Corey Williams? Bubba Franks?

Williams would be an solid pickup, but he'll either cost too much or won't be available. I think that the pack will tag him because it'll be too risky/costly for them to replace him. His numbers aren't spectacular, but I'd take 7 sacks and 35 tackles from a 6th round pick any day.

 

^ Yeah he would be a solid pick up....I expect him to be franchised though

 

Franks is done and won't be worth the money he commands.

Don't know much about CW.

 

I agree...Franks has be done since his rookie year

 

It's amazing that people never got that. Franks is one of the many reasons that highlights why you don't take a tight end in the first round. For years the guy made highlights because the Packers liked to throw to the tight end in the red zone. No one seemed to notice that the guy never got even 500 yards receiving and never got so much as 11 yards a catch despite playing with an all-time great quarterback.

-X-

 

Wouldn't that be more a knock against how he was used than anything else?

I mean, pass catching TE's are becoming more and more valuable in todays offenses. They're a QBs best friend.

 

it would indicate that he didn't get much separation in the passing game. The guy is slow as molasses.

Pass catching tight ends are great when you have a young quarterback or a dearth of wide receiver talent. They're excellent when you have a quarterback like the late Mike Vick or Ben Roethlisberger who runs around and makes the play call irrelevant. At the end of the day, you usually end up paying first round money to a guy who is going to catch 50 balls for 650 yards.

The list of first round tight ends is particularly horrific because you either end up trying to justify them by feeding them the ball(Shockey) or because they end up being one dimensional(Kyle Brady). The risk far outweighs the reward.

-X-

 

Anthony Becht is another example of a guy taken in the first round that, for lack of a better word, sucked, for where he was drafted. Solid blocker, for sure. But his hands were marginal and if he did make a catch and turn up field I was ALWAYS worried about him fumbling.

Chris Baker is by far the best TE we've had since Johnny Mitchell. I truly believe if he was utilised more he could be a Pro Bowler year in year out.

 

Exactly, with Chris Baker I don't see why we'd ever draft a TE anywhere higher than the 3rd round or sign a big one in FA. Especially considering our countless other needs.

 

The main point of a pass-catching TE is not to have a 1000-yard season, but to make critical 1st down catches as a safety valve for the offense. That is where the value comes from.

 

I think you're looking at it wrong...Kellen Winslow Jr, Jeremy Shockey, Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates, Ben Watson, Jason Witten, Dallas Clark, and Todd Heap...all key cogs to some very good offenses.

It's not that TE's are more valuable because they produce more than they used to (which they do anyway), it's because the inside receiver who can get YAC has become such a key offensive weapon.

A good TE allows your running game and passing game to improve because he can block better than a WR can and is a much larger body. Guys like Witten, Shockey, Gonzalez, Davis and Heap are examples of the new NFL TE. They can block as well as catch the ball, and versatility is becoming a key skill in todays NFL.

I think it's perfectly OK to use a first round pick on a TE so long as that TE is actually worth a first round pick. They're excellent weapons in the red zone, as safety valves, and it's like having an extra O-line man for run plays. Nobody but fans are expecting a Jerry Rice season out of a 1st round TE. Plus I've said it before...an NFL coach is going to think "what can/will he do for my team" rather than "what did guys at his position do in the past?"

I mean at one point it was crazy to take a G in the first round, now they're getting 50 million dollar contracts AND going in the first. The game has changed significantly over the years. We gave up our first round pick for a TE at one point...it was a dumb move but it shows how big the position has become....as does the recent drafting of Winslow Jr., Vernon Davis, Mercedes Lewis, and Greg Olsen in the first round.

 

or we can trade a 1st round pic for a TE. Who was that 'pass catching phenom TE' we traded a pic for from i think the raiders then cut him the next season?

 

That would be Doug Jolley... How could you forget.

 

it took me over a year and several sessions with my therapist, but i managed to do it.