Thread: Notre Dame TE Tyler Eifert or Alabama G/C/OT Barrett Jones?

Originally Posted by soulman

I swear to God that if we draft a TE in either of the first two rounds I will move back to Green Bay and become a Packer fan for the first time in my life. However I will not do a sheep. A man has his limits.

Between the 53 man roster and the PS we have six TEs on this team now. Count 'em if you don't believe me. We need one more TE like China needs more Chinese. Maybe we should figure out just what to do with the six we have now before we add a seventh no matter how much Tice seems to like collecting them.

He must like keeping them off the unemployment rolls or something but I imagine by now Phil Emery must be getting tired of cutting them paychecks to be mostly spectators. I would be.

Unless we plan on putting 50lbs or more on one and turning him into an OT I think we should probably take TE as a high draft pick off the table right now. Kellen Davis catches a TD pass an an average of one out of every four passes we throw to him. I think that's what I read. Don't you all think then that maybe we should expand on that just a little? I think the objective of football is still to score more points than your opponent isn't it?

Even if that ratio drops a bit I say we're still gonna be on the plus side overall when we finally get around to using him more in the red zone and Hester less. How are we ever gonna find out whether or not the kid can be a good receiver if we never throw to him? One pass yesterday. One pass and that was a TD! I hope Tice bookmarked that in his playbook instead of putting it in the recycle bin like Martz seemed to do right after one of his TEs caught a scoring pass.

Bad for his image you know.

Yeah let's draft another TE. Seven is a lucky number isn't it?

Sorry to disagree with you, soul, but that's why you draft one and cut several of the rest of the tight ends. If you have one or two who are proficient at their craft, you do what it takes to keep them and get rid of the dead weight. We could start using Rodriguez and keep Davis while cutting Kyle Adams and the rest. This teams doesn't need more than three, maybe four, tight ends, max.

Originally Posted by Henry Burris

Hate to say it, but i think jersey boy 2 was right. Webb is showing more potential to stick around, and I'm willing to be he's in the top 15, as opposed to the 33rd best LT last year. Yeah, he's needing more help, but that tells me, even with help last year, he was lost. This year, he's getting it together. We gotta be patient with him. I think our interior could use an influx of talent, and maybe backup tackle could use a high pick, but I'd go with the TE at this point. If somehow Manti were available, I'd draft him in a heartbeat, but like Prince Amakumura a few years ago, we ain't gonna get the guy I want..

Being ranked in the top 15 isn't good enough, Henry, and you know it. If you want to compete with the best teams, the New Englands, the Green Bays, the Atlantas, the San Francisco's, the Giants, and the Houstons, you have to have the best talent available, and I'm afraid Webb isn't cutting it. Through seven games, he's given up at least five sacks, and I haven't heard just how many he gave up total between the Lions and Panthers games. That means over a period of 14 games, Webb is on pace to give up 10 sacks, and that's with two games left to go. That, my friends, won't get it done. It seems like everyone has jumped on the BBPB bandwagon of Webb nuthugging because I haven't seen one instance this year proving otherwise that unless he has max protection helping him in pass protection, he simply can't get the job done against an average pass rush.

Originally Posted by Henry Burris

That's a little loaded, soul. Dude's only use is in the end zone. I'd say a good part of the reason Cutler holds on to the ball so much is because he and Hester can't get open. Amazing that Olsen was able to get open, but this guy is "under used". Not buying it.

Well it may be a lot "loaded" but that doesn't make it untrue. I've watched the guy make some stupendous catches in the past and that bullet he hauled in with just his hands wasn't exactly and easy flick of the wrist thing. Cutler gunned it.

I can buy the fact that Hester doesn't get open. The coaches even gripe about that but I've yet to hear them say that about Davis. I think he caught several in the Jax game but then had that big drop against the Lions and when you do that your QB loses trust and you don't get the ball.

To his credit he spent the week taking extra catching reps after practice and it looked to me like it paid off. Cutler through to him when he needed a big catch and he came through. Besides when you're 6'7" and weigh 270lbs with knuckles that drag on the ground just how wide open do you need to be.

No this offense, like Martz's before it, under uses TEs. Cutler trusted Olsen more than he trusts Davis right now so Olsen got a few more thrown his way. We also didn't have Marshall then either but I don't think the problem is anything more than some lack of trust on Cutler's part and Tice not using Davis to run seam routes were he could dominate Safeties.

Am I disappointed in Davis so far this year? Hell yes I am but IMHO it's not just Davis whose disappointing as far as TE production is concerned. More on this later. My comments about not drafting a TE in the early rounds are based on what is at this moment in time. By April I may feel differently.

I'd like to have Stanford's TE Levine Toilolo or TE Zach Ertz if they plan to draft a TE.

Toilolo is 6-8, 265 pounds.
Ertz is 6-6, 252 pounds.

Both are dynamic players in the pass and run game. They help anchor one of the best offensive lines in the nation. Since I live in California, I happen to catch quite a few Stanford games. I was bummed that the Bears weren't able to draft Fleener, but any of these guys would be a great addition to the team. That's if they plan on cutting Davis or Spaeth.

For complete stats, http://espn.go.com/college-football/...levine-toilolo
http://espn.go.com/college-football/...2590/zach-ertz

Im not sure if they're going down that road Jackie.. just putting my two cents in.

It's difficult to judge what we might do about Spaeth and Davis right now. Spaeth is the better blocker of the two and Davis the better receiver. Overall Davis is the better "package" because he's decent at both but neither of them is doing enough to help in the passing game so far.

Next year is a contract year for both. Spaeth is due to earn $2.1 mil and Davis $2.5 mil. That's about average for TEs and way less than a franchise player would get at $5.45 mil. Together they cost us less than one guy like Gronkowksi would.

Still, if there a rookie out there anywhere who could do himself what both of these guys do in combination you'd have to take a look at him. But personally I think it's a waste until Tice finds a better way to incorporate the TE into the passing game. One more guy we don't use correctly won't help.