him. So he put a ton of work in so far on his footwork, and it’s expected in the next week that he will continue working mostly on his agility.
Though Shane Weston doesn’t expect this early return to the training room will push him ahead of Bailey Cook on the depth chart, at the very least he hopes he will be one of the best number two receivers in the league, looking to battle with Robert Phelps for that distinction. Or perhaps Bradley Westfield, it will depend how the Otters list their depth chart. However, by every metric Bradley Westfield should be the number one, meaning Weston will most likely duel Phelps for the distinction of being the best of the second best.
The rest of the competition for Shane Weston and Robert Phelps is most likely to consist of Damian West, DJ Law, Adam Bennett, Jonathan Shaloiko, and Alexandre LeClair. West had a great season, but his development as stalled as he hasn’t been seen around for a little while now. DJ Law can definitely put himself in the conversation, but he hasn’t put in quite as much work as our two favourites so far. Arizona does not even have a number one wide receiver, let alone a number two. At this point, it’s Phelps’ to lose. Though Shane Weston is trying his best to be ready to pull that distinction away.
GRADED
After a fairly disappointing season in season one, where Shane Weston barely reached some of the major milestones he’d set out for, and barely missed out on others, he came out of the season generating no buzz about himself. Despite being drafted 69th overall in the first ever National Simulation Football League draft, and still putting up 700 yards and 3 touchdowns, and being one of the hardest working players in the league, he doesn’t even get credit for being drafted so late.
So, with that as a motivating force behind him, Weston has come back early from an offseason vacation to return to the SaberCats gym and get back to work. Despite the lack of a solution to the SaberCats quarterback situation, and still being firmly the #2 wide receiver behind Bailey Cook, Shane Weston has not let that stop him from putting in the effort to compete.
He had a good catching season, catching 56 of the 78 passes thrown his way, yet here he is in San Jose working on his hands, to show whatever quarterback ends up in San Jose that he’s a reliable option anywhere on the field, and can be used as a safety valve when needed. Something that last season did not happen, as he ceded a ton of targets to tight end Break Bottles, and running backs Demetrius Wiley and Vick Bowers Jr. – who were the top 2 in receiving yards for running backs. So Shane Weston has worked on his catching ability, but that’s not all.
Weston has also spent a lot of time in the video room, studying the defensive backs he’s most likely to line up against. And spent a lot of time at home studying the SaberCats’ own playbook, to make sure he’s on exactly the same page as his future quarterback.
Finally, Shane Weston has been working a ton on his shiftiness. Something that was probably a big reason for his struggles last season, he could not create space away from the defensive backs covering him, and even when he did haul in a pass, he was not quick enough side to side to evade the guys attempting to tackle him. So he put a ton of work in so far on his footwork, and it’s expected in the next week that he will continue working mostly on his agility.
Though Shane Weston doesn’t expect this early return to the training room will push him ahead of Bailey Cook on the depth chart, at the very least he hopes he will be one of the best number two receivers in the league, looking to battle with Robert Phelps for that distinction. Or perhaps Bradley Westfield, it will depend how the Otters list their depth chart. However, by every metric Bradley Westfield should be the number one, meaning Weston will most likely duel Phelps for the distinction of being the best of the second best.
The rest of the competition for Shane Weston and Robert Phelps is most likely to consist of Damian West, DJ Law, Adam Bennett, Jonathan Shaloiko, and Alexandre LeClair. West had a great season, but his development as stalled as he hasn’t been seen around for a little while now. DJ Law can definitely put himself in the conversation, but he hasn’t put in quite as much work as our two favourites so far. Arizona does not even have a number one wide receiver, let alone a number two. At this point, it’s Phelps’ to lose. Though Shane Weston is trying his best to be ready to pull that distinction away.
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GRADED