The TE thread

Again, that perception comes from not understanding schemes. If you think about it, it's really kind of silly to think that we don't cover the TE well because we don't play against a good one in practice. The truth of the matter is that we struggle against the TE because of the type of coverage we play. Teams that play cover 3 are vulnerable to the TE because the safeties have deep responsibilities and must concern themselves with the WRs first. That leaves the TE matched up against our linebackers, who haven't traditionally been great in coverage because we put so much emphasis on stopping the run as well. So it's really just a trade off, and one I'd gladly make. Because while we do struggle against the TE, we do better against the run and better in limiting WRs than most other defenses. If a defensive scheme has to open up for a TE, WR, or RB, I choose the TE.


Thelt:
Give it a rest. You don't have a clue what you're talking about. You're just like those random NFL fans who predict that we'll take a TE every year because you do not understand that position's role in our offense.

 

we need a kick ass TE in this offense, and if that's not who we are, then maybe that's who we need to be...

NE uses a TE, maybe Davidson will too...I'm not predicting, I'm hoping...

but we have other needs more pressing in the draft, like OL & LB & S, PR guy would be nice too...but with a PR guy, we're getting into another Hankton/WR issue and whyo gets on the active, this guy or that guy

If a decent TE was available in FA, that'd be awesome. Hell, there's several teams like Dallas have two TE's better than any of ours.

 

I keep trying to explain that the teams like Dallas who have dual threats at TE are not I-formation teams. It's fine to want a pass catching TE, although it would be somewhat wasted since we have two good WRs and won't throw enough to justify a third pass catching talent, but heading in that direction would probably mean phasing Hoover out and going to more singleback sets.

 

just noting that Dallas has two TE's better than all of ours...and there's mor ethan Dallas. You'd think we could get atleast one as good

 

It'd be nice to have one guy who can do everything somewhat well. I'd probably settle for a good run blocker first; our blockers tend to be good pass blockers (for TEs), which means they'll just be wall off blockers for the run.

As for Hoover, I'd like to see him get more passing game looks, and from both FB and up on a wing. He's a momentum blocker, but if we're using him toward the line in a wall-off contain capacity, or onside in a LB-seeking role, I could see him possibly succeeding. I'd really prefer a better blocker, but he showed a few times this year he could succeed taking on a defender.


At this point, I'd settle for us to have our guys, Meals on Wheels included, just get a few more looks. I like the idea of going to our WRs as much as possible in the passing game, but we need to be a little smarter about it, and we need to be able to sustain drives better than we have.

 

Both are extremely injury prone. Heard on the radio over the weekend that Graham has never finished an entire season.

 

I'd like to see us bring TE/H-back Stephen Spach in for training camp. He's a street free agent, so he should be cheap. And call me a homer, but I think he's much better than Gaines in almost every conceivable way. He's smarter, a better blocker, more versatile, and his hands are at least as good. He's played both TE and FB, both in college and in the pros (was with the Eagles for a couple of years).

Probably a very decent STer, too.