Bah, it doesn't matter. This point and the one below seem to be lost on the folks here hoping we get him at 17.
I agree we should never have let Baker go. Biggest and most overlooked mistake of the offseason. That being said, we need a replacement for him and Pettigrew is a beast. He is a great blocker and contrary to what another poster said, does have good hands. Unfortunatly we need to replace Baker and Pettigrew is the guy to fill that void.
How many times do we have to get kicked in the a** with a TE in the draft to get the picture? We are missing a Wr., Our primary back is 31 and we have a backup playing De in Coleman. Blocking T/E can be found in the later rounds and during vet cuts before the season.
Watch some tape on Pettigrew...He should absolutely NOT be compared with Chris Baker! Pettigrew wouldn't JUST be filling in for Baker. Believe me, this is the type of guy that would give the offense more flexibility with Keller. He would add another dimension to this offense, and they could be more creative. If this guy is the player *I* believe him to be, this will also open things up for Leon. There needs to be mismatches, and right now we have very few. Fans have to lose the pipe dream that the offense is going to be able to pass with effectiveness/efficiency where they stand now. Unproven QB, unproven WRs (including Cotchery as a #1..double team!), NO fulltime TE (Keller should be an H-back and moved around). I don't believe one player is going to come in and save the day. But, it won't hurt neither. By the way, WRs can be had in round 2, not all of these guys are going to get chosen in round 1. Same thing with the RBs.
I agree about the blocking TE comment. I think Pettigrew will be a very good pro..but to take him to basically be a blocker and catch 15 balls at the most is ridiculous and a waste of cap room. You can put a back-up O-lineman in at 2nd TE and have them do the same thing if not better for a heckuva lot cheaper.
I like this thread. I think I've been convinced back and forth about 5 times on both sides of the argument. Good points all around - definitely makes Pettigrew an intriguing possiblity.
This guys blocking is better than any backup lineman we have on the roster. I don't know why people think this guy is the next Kyle Brady. He may block like Brady, but this guy has natural hands. I've seen him make some very nice catches. I think there is a video out there with him making some nice one handed grabs. However, on the blocking note...Find some film of Pettigrew blocking during the Senior Bowl/practices. He literally folded up much of his competition in the drills.
i would really love to have this guy. take his blocking aside ( which rates amazing), with him and keller out there, and with t jones and leon washington in the back field, with cotchery/ clowny at the wide out, it would make defenses go crazy. are we gonna run? screen? throw it deep? the guy has natural hands ( check video). the point is yes he'll be a great blocker, and yes he will have to be watched in the offense as a possible reciever. of course we can get a *blocking* te in later rounds, but we could get the best blocking TE with possibilities of being a offensive threat. you cant say that about other TE prospects. i feel if we get him, and use a double TE set a lot, he would have the opportunity to have plent of touches, along with keller getting great opportunitys. plus our run offense should be extremely effective. we would basically have 6 blockers on run plays. with such a potent blocking force, we could pick up a rb in the later rounds, and a wr in the 2nd and still be effective. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBWke-myLQw
^ I liked how in this highlight video Pettigrew's "natural hands" fumbled the ball. Totally worth it at 17.
Around the 1:12 mark some little guy, I think its Patrick Chung, knocks Pettigrew backwards and to the ground as if Pettigrew was a 120lb high school kid. So if Pettigrew really is that good, lets get the guy who takled him too. Personally, I think 17 is too high for Petti. Very late first round is about the highest I would go for him, but this team does need a TE and we might have to reach for one. I don't mind losing Baker, he wasn't really that good, he had good stats in 07 because Clemens kept throwing to him when he was running for his life because the OL was useless. So getting a TE is a need, but at 17? When there are so many rumors of teams wanting to trade up to that area in the draft? And one more thing, if this team is really so shallow at TE than that just means that its time to draft Connor Barwin.
Usually when I watch the highlight film of a college player about to be drafted I have to say to myself, don't get too excited, those were all his highlights after watching to not get overly excited. After watching these highlights, I'm wondering what's so exciting about this guy. #17 overall? I'll shit.
