You guys are all so much smarter than all the defensive coordinators who make taking Keller out of our game plan their first priority.
That play exemplifies why Sanchez is horrible. That pass should have hit Keller in the numbers!! There is no reason for him to air 2 feet over Keller's head except for that he's NOT A GOOD QB. Mike Mayock appropriately when nuts after that play. Sanchez had a window and as usual, couldnt hit it.
Yep-- Keller has been a big disappointment in terms of his production for where he was drafted, and the supposed measurables he's got. He should be gashing teams for 60-70 yards per game if his 4.5 speed really translated to game speed.
Exactly. If Keller were on another team where the coordinator could exploit mismatches and actually not have a piece of garbage offensive system, he could be a big weapon. You hear Belichick all the time say how Keller was a priority to stop when we play the Pats. I disagree that Keller isn't athletic enough. He can be a matchup problem for teams for sure. We just don't have a coach who can figure that out. Think about all the routes you see Keller run.. all 2 of them: One is on those play actions where he rolls across the field toward the sideline. The other is on 3rd and 5 when he runs straight and turns around after 4 yards. Those are the 2 routes he runs and it's fucking annoying.
100% true. We'd just see Gronk running back and forth before the snap like Mulligan does for no reason. Goes for the WR's too.. Holmes is having his worst year because of Schitty's garbage offense. All QB's have their worst years under him as well. There is overwhelming evidence that this offense just does not work.
The biggest problem with Keller is we reached for him big time. Big good TE can be developed and don't have to be picked in round 1. This was a reach, he is short and not a huge TE target and he came at a high price. He also hasn't been developed. Jake Ballard is out producing Keller.
Yep. Drafting a 6'2" tight end who can't block was a mistake at the time, and it still is. Keller can provide mismatches, but he's not a good every down tight end with his blocking ability, and he's not a great red zone threat. He is one of the best receiving TEs in the league between the 20s, I'll give him that. He's not a bad player. But I don't know if he should be our primary TE going forward. At the very least, we need a big blocking tight end. Ideally, that tight end could be our every down tight end, and Keller would focus on catching the ball. We gave our #2 TE a lot more snaps when it was Hartsock or Turner. Now that it's Mulligan and Ducasse, we don't do it nearly as much. Rex wants us to be run-first and score in the red zone. 2 tight end sets are definitely a part of that. And I think the Jets need a big, blocking tight end on offense in the worst way. If they can get a big, blocking tight end who can also catch the ball when he needs to, that would be ideal. I might put that as our #2 need on offense, behind RT.
lol @ those wanting to keep Keller and think he's just fine. Teams have him figured out is the problem. He's not big or physical enough to handle getting pushed around at the LOS. Dustin is soft, unfortunately. We need a big tight end who can block and catch. Dustin would be ok as a #2 TE or an extra wideout in certain packages but that's it. If you can find one guy who can replace Mulligan AND Keller, that's a win/win. Considering that we use a blocking TE(Mulligan) in so many in our of packages, that is a pretty big extension of our offensive line
Agreed 100%. NE steals Gronkowski and Hernandez in the 2nd and 4th rounds, and we trade up to the 1st round to take a guy who can't block and isn't nearly the receiving threat he was supposed to be.
Thread is poop. Thinking that giant tight ends who are good at blocking and are great receivers grow on trees.
Could not understand the trade considering Fred Davis could have been had in the second round in that draft. There wasn't that much separation between the 2. Both were coming in the league as receiving TEs who can't block. I preferred Davis since he at least had the protypical TE measurables. It's unfortunate that Cumberland got injured. With his sub 4.5 speed, he is the one of the fastest TEs in the league. Hopefully he fully recovers and can develop into our pass catching TE making Keller expendable.
The OP's point was actually about brining in an all-around TE who can proficiently block and catch would improve the team over a TE who is almost useless in the former and shaky at best in the latter, but feel free to completely misunderstand that point at will.
top QB's make their receivers better. if dustin keller was with a peyton manning or tom brady he would produce at an elite level for a TE.
Yeah but he doesn't. He plays in a run first team and thus should get his hands dirty and run some better routes... in terms of starting TEs he's average to slightly above average in this league AND doesn't fit our system. IMO even Hernandez is better than him.
I think Keller is a nice weapon to have but it's clear we need a pass blocking tight end who can also catch the ball. He doesn't have to be the most dynamic pass catcher but he needs to be a threat. It was really evident today that with Tomlinson and Kerley out we had only 3 options in the passing attack. Turner made a couple of big plays but I wouldn't count on him. Today was a game where a second TE really could have helped.
