We've gone from a tight end by committee group, lead by Anthony Fasano... to Anthony Fasano and a bunch of projects. I watch other teams around the league with good tight ends and how important each of them are to their respective offenses and think "why don't we have a guy like that?"
Last night, for example, Green Bay has Jermichael Finley, Chicago has Greg Olsen. The Jets have Dustin Keller. The Vikings have Visanthe Shiancoe. The Pats drafted two tight ends who have both looked good in Gronkowski and Hernandez. The Chiefs drafted Tony Moeaki (sp) who has looked very impressive. The Ravens drafted two to add to the Heap. Getting that tight end down the middle of the field and miss matched against the defender is so key. Fasano is not a mismatch against anyone really. Now that Brandon Marshall has opened up things in the passing game, it's time to get even better.
Fasano does a good job in certain aspects of his game, but he's not comparable to any of these guys. Should our next move be to add that true #1 tight end? I don't know that we can get one via trade in the next few weeks or not before the deadline, but we should be on the phone. I honestly believe it could mean the difference between us finishing 8 and 8 vs 10 and 6 and making the playoffs.
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we have to get one next year for sure. i think we're just riding it out this year with what we have and probably bringing in periodic practice squad guys to try out
Paul 13 likes this. -
We will probably be doubling up on te next year and maybe rb? Whatever happens I hope we sign vincent jackson, peyton manning and early 2000 keyshawn johnson.
SICK, Paul 13 and adamprez2003 like this. -
If we had Keller and they had Fasano we win Sunday night.
So, important, I guess.sws84, ToddsPhins, adamprez2003 and 2 others like this. -
I was pissed we didn't draft a TE this year. Hernandez was there for the taking. I guess we can't complain too much (I think we got John Jerry there?) but yes, we need a pass-catching TE badly.
gunn34, Bpk, adamprez2003 and 1 other person like this. -
IMO this F.O. has done a poor job of addressing this need. I think they have a prehistoric view of the position. They seem to be looking for the all-around guy who is primarily a blocker and a receiver second. They already have that in Fasano. They should be looking for the compliment that is a receiver first and a blocker second. Not only does it make sense in today's game, but it provides so much more offensive flexibility. We should be looking for the personnel that allow us to field both a 22 formation and a 3-wr formation. That would allow us to maximize the effectiveness of our run-centric offense against any defensive alignment.
jim1, gunn34, Bpk and 1 other person like this. -
Well, contrarian again but:
Not very, the Te is more or less a blocker in Henning's offense they rely on the Wr's more than Te's or Rb's in the passing game.
I would not mind sniffing around Donald Lee up in Green Bay as he is the sort of all around Te who would offer an end to the Te merry go round of UDFA types. -
I agree that Henning hasn't used a TE much, but I would think that he would be forced to use a receiving TE if he were given a great one. You would have to be an idiot not to use a TE like Finley as a receiver if you had one. Despite the WC complaints, I don't think anybody is claiming that Henning is an idiot.
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Do you really think they'd trust Finley to block out of a 3-point stance? -
But Henning will now completely buck this behavior because he'd have one on the roster? Before Henning came here he had a TE catch 30 or more balls 4 times in 27 years as an OC. 4 times. He's done better here, but how much can we expect that to continue to change upwards? -
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So what you guys are saying is Henning is limited as an OC? :shifty: If he can't find ways to maximize talent, then he doesn't deserve to be here.
Is there a 'Utilizing TE's for Dummies' book that we can all pitch in on and mail to him? :dunno:
We've been watching TE's torch us for 2 years now; so can't the guy at least learn from 1st hand experience?! (drrrrr which way-did-he-go George)Paul 13 likes this. -
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Bpk likes this.
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We dont run the West Coast offense or Spread offense. No need for a pass catching TE. We need RB/LB/Safety in the first Rd. A new Coordinator will help too.
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gunn34, ToddsPhins and Paul 13 like this.
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How much pressure did we get on Sanchez while he was busy completing passes to Keller?HardKoreXXX, gunn34 and Bpk like this. -
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Keller isn't a bad blocker. I would say he's an average blocker. But they run a west coast system. We saw them use a lot of 3-step drops. We don't do that stuff.
Gronkowski is a very good TE. But I'm not sure he's quite the downfield receiving threat that Finley, Gates, Gonzalez, Keller, etc. are. He has good hands, but he's not that type of player IMO.
In regards to how many blocking TEs we need, I would say as many as we can find. We ran the most max protect in the league last year for a reason. -
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So why would it be one way for Ronnie Brown but different for a TE? When both Martin and Fasano had over 30 catches in 2008 I think that was the first that had happened for Henning.
You may believe that he'd be smart enough to use him, but looking at how we use Ronnie who is well known as having great hands should say something.
Maybe we didn't target the TE big time as we just don't see it being a deciding factor in our passing game? -
Its not really a problem with the OL, its just how the offense is designed.
The Green Bay Packers don't have an offensive line problem because they give up a lot of sacks. They just have an offense who's design results in a lot of sacks. -
Is the OL bad that they need these guys to max protect? Or are the backs and tightends not good enough receivers that they end up blocking?
BTW, I think Ronnie is a great receiver if given the chance... it's already been proven by Cameron.gunn34 likes this. -
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Who remembers Johnny Mitchell? Talk about a guy that couldn't even fall in the way of a defender. -
gunn34, ToddsPhins and Paul 13 like this.
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But thats not really how we've used the TE. You can go to a five step drop, and use the TE to block, as opposed to sending the TE out and throwing it to him. I'm not saying one way is better than the other, just that our scheme tends to favor a certain style. -
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