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The General TE Thread

JoeyFlex5 said:
Should've Taken Howard. Hindsight 2020 and all but... he was clearly the BPA at 16.
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Really? He hasn't taken an NFL snap yet and you're saying this? I'm not a massive Humphrey fan and have advocated for us trading back in the past, and was myself a huge Howard fan, but Tavon Young went down and we have a cb notorious for going down with injuries? This was a deep TE class and I agree we should've addressed it at some point, but I totally understand why we took Humphrey.
 
I was as big of an OJ Howard fan as anyone. But my god.

1. It's Darren, Freaking, Waller. He wasn't that good to begin with. He was rawer than Ahi Tuna and had stone hands. Not a big loss.
2. There's still tons of potential on the roster that Ozzie and Harbs must have been confident in. Maxx has phenomenal hands and has improved as a blocker. Boyle has the potential to be a Heath Miller. Crockett, when healthy is a good blocker, with soft hands, and if we can scheme him open is hard to bring down in the open field. Oh, and all three are good route runners and can catch the ball. Add seasoned veteran Watson, and did anyone REALLY think that Waller was going to make the roster?
3. There's a very good option in Barnidge on the market in case plans A, B, and C fail.

Not worried at all tbh
 
Lost_In_Translation said:
Really? He hasn't taken an NFL snap yet and you're saying this? I'm not a massive Humphrey fan and have advocated for us trading back in the past, and was myself a huge Howard fan, but Tavon Young went down and we have a cb notorious for going down with injuries? This was a deep TE class and I agree we should've addressed it at some point, but I totally understand why we took Humphrey.
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To be clear Waller going down isn't making me say this, I'm ok with the Humphrey pick but have always said we should've taken oj. This is just a reminder of sorts that anyone calling our TE corps loaded as a reason for passing on Howard was wrong.
 
JoeyFlex5 said:
To be clear Waller going down isn't making me say this, I'm ok with the Humphrey pick but have always said we should've taken oj. This is just a reminder of sorts that anyone calling our TE corps loaded as a reason for passing on Howard was wrong.
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Or we were all taking it out of context lol
 
Lost_In_Translation said:
I was as big of an OJ Howard fan as anyone. But my god.

1. It's Darren, Freaking, Waller. He wasn't that good to begin with. He was rawer than Ahi Tuna and had stone hands. Not a big loss.
2. There's still tons of potential on the roster that Ozzie and Harbs must have been confident in. Maxx has phenomenal hands and has improved as a blocker. Boyle has the potential to be a Heath Miller. Crockett, when healthy is a good blocker, with soft hands, and if we can scheme him open is hard to bring down in the open field. Oh, and all three are good route runners and can catch the ball. Add seasoned veteran Watson, and did anyone REALLY think that Waller was going to make the roster?
3. There's a very good option in Barnidge on the market in case plans A, B, and C fail.

Not worried at all tbh
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If there's any player on offense who REALLY needs to show out this season, it's Maxx. I don't doubt his talent. His availability on the other hand? That's a different story. As for Boyle, hopefully he doesn't do anymore stupid shit. Crockett, like Maxx, just needs to be available.
 
Never liked waller anyways. Tall straight line speed and nothing else to write home about. His acceleration and routes sucked as much as his hands. Good to see he is gone.

As for our TE's it has to be max. He is the only TE on the roster that has the skills to potentially be a 1000 yard 10 TD TE. He can block. He has very good functional speed fluidity and acceleration in his routes with very good route instincts and awareness. And he has top shelf hands with physical and athletic ball skills at 6'5 255lbs.

He isn't all sunshine and rainbows however. He is lazy with very poor eating habits. And he likes to coast on his immense natural talent. If he worked as hard as Gronk on the practice field and training room he would be a top 5 TE without question. And a major weapon for the offense. He is a pretty good TE as is. But he is wasting his skills and potential.

He has the natural skills to be a TE that can take the place of having a borderline NO.1 receiver. I know some may say he need not be in phenomenal shape. However he has the potential to be a top5 TE maybe better. He could be right there with Kielce and anybody not named Gronk. Why not take advantage of those natural gifts?? He could probably run a sub 4.6 40 at 250lbs if he got in his best shape.
 
JO_75 said:
Did we sign any TE as UDFA that could be a surprise to take advantage of the situation?
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I'm actually interested in Vince Mayle's move to TE now. He's not really the athlete that Waller is and he does share the same hands/route-running deficiencies, but he's probably the best candidate to take advantage of losing Waller. I personally think that replacing Waller on special teams is going to be the bigger problem- so this might even open the door for a ST guy like Ortiz or Beyer, or a 6th "bigger" WR like Matthews or Patrick, to sneak onto the roster more than giving a 5th TE a shot (Mayle and Ryan Malleck are the only TEs on the roster after Maxx, Watson, Gillmore and Boyle I believe).
 
Ravensnation5220 said:
Honestly....if 2 of maxx, boyle, or gillmore faulter...we might need to look at the TEs in the draft. Problem is TEs are hard to judge comming out of college
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I really hope we don't end up there. In the long run - we need 2 of these 3 to ultimately be starter worthy and for all 3 to be worth holding on a roster.

We've already made such significant investments in this position, we need for them to work out and continue to focus our draft on other positions. The thought of continuing to draft TEs and have them bust is maddening.
 
balfan23 said:
I really hope we don't end up there. In the long run - we need 2 of these 3 to ultimately be starter worthy and for all 3 to be worth holding on a roster.

We've already made such significant investments in this position, we need for them to work out and continue to focus our draft on other positions. The thought of continuing to draft TEs and have them bust is maddening.
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If Max gets his act together I think that is a big win for the draft, the offense and fans. Even without Boyle and Gilmore locking down a roster spot. It would be nice for Boyle to be starter quality to. But Max needs to be a standout weapon for the offense to get up on the limb with the best cats. I do like Boyle but Gilmore I don't care much for. It would be nice for Boyle to be respectable starter quality to,but it revolves around Max. He has to realize this is the NFL and he can't coast in natural skills.

Max players faster than his 40 time and computer numbers which is good. But key is for him to get in his best shape and practice harder and more often. Because being somebody that plays faster than his 40time and computer numbers. When he gets in his best shape and can run a sub 4.6 then playing faster than his 40 will really be saying something standout!! When he can run sub 4.6 and actually play faster than that at 6'5 250lbs. If Max worked like Gronk he would be as good as any TE not named Gronk including Kelce. He truly has special skills. He runs silky smooth fluid sudden routes with smooth fluid acceleration. And like Gronk he has shocking athletic and physical ball skills.

Max is so freaking skilled if he only worked like Gronk and Watson he could and would be a borderline NO.1 receiver at the TE position. He showed up at his first minicamp and really pissed off some positional coaches and trainers with his terrible lazy work habits and even worse eating habits. He coasted on his immense natural skill that carried him into round1 conversation even with his sucky practice, work habits. If he adopted top shelf work habits he would blow the roof off the offense. If Watson gets Max straight and working like himself. He has more than earned his roster spot and contract extension!!
 
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The Raven said:
It looks that way to me. He's never looked all that buff and toned. His midsection is a little thick for TE. Thick as in a young beer gut kind of way.
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Isn't he from a family of athletes? I kind of think he should know what he needs to do to get in shape and it's disappointing if he can't do that.
 
If Nick Boyle doesn't get randomly drug tested this year we have a chance. As much as I love Maxx Wiliams and his talent, with this surgery I wouldn't be surprised if it takes awhile for him to come back. I understand he will be ready before the season to play but he still has to catch up on a lot. I think Boyle will surprise all of us because he has done well in limited time. I think Watson will be ready. It will be interesting to see what happens.
 
The Raven said:
It looks that way to me. He's never looked all that buff and toned. His midsection is a little thick for TE. Thick as in a young beer gut kind of way.
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Could some of that not be down to the litany of injuries he's had maybe interrupting his conditioning...
 
Lost_In_Translation said:
I was as big of an OJ Howard fan as anyone. But my god.

1. It's Darren, Freaking, Waller. He wasn't that good to begin with. He was rawer than Ahi Tuna and had stone hands. Not a big loss.
2. There's still tons of potential on the roster that Ozzie and Harbs must have been confident in. Maxx has phenomenal hands and has improved as a blocker. Boyle has the potential to be a Heath Miller. Crockett, when healthy is a good blocker, with soft hands, and if we can scheme him open is hard to bring down in the open field. Oh, and all three are good route runners and can catch the ball. Add seasoned veteran Watson, and did anyone REALLY think that Waller was going to make the roster?
3. There's a very good option in Barnidge on the market in case plans A, B, and C fail.

Not worried at all tbh
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i have to agree with you. there will be options soon enough as cuts are made in training camp. waller is toast but i cannot trust crockett to stay healthy. we will definitely sign someone that fits in the budget.
 
The Raven said:
It's possible, but these concerns were known in college, and he came into his rookie year a little thick.
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that's fair enough i wasnt really aware of those problems in college and kind of gave him a pass (maybe i shouldnt have) in his rookie year just because he was still so young
 
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