So considering Dustin Keller's injury, and assuming Charles Clay and Michael Egnew have inconsistent years, and that Dion Sims will be in his rookie year, do you think the Dolphins will look at TE for one of their early round selections in the next draft? Who do you draftniks like? Who should we be paying closer attention to?
I think it depends on how much we see out of Dion Sims and if Egnew continues to carry over his progression into the regular season. The top 3 guys listed on most of the draft-related sites I visit are all juniors this year: Austin Seferian-Jenkins - Washington Colt Lyerla - Oregon Eric Ebron - North Carolina C.J. Fiedorowicz of Iowa and Marcel Jansen of Fresno State are two seniors with good size, but I've not seen either of them play very much.
Out of those three, I think I like Lyerla the best, Sandy Hook comments aside. He lines up in the backfield and has taken snaps at both tailback and fullback positions which could appeal to the coaching staff. He also plays with a lot of urgency and boy does he keep those feet moving when he's running with the ball, don't know about his route-running, haven't seen enough.
The homer in me wants to see us draft Eric Ebron. The last time I felt this way about a UNC player I thought we should draft was Nicks who I felt we should have taken over Davis.
I love Eric Ebron. I'm still trying to figure out whether Philbin would love him or not. I do think he would like Colt Lyerla.
The only thing I don't like about Ebron is he seems a bit yellow, but he is, without a doubt, the most athletic of the bunch. From the couple games I've watched, he drops some balls and is just a so-so blocker.
Gator Hoskins of Marshall has me a little intrigued. Had 10 TDs last year. One of the more productive TEs in college this year too. But that QB over there Rakeem Cato is the guy that keeps drawing my eye. Short...but man is he good.
Hah. You know where Gator Hoskins is from? Gainesville, Florida. How disappointing has HIS life turned out?
Indeed, thing of beauty. Starting to wonder if this thread was a little premature, I should have made a Let's Talk Right Tackles, 2014 thread. But then Clabo will have the greatest game of his career.
Dustin who?* All 3 TE's contributed yesterday against the Falcons.*Egnew's play was actually quite impressive and obviously Sims with the game winner. You'd hope Sherman will starting giving more multiple TE looks.* They just need to learn how to block.*
I think the Dolphins right tackle might be on roster. Jonathan Martin should move back there, especially as his run blocking has really shaped up this year.
I'm not satisfied at all with the Dolphins tight end position ex-Keller. The position has had one bad game, one good game and one "average" game. I gave the position a "C" grade for their work against the Falcons. Fact of the matter is Dion Sims and Charles Clay were both culpable in both of Miami's turnovers on the day. Those turnovers could easily have been the difference in the game. Dion Sims completely whiffed on blocking Osi Umenyiora who was able to strip the ball from Tannehill's hands for the turnover. Charles Clay had a pass go right through his outstretched hands, popped up and picked off by William Moore. You can say perhaps the ball sailed a little high on Tannehill but the fact of the matter is the ball went right through Clay's hands. That should be a catch.
I've seen some talk on Twitter about Jace Amaro of Texas Tech. It's pretty obvious that he's extremely athletic, I wouldn't be surprised if his YAC on the year rivaled Travis Kelce's ridiculous 8 yards after the catch from last year. However on all the screens/ long horizontal runs that TTU runs, it feels like his downfield blocking is so indifferent. I went back and watched a bit of Kelce's tape to make sure I wasn't crazy and you can find multiple instances of him putting his guy on the ground at the end of plays. I think you'd be hard pressed to find an instance where Amaro was even still blocking a few seconds into the play. It's certainly obvious he can run though, but I don't know if the Dolphins have had enough TEs who can catch but are so-so on blocking.
That might be a loaded comparison because Travis Kelce was a real throwback as a blocker, like Levine Toilolo. You get a Jace Amaro, you're probably not getting him to be the kind of blocker you think you're getting with a Travis Kelce or Levine Toilolo. I think the Dolphins need to find some run after catch ability so I like where your head is at looking at that on a Jace Amaro.
Because I have nothing to do, I decided to chart Jace Amaro's catches this season. I don't have the Texas State game because I'm having troubles getting it downloaded, but through three games here are some interesting notes. He's averaging 7.67 yards after the catch. This is lower than Kelce's 8+ YAC, but still impressive for any 6'6", 250lb guy. He's also averaging 2.72 yards after first contact. I kept this stat for Eifert and Ertz last year where they both averaged a little under 1.7. More of his catches come short compared to Eifert/Ertz. Both of those players had a wider distribution of where they caught the ball. Amaro's catches have mostly come in the short range. 50% of his passes have been screens or in the 1-5 yard zone. While 28% of his catches have been in the 11-20 yard range, he hasn't caught a ball past 20 yards (maybe he did in the Texas State game). He's also a pretty reliable 3rd down target, nearly 50% of his yardage has come on 3rd down and I don't have a single drop logged for him yet. All in all an interesting guy to keep an eye on. If/when I get bored I might chart some other interesting TEs to get a comparison/ write up a piece.
Good of you to chart it all out. All it does though is confirm what you can see in Jace Amaro's game which is that he moves and bends far better than his 6'5" and 257 lbs listing would suggest. His feet are choppy and quick. You like him running straight forward but probably even better running on a diagonal, swiveling his hips, etc. The real bonus ability you see in him is the hand use, the savviness when it comes to making breaks on routes. That's there already and it's just going to get better. He's going to be playing at a high speed when he gets to the NFL when it comes to playing physically off the man coverage to get into his break, or adjusting to the football in the air for a back shoulder catch, etc. These are not things you'll see much of because of the usage you talk about at Texas Tech, but the skills are there. The guy will be one of the top tight ends in the Draft when he comes out. For sure. He's already on my short list of players I like for the upcoming draft.
Yeah some of its pretty obvious right now, but I'm trying to chart some players that interest me throughout the season so when it comes draft time I'm not frantically charting in order to get to the next article. I took a look at Eric Ebron just watching and charting his receptions. Wouldn't have guessed it like I did for Amaro, but Ebron is averaging 7.23 yards after the catch. Also catching more than half his passes past 11 yards, so a nice deep/ seem threat. Just from watching I was a bit baffled by his hands. He makes these incredible stabs, grabbing the ball out of the air with one hand at times. In the three games I've seen so far, I'd guess he had made 3-4 of them. But then I've already got 2 drops for him with the potential for 1-2 more depending on how you were to count them. They all seem to happen in traffic, so I'm going to have to keep an eye on his catching with defenders around him. Some other lesser known guys I'm going to check out with some nice production thus far and will probably chart: Alex Bayer - Bowling Green Ted Bolser - Indiana Tyreese Russell - Eastern Michigan (I haven't seen anything of his so far, just interested based on pure production now) Need to wait for guys like Seferian-Jenkins and Lyerla get some more production before I start looking at any numbers or checking them out.
The top three tight ends in the draft for me are Jace Amaro, Colt Lyerla and Eric Ebron. Perhaps even in that order. I think Amaro and Ebron are clearly the most dangerous route runners. They understand nuances of their route running and they execute at times like wide receivers. They have the athletic ability to be dangerous after the catch which is why you see good numbers there. I think where Amaro has Ebron is clearly in that Amaro is a bigger, more powerful player. You don't have to look very hard to find Amaro blocking really well. You also don't have to look very hard to find him missing blocks. If he were a linebacker, he'd be the kind to overpursue the ball a lot, missing tackles as a result. I think that can be coached with experience. Eric Ebron on the other hand far too often blocks like a wide receiver, and not even a wide receiver that is particularly good at blocking. He leaves his chest wide open, he's not big or strong, he gets knocked around. You'd swear at times it's a mentality thing in addition to being a physical shortcomings thing, and not just a technique thing. He's a magic eye blocker. You really have to stare for a long time before you somehow manage to convince yourself you see the sailboat. Where Ebron has Amaro I think is his ability to catch the football outside of his body. As you say, he makes pretty incredible stabs. But he also drops easy ones, so this advantage is not as great versus an Amaro as it could be. Though Colt Lyerla is almost definitely a worse route runner and does not have near the polish that way as Amaro and Ebron, where he differentiates himself from the above two is in his pure physicality and run after catch ability. I don't know what you're going to find when you do the run after catch studies, but I'm also not sure it entirely matters. You watch enough Colt Lyerla play football, you know he's got the feet and tackle-breaking ability of a running back on the 6'4" and 250 lbs frame of a tight end. He is going to end up a better blocker than Eric Ebron will likely ever be, and he's probably going to be better after the catch than either Amaro or Ebron. The physicality also bodes well for his ability to work in tight traffic. All three players are comparable as pure athletes in terms of how they move around compared with their size. That is to say, they leave guys like Ted Bolser in the dust. I wouldn't be surprised if Lyerla showed the best explosiveness/jump measurements, though. Personally if I were looking to take a tight end I would want to steer toward Amaro or Lyerla. I love certain qualities about Eric Ebron. Of the three, he's the closest to looking like a pure wide receiver but in a 6'3" and 240 lbs frame (listings say 6'4" and 245 lbs, not sure I believe them). But he's also got the most risk factor that he disappears with the increase in physicality you find going from college to pro.
Very strange. If it results in his draft stock dipping it could be an opportunity. Then again his stock could be dipping for good reason. Jace Amaro to me seems to lengthen his lead on the position each passing week. But Charles Clay had what I feel is a little more of an unqualified good day. Previously I'd had him at two bad games, one decent game and one great game. Now I'm closer to two great/good games...and it has me wondering how much he might improve over the res of the season. I love how he went to the perimeter in the red zone and was a pure mismatch with CB Jimmy Smith. That is the definition of what we need. But he also dropped a critical ball on the final drive. Would have turned a 57 yard FG into a 52 yard FG and could've made all the difference.
THIS IS ALL RUMOR. It comes from Reddit which may be the best and worst crowd sourcing site at different times. The main implication by one commenter was: another commenter responds: Can't imagine NFL teams won't suss that type of stuff out. Here's the chain for those interested: http://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/1nvo7z/lyerla_withdraws_from_uo_on_good_terms_athletics/ccmhjv0
Haha. The kid seems like a meathead, and not in a good way. One year removed from believing the Sandy Hook shooting was a government conspiracy and now cocaine rumors, what a damn shame. Lets see what it looks like when the dust settles, I'm sure the Pats will take him.
I've been told I have a nice tight end. Oh wait. My bad. You meant the football kind. I know TEs can provide quarterback protection. But I think the o-line needs to be top priority going into the bye week. I saw we worry about a good TE in the draft. Remember. Never goto the Library without your shotgun. now Free
Hard to really believe that kind of stuff. If it's true there are people who will know and they will be able to share it with NFL teams. I heard a quote earlier on twitter I think from one of his offensive coaches commenting on his leaving and he said something to the effect of "With Colt, I'll believe anything." Also I started trying to search twitter with keyword "lyerla" and the second entry down that popped up in the suggestions was "lyerla coke".
He tweeted a link to conspiracy theories that were out there saying "watch this and open your eyes" or something similar, Oregon released a statement saying they were disappointed and would speak to him so no "my account was hacked" excuse this time.
Just googled it and he also called the parents of the kids that died "liars". Nothing wrong with having an opinion, but that's insensitive to say the least and understandably not something that Oregon would want to be associated with.
I'm with you with being a homer and also wanting Nicks that year. Might as well watch Ebron this year instead of the actual team, bleh.
Colt Lyerla being a jack@ss is putting me all-in on Jace Amaro. And that in turn means I've got to start checking out other TEs because I doubt Miami goes for one in the 1st round. Looks like I've got to hone in some more on Xavier Grimble, Randall Telfer and Troy Niklas.
Notre Dame's junior tight end Troy Niklas is a seriously good draft prospect. I could see Jace Amaro rising to the top honors at the position in the 2014 NFL Draft but I could also see Troy Niklas doing the same. Guy pass protects like an offensive tackle, can erase defensive backs on screens, and turn around and outrun 160 pound corners 66 yards to the end zone. Nice hands too. What is it about that school and that position. Even Joseph Fauria was once a member of the Irish.
