I wouldn't phrase it that way. As I said, I'm inclined to attribute it to poor judgment which is not the same as complete incompetence. It is acting against their own best interests but it's not doing so intentionally.VikingLord wrote:The alternative is that the coaches are incompetent and acting against their own interests.
Another possibility to consider: perhaps Wright has had physical issues that have kept him off the field this year and we just haven't heard much about them. He hurt his leg in the summer and he's barely played since.
There's something unusual going on here: the Vikings signed Wright to a four-year, $14.8 million contract extension. I think he's the team’s highest-paid receiver in 2016. If I'm not mistaken, he was getting reps with the first unit before getting hurt this summer. His drop to the bottom of the depth chart is very strange.
I've already said what I consider a reasonable explanation but I'll add this: my views on this are not unwarranted. My assessment of Wright's abilities isn't based on simplistic, uninformed assumptions, it's based on past performance, plays he's made and put on film over a period of years. It was basically the same story when I spent last season advocating for increased opportunities for Patterson, although he didn't have as much on-field history as Wright. All indications were that he was working hard. His abilities were already apparent (and on film) yet he touched the ball just 4 times on offense last season. When he started getting more opportunities this season, he did well with them. That's not a surprising result. It was an entirely predictable result, based on what he had shown in the past.So the choice is the coaches are incompetent and not playing their best players, or the fans are making unwarranted assumptions regarding who the best players are based on incomplete information and blaming the coaches when those players sit and the team doesn't have success.
Which is more reasonable?
Wright literally made some of the most explosive plays the team had in the previous two seasons and that's something this offense is sorely missing this season. It's more than reasonable to ask why players like Johnson and Treadwell, who have done very little, are playing ahead of him, especially when he has better RAC ability than either and Shurmur is running a short passing offense that desperately needs the receivers to gain additional yardage after the catch. If he's healthy, he should be getting more playing time.