Here is a position that I know almost nothing about as far as prospects go. However, I think pound for pound, it could provide perhaps the biggest upgrade. It's not that Baker is bad, but you can throw in two tight end sets, you can improve both your blocking and your receiving and it gives you possibly the best offensive opportunity to create mismatches. If we can get someone to stretch the seams in the middle, that opens up running lanes and creates room for the receivers. I'm not aware of a top prospect, but if we can get a good player in the second to affect all the aspects of the offense it could help out tremendously. http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/rankings/te.html Here is a list of potential prospects. Start posting suggestions and give us players to watch for!
Martin Rucker out of Mizzou is a beast after the catch. Another guy that's intriguing is Jared Cook out of South Carolina...he probably won't declare this year, but he is 6-5 240+ and he runs a 4.35 40. He's basically Calvin Johnson...with worse hands, but most prospects have worse hands than CJ. Cook has a lot of upside because he is a physical freak.
Instead of drafting a TE in 2008, I have another idea that would upgrade that position this year. First, let me say I really like Baker, he's an untapped resource. I'm not a fan at all of the 3 other "so-called TEs/HB", especially the "Polish dynamic duo".....they wouldn't make the roster of any other NFL team (they are deadwood, taking up space). I can live with Ryan as a blocking TE, not as a receiver. My idea to upgrade the TE position would be to take Ben Patrick off of Arizona's practice squad. Ben has good hands and is much more of a playmaker than all of our reserve TEs. IMO, Patrick will be come a good NFL TE...not in the mold of the elite TEs in the league, but a solid TE that will give us another weapon. Patrick needs to work on Blocking, but at least we would have a prospect with a brighter outlook and better skills than our current backup TEs.
I really think we need a TE that can play football. Baker just isnt worth a thought too defenses. We need a TE who will put fear into a defense. Plus Chad likes to throw short passes, TE's run the shorter routes. Cough Cough (OSLEN) would have been nice.
