Biggs: "Is pass-catching tight end a priority for Bears?"

I keep hoping we solve this one with a FA pick. It's a position that's not too expensive to buy in FA. Then we could have a guy who could help us immediately.

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LINK to the article


Is pass-catching tight end a priority for Bears?
Notre Dame's Eifert best available, but Trestman & Co. may not want to spend early pick on tight end

http://www.trbimg.com/img-512aa79a/t...01/580/580x363

Notre Dame's Tyler Eifert may be the first tight end chosen in the draft. (Scott Strazzante /Tribune photo / January 7, 2013)


By Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune reporter
5:54 p.m. CST, February 24, 2013


INDIANAPOLIS — Jay Cutler has been straightforward about the impact a pass-catching tight end can have in the offense, and perhaps it is a priority again with Bears tight ends coach Andy Bischoff earlier this month saying, "We need a tight end that can create stress in the middle of the field or wherever we place him."


Bears coach Marc Trestman was more cryptic when asked about a position that has produced little for the club the last few seasons. The tight end is virtually nonexistent in the CFL, but Trestman has an appreciation for the position and how it has evolved since he was last in the NFL in 2004.


"We've probably seen bigger guys and stronger guys in terms of their height and the things they do," Trestman said at the NFL scouting combine. "I go back to when I got in the league, there was Brent Jones at San Francisco, when I was at Oakland there were two or three tight ends we moved them around like you see teams doing today."


The top draft prospect is Notre Dame's Tyler Eifert and he only helped his stock with a strong showing. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.68 seconds, posted a 351/2-inch vertical jump and did 22 reps on the bench press at 225 pounds. There is a good chance Eifert will be available when the Bears select 20th in the first round. What will be available when they select 50th overall in the second round is less clear. Stanford's Zach Ertz could be off the board by then. Ertz, who made 69 receptions for 898 yards last season, ran 4.76 seconds in the 40, had a 301/2-inch vertical and 24 reps.


One NFC tight ends coach put Eifert clearly at the head of the class, saying, "He's the guy that can go up in a crowd and get the ball. He makes the tough plays."


There will be options later on. San Diego State's Gavin Escobar ran a disappointing 4.84 in the 40, but one national scout said "that's not the speed he plays at. It will concern some teams, but not me." Rice's Vance McDonald tested well at 4.69 in the 40 with a 331/2-inch vertical and 31 reps. Arkansas' Chris Gragg was at 4.50 in the 40, but he and Maryland's Matt Furstenburg, who also tested well, are more in the physical mold of Evan Rodriguez, still with the Bears.


Bears tight ends have been the least productive in the NFL the last two seasons, producing only 29 receptions in 2012 and 25 in 2011. The club signed Kellen Davis to a two-year $6 million contract last year and drafted Rodriguez in the fourth round. Davis flopped and Rodriguez was moved to fullback, but indications are he could return to tight end in a complementary role.


In eight drafts since Trestman was last in the NFL, seven tight ends have been chosen in the first round, including Greg Olsen 31st overall by the Bears in 2007. There were no tight ends selected in Round 1 in the last two years. Plenty of finds have come in the second round — Rob Gronkowski, Kyle Rudolph and Fred Davis — and third round — Jimmy Graham, Jared Cook and Jermichael Finley.


"I'm lucky to be coming in at a time where the type of tight end that I am is being used quite a bit," Eifert said. "In the passing game but also a guy that can stay in the game on every down and can also block. Create mismatch problems in the passing game."


Emery has put a premium on acquiring playmakers, but it is unknown how the need for tight end will stack up versus the need to revamp the offensive line, moves that can be made in free agency and the draft alike.


"We want to put players in positions where they can create some matchups opportunities," Trestman said. "We can do that with a number of different personnel groupings, and tight end groupings are certainly one of them, but they're not a panacea for the offense, they don't have to be. But to have those body types certainly helps offenses."

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Best answer for that maybe here brother. My interpretation of it is that upgrading would be nice but a top tier TE either in FA or the draft isn't essential. If I read between the line's he saying he has the offense set up in such a way that various postions can challenge the opposing defense the way a TE does.

Bottom line is that to me Trestman, unless this is a smoke screen, has not asked Emery to make TE a top target in the draft at the every least and possibly not even in FA although that's where we can probably find him an upgrade over Kellen Davis.

If I go a step farther and interpret Emery he's after the player or players in the first couple of rounds who will have the most immediate impact. Of our three biggest needs that has to be OLinemen and LBs. So I wouldn't be paying too much attention to any of the draft reports on the top TEs. They both seem to be somewhat ambivalent about it.

TE has become a glamor position, but Marc Trestman says Bears aren’t needy

BY ADAM L. JAHNS ajahns@suntimes.com February 22, 2013 9:32PM

http://www.suntimes.com/csp/cms/site...YPE=image/jpeg EUGENE, OR - NOVEMBER 17: Tight end Zach Ertz #86 of the Stanford Cardinal runs away from linebacker Boseko Lokombo #25 of the Oregon Ducks with a pass reception in the third quarter of the game at Autzen Stadium on November 17, 2012 in Eugene, Oregon. Stanford won the game 17-14 in overtime. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)


DIFFERENCE-MAKERS
A closer look at the top tight ends in the 2013 draft class:


TYLER EIFERT, Notre Dame, jr., 6-5, 250 pounds

College career: 134 receptions, 1,779 yards, 11 TDs, 13.3 yards per catch.
Quote: ‘‘[My strengths are] my ability to catch the ball in traffic, make contested catches, get down the field and create mismatches, understand an offense [and] being able to be moved around in different positions.’’


ZACH ERTZ, Stanford, jr., 6-6, 252 pounds

College career: 109 receptions, 1,373 yards, 15 TDs, 12.6 yards per catch.
Quote: ‘‘At Stanford, we were a run-first offense. We started with the power-running game, and I took a lot of pride in my run-blocking. As a receiver, that stuff kind of came more naturally.’’



Article Extras

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Updated: February 23, 2013 2:14AM


INDIANAPOLIS — Five years in the Canadian Football League, where the tight end is virtually nonexistent, doesn’t mean Bears coach Marc Trestman is unfamiliar with the ascendance of the position in the NFL.
“Teams are just trying to maximize the tight end in different ways,” Trestman said during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. “And [the position] certainly has a place in football.”


But Trestman won’t call adding a big, athletic tight end who’s more of receiver than a blocker a cure-all for the Bears’ offense. In the offense he’s devising, Trestman said a tight end isn’t “an entire need.”


“The offense is set up to where we can put people in different places, and they can take on that role,” Trestman said. “It wouldn’t matter whether we had three tight ends, four tight ends, four wide [with] one tight end. We feel like we want to get the best players on the field to maximize what we can do athletically, but also put players in positions where we can create matchups and opportunities.


“We can do that with a number of different personnel groupings. The tight-end groupings are certainly one of them, but they’re not a panacea for the offense. They don’t have to be an entire need. But to have different body types certainly helps offenses.”


Still, that won’t prevent the Bears from looking at tight ends Zach Ertz (Stanford) and Tyler *Eifert (Notre Dame) at the combine.


The Bears have ranked last in receptions by tight ends the last two seasons, making an upgrade via the draft or free agency a real possibility. Ertz and Eifert are aware that teams such as the Bears might be interested in them, especially with how tight ends are changing offenses and burning defenses these days.
It’s possible that Ertz and Eifert — the only tight ends projected to go in the first round — will be available when the Bears step to the podium with the 20th pick.


‘‘I think seeing what all those tight ends do and all those things they’ve been doing is very neat,” said Ertz, who had a scheduled interview with the Bears. “You see [Saints tight end] Jimmy Graham out there against corners all the time, and just seeing what he does is very impressive. It’s something that I just hope I can do at that same level.”


Ertz and Eifert come from *college programs that have histories of producing NFL-caliber tight ends. Some teams have eyed Ertz because he comes from a pro-style offense and was used in a three-point stance and split wide. Eifert, meanwhile, has spent ample time working on his blocking, which is “what everyone said [I] was *lacking.”


But without question, it’s the mismatches that Eifert (6-5, 250 pounds) and Ertz (6-6, 252 pounds) can create in the passing game that has gained the most attention. “I’m lucky to be coming in at a time where the type of tight end that I am is being used quite a bit,” Eifert said. “I strive to be a complete tight end.”

Thanks to an influx of such *juniors as Ertz and Eifert, the tight-end class immensely improved depth-wise and could affect the Bears’ draft board when it comes to ranking tight ends against offensive linemen and linebackers, two other areas of need.


General manager Phil Emery said the team will take a player who can contribute the most immediately. “Last year, we were in a very *similar spot, and we had about seven players on the board we felt good about,” Emery said. “We took one of them [defensive end Shea McClellin]. As we work through this process, I assume that number will be about seven to 10 that we feel good about. We’ll find the best player who can help us win now.”

I think you're right Soul.

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Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

I think you're right Soul.

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In think what Trestman is saying is that my offense can adapt to the talents of the players I have. If I have a really good pass receiving TE then I'll use him but if not I have other ways of attacking a defense the same way I would with a TE but by using other players.

Will wonders never cease. We have a guy who plan to work with the offensive tools he given instead of trying to hammer in nails with a socket wrench. If anyone can figure out how to attack without a monster TE it's Trestman. He didn't really have them in Canada.

I said this last year as we debated drafting a TE early and I'll say it again. It's trend that's developed which has given some offenses and advantage if they have a Graham, or a Davis, or a Gronkowski and others and I don't see Trestman ignoring that strategy but he also realizes and states that it's not essential.

Now there will be a whole lot of guys around here who think that it is important but we're not running the team and right now I'd say Trestman has more concerns about that line than he does about a TE. It's about priorities and I just don't think a top tier TE trumps his other priorities right now. Next year maybe and next year there'll two or three more college studs to pick from like there is every year. In the meantime I think for what we're on the hook for with Davis we could dump, give that $$$ to somebody else and do better.

It is absolutely a need and one we all know needs filling, and since I don't have any proof to make me believe Emery is ignorant or a head-in-the-sand type of guy, I trust that he has his target. I just hope that it takes a back seat to priority #1 which is building our OL.

You need an Oline before you can throw the ball.. We need Oline in the first round, but if one of those two guys are somehow still at the board in the 2th round I think we should pull the trigger. Let's just hope that we can solve the TE in FA. LT & TE in FA would be everything I could dream off. Emery will be a god if we can pull that off, but with Melton still not having signed a contract and not reconstrution of Tillman/Peppers contract I only see us get either a TE or a LT and right now I think it will be a TE.

Yeah as nice as a reviving TE would be first things first, jay can't these from his back so it wouldn't matter who we brought in, with the protection we have seen they would rarely go out on a route, and when they do chances are jay would be on his back before he could find them

According to everyone who knows him, Trestman is a guy who thinks things through carefully. A thoughtful guy. I'd expect him to have a rock solid plan with priorities and timelines. Then he will begin implementing the plan. I think of this as being similar to building a complex modern building. You carefully plan, you have blueprints of the finished product, you budget to meet your goals, you hire the right workers who can skillfully implement your plan, Then you build in a precise sequence within a budget.

In other words, there's a precise method to follow in order to achieve the desired outcome - Super Bowl wins.

By contrast, the Jerry Angelo & Lovie Smith "method" was to simply fly by the seat of your pants & hope somethin' good came out of that "swimming pool jumper" or the fast WR who can't catch a cold, or the midget you spent a high draft pick on at RB. They believed that there really was pixie dust in Mike Tice's bag - and Cutler would be "elite" even though they didn't have any skill weapons for him, and no offensive line to protect him.

It was like the Tooth Fairy - magic :lol-032:

I think it's a much easier proposition to resurrect the TE corps AFTER the oline has been addressed. One TE in the draft and perhaps one in FA I would say we're well on our way to bettering the position. One of the other articles a while back stated it is more of a "luxury" thing to address and I disagree. Having good TE performance will enhance the oline as well as the receiving corps. Brandon Meyers from Oak. in FA and perhaps a pass-catching TE later in the draft would cure most ills.

TE is mostly definitely needed, when we had Greg Olsen the pass game was pretty good and after he was traded away we all saw what happened.