Clay always had a good Td to Reception ratio, inow he usually made plays.

Difference now is Clay is running some of the routes Fasano was running, only he is a far far better athlete then Fasano.

In the NFL it's all about opportunities, Keller went down, Clay was in the right place at the right time.

 

His upside has never been in doubt.

His consistent performance has.

Here's hoping he maintains this level of play. Because it's Pro Bowl level.

 

Just checked on Fasano's #'s

4 receptions, 34 yds

Uhm, anyone think Clay is an upgrade.

 

FWIW, Fasano was dinged and didn't play Thursday night. Having said that, Clay has certainly shown elements that Fasano doesn't have - he's played great so far.

 

I was one who said I didn't think he would be all that great due to no special physical qualities at that position. It looks like I was dead wrong. :)

 

Clay is having his best season, but he has never been consistent and rarely is able to get open on his own. When he is, it is usually scheme or blown defensive assignment and not his own ability. He still is an inconsistent receiver and needs to work on setting up quicker. He is getting there, but slowly...

And pro bowl? After 2 "meh" seasons and 2 decent games? Maybe I'll see it later in the season if he continues to progress.

 

that was a great interview with tim ryan and jesse agler, saw it yesterday...."antonio gates like stuff"regarding clay and his ability to get of the line


http://www.miamidolphins.com/multim..._Matchup/09ced1a2-080a-4e12-abc8-c426ae5a3120

 

Clay's numbers project to a season with:

80 catches
1304 yards
Presumably not 8 rushing TDs... but who knows?
Presumably a few receiving TDs though he doesn't have one yet.... If you look at his prior seasons, he tends to get 2-3 TDs for every 225 yards receiving (roughly)... so he would be on pace for five times that amount this season. You could literally see up to 10 receiving TDs.



HERE IS SOME PERSPECTIVE:
If he had 80 catches, 1300 yards, 10 TDs receiving, and another 2 or 3 TDs rushing, he would....

- Have finished #1 among all 2012 TEs in receiving yards, with Jason Witten second at 1,039 and ahead of Jimmy Graham and Tony Gonzalez.
- His 10 TDs would compare to Rob Gronkowski's league leading 11 TDs last season. Clay would be barely behind that, and ahead of Jimmy Graham.
- 80 receptions would have put him 4th most in the NFL using 2012 stats for Witten, Gonzo, and Graham who had more than 80 catches with 110, 93 and 85 respectively.


Now look, CLay may have had his 'Brian Hartline Arizona Game' last week, and now go back to a lower baseline, but there is no arguing that his production is STARTING to meet his potential.

And that potential is literally among the top three TEs in the NFL.

Pretty astounding. The real trick is keeping it up over a whole season. Heck, I'll be rooting for him to succeed.

 

Oh, I knew he had physical qualities, but I didn't think he had the right mentality to perform to his potential. He was so frustratingly inconsistent I actually though he had a chance, if he disappointed the staff again in preseason, of being cut.

Damn, was I wrong! And glad to be.

 

No one says he'll get there. But we are saying he is FULLY capabale of it.

And about 90% of the players in this league you simply wouldn;t say that about, not with any conviction. Clay can be a Pro Bowler.

Will he be? Who knows.

 

Thing with Clay, and why no one should crown him yet is atm Defenses just are not that concerned about him beating them.

When the spotlight is on him, can he still perform.

 

Byars had none of those things on paper either, yet he showed them on the field.

Clay has good timing and to me, is developing physically.

When I see him catch the ball and run, it's like watching a highlight of Keith Byars, same chunky build, same pigeon toed short strides.

Byars was 6'1 257
Clay is listed at 6'3 250

Though to me, he does not have the quads of a NFLer quite yet which is why I suspect he winds up at Byars playing weight.

Byars also played some FB iirc.

 

Clay has gone beyond upside and gotten to production. Even if he isn't that consistent, he's still clearly a valuable player. Jermichael Finley sure as hell isn't that consistent and he's a good starting quality tight end, and I think that seems to a pretty good landing point for Clay.

Those plays have most certainly been there, and been there for the beginning. Go look at his rookie season, even. I don't think there was any clearer evidence of his upside than in the Chiefs game. He lined up on the nub side and drew back to back plays with Brandon Flowers in primary coverage, and beat him for back to back 20+ yard receptions. He didn't get open because Flowers slipped, or he screwed an assignment, or bit on play action, Clay out-physicaled him, he cold got beat.

 

so you think after making some clutch catches against the browns, the colts didn't saw him on tape and prepared for him ?

 

I REALLY liked Flowers coming out, and from what I've seen of him in the league too. He's a good corner, and physical.

So to say Clay bested him physically says a lot, imo.

 

By sticking the underrated, yet over matched Jerrel Freeman the MLB on him?

When they pull a Safety down to cover him then we will see how he does, that opens up Gibson or Hartline, yet that is the real test for him.

 

Probably should pump those breaks some. Don't wanna hit the wall too hard.

Sent from my GT-P3110 using Tapatalk 2

 

Clay is a special athlete @ 6'3" 240 but isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. It's not surprising it's taken him a while to learn his role in the offense.

I like his chances to be a top 10 TE.

 

I love those stubby little legs rumbling down the field cartoon style. Seriously though, outstanding draft pick

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[video=youtube;5mOFEwbOjGo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mOFEwbOjGo[/video]

[video=youtube;hyFgBuHhdKU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyFgBuHhdKU[/video]

Just at glance, Clay looks faster w/a longer stride, Byars was "257" like I'm "140" Byars was a large guy

 

Well, its certain that all of us need to see him be more consistent. He's shown some flashes but never really put a lot of things together to show that he can be a weapon to rely on. On the other side of this, remember that Philbin and Sherman have made a few other 'non-name brand' TEs look pretty good. They love the TE in this offense and use a variety of guys on the roster in that role. Of course, he's never been the #1 guy until this season, so the onus is really on him now...

But I like what I've seen so far...him putting together a few more games like he's had should quell any doubts about his consistency...but we'll see...

 

After his rookie season, he was my candidate to be a big time breakout last season but that just didn't happen. That could have been because of a new coaching staff, playbook, QB, or it could have been because he wasn't getting the opportunities due to Fasano, or not taking advantage of them when he did. It could have been lack of confidence, maturity or it might have been that he just wasn't going to take that step.

However, he's still young and it might be that the breakout is going to happen a year later than I thought. One thing that's sure though is he needs to put together a run of 3-4 good games before we can say he's definitely got over whatever held him back previously.