https://www.yahoo.com/sports/news/d...nning-trading-former-tight-end-181641539.html The Miami Dolphins had a pretty good source they leaned on before swinging a trade for tight end Julius Thomas. According to the Palm Beach Post, Dolphins offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen reached out to Peyton Manning to ask his opinion of Thomas. Manning threw passes to Thomas with the Denver Broncos. Christensen coached Manning with the Indianapolis Colts. The NFL is a relationship business, you see, and with Manning retired he likely was earnest in his assessment of what Thomas could bring to the Dolphins.
You can see why they made the trade. It clearly is a leap of faith though. Thomas seems to have the right personality. If his body cooperates he could be a boon for this offense. Actually Thomas and Fasano could both be huge plusses for us this season. Or of course they could also be non-factors. Fasano is easier to trust. He should at a minimum instantly upgrade our run blocking significantly. And he should be a reliable short area receiving target. I could even see him becoming a big TD producer this year if our redzone run game is effective. Fasano could leak out for some easy short TD passes if the defense is overly worried about the run. Thomas could be more effective as a deeper receiving threat. We all hope he returns to the form he had in Denver, but it's tough to bet on that. It's difficult to ignore the more recent two years in Jax where he averaged 10.5 games, 38 receptions, 368 yards and 4.5 TDs and hope for the 13.5 games, 54 receptions, 638 yards and 12 TDs he averaged in two years in Denver.
Thomas was never big in the weight room, especially when he came out, he had that basketball body type, he's now been working out hard, ive seen his body and there is a stark difference, he's ready to go physically.
Thomas looked bad last season. He was misused, but looked bad. He is just slightly better than Cameron/Sims.
He played with Jacksonville. Just about everyone looks bad at Jacksonville. In Gase's system in Denver, Thomas was an absolute beast. I think he is going to have a big year.
Wonder if he can come in and spend some time with Thomas and Tannehill on the field one day to help them build chemistry. Tell Tanny what Thomas' preferences are, how to delvier the ball to him, etc.
He also had Manning throwing to him. Manning often knew presnap where he was going to go he was such a master. Plus I don't know how much of it was Gase's system. A lot of very smart people said it was still the Moore/Manning system
an opinion that I really respect talking about the similarity between Ryan and Brady.. I hope he's right.
I actually am way more stoked about the Fasano signing then most. He is an excellent blocker for a #2 Tight End and most importantly Tannehill already has experience with him and trusts him. He was his safety valve as a rookie and had 5 out of 12 of Tannehill's TD passes as a rookie, including his very first against the Raiders in week 2 and if I remember correctly he had one of the best TD catches of the year later in the season too.
I think what Thomas brings to the offense is the ability to dictate defensive alignments that creates mismatches in running and passing game. We can flex him out in the slot and determining who covers him, determines if we run or pass.
So, in the past decade, here are a list of the TEs to have a season where they meet all of those requirements: Dallas Clark (1) Jimmy Graham (2) Tony Gonzalez (1) Rob Gronkowski (2) You're expectation is that we have a HOFer. The bar may be set a tad bit high. Even if you narrow that to just 80 receptions, then you have a very short list. Its been done 29 times in the past 10 years, so about three times a season, and mostly by those same players. You might notice that Jason Witten, who will be going to the HOF, didn't have any seasons where he met all of those marks, though he did come close. A high bar for Thomas this season would be about 65 catches, 700 yards and 8 TDs. And thats not something that we should expect, just something thats attainable should things go right.
In Thomas' best season, by far (2013), he had 65 receptions, for 788 yards, and 12 TDs. That was as part of one of the most prolific offenses in history, and those stats look a lot more like the ones that I suggested than the ones that you did regardless. And before you call me out for being pessimistic, I'm not. Suggesting that a guy might get close to the best numbers of his career is being optimistic. Expecting that he suddenly blow those numbers away in his first season here is unrealistic.
