My reservations are this: We sign "blocking" TE Hartsock, suggesting that Keller is not, but rather the "catching" TE that he is. Well, very good then. Now we have one of each. But now, whenever Hartsock appears in the lineup, what does that suggest to you if you're Bill Belichick? Mmmm-Hmmmm.... I long for a blocking, pass-catching TE.
Why wait for the possibility that a top receiver falls to our pick and that the receiver pans out and isn't a diva when you can just take the top receiver now? As for Hartsock, love the signing.
The only problem with that is Hartsock has decent to good hands, he's just slow. He'll still catch the ball if you stack the box and allow him to squirt out on a short passing route.
You want to run that on every play? Okay, "you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time... but you can't fool all of the people all of the time!"
Haha yeah I was just teasing you. If Hartsock is the only TE out there, I would say 90% chance it is a tie.
I was just hoping for a damn good WR pickup to occupy the roster spot that Hartsock will be occupying, that's all.
I smell what you're cooking, but to me the bottom line here is we're better at the TE position than we were yesterday and that's a bit comforting. At least we don't have a defensive end or basketball player at #2 right now. :beer:
I absolutely agree. Supposedly he's made progress, but that will probably take him at least a year to develop, probably more.
I love Keller, don't anybody doubt me on that. But it pisses me off that we have ALWAYS had to make the choice between a "blocking TE" and "pass-catching TE," and here we go again. Well, not always, but you get my drift in recent memory...
Yea I hear ya. We coulda had Heath Miller but we ... ah never mind. 4th quarter, Jets have the lead and everybody knows we're running (I'm sure you can imagine other situations). Thankfully we have a run blocking TE.
Well, that makes sense to me. I LOVE the concept that "We're going to run the ball down your throat and we'll continue doing it until you make us stop." I'm not sure we're that kind of team yet, but if that comes to fruition and we become that team that can pull that off, then Hartsock fits the bill. Not sure we're there yet though. Maybe we will be.
The Jets a running team (with lots of screens and quick outs) with not much depth at WR, I would expect to see both on the field alot, with Keller off the line of scrimmage or in two TE sets.
I think this signing says more about the lack of depth at TE rather than Keller's inability to block. We had no depth. Now we do. Solid signing which should help us in the run game which looks to be our strength on offense.
I think 2/3TE sets can be deadly. I want to see 2td set, Leon split out as a wr. Fake the run to TJ and throw a screen to Leon. By the time that play develops your te's (and lineman) are in position and Leon really can take it to the house. If the play takes to much time it won't work, it has to be bang, bang. At the goal line, 2 good blocking te's and Keller = touchdown. You can fake the pass and run with Leon/TJ or fake the run and pass to Keller, it's a beautiful thing.
Keller not big I don't know, I saw Keller, Rhodes, and Catchery on Jimmy Fallon's show last night and was surprised at Keller's size. He didn't look much bigger than Rhodes without pads on. So, I think the "can't block" tag is as more about his girth than it is about him "learning to fucking block period". I think we all agree that he's a player, but he's not big enough to even attempt to be a blocking TE. He is what he is.
Hey, just noticed Ben being signed....good call OP. I do agree that this addresses are depth issue at the position. If Keller were to go down, we certainly would not be the same but we wouldn't fall of the cliff in terms of experience now.
It?s simular to the Bolts with Manumaleuna and Gates. Manumaleuna is a 6'2 Blocking TE, but he still catches some Balls and TDs, because noone cares about him in the passing game. Sure you?re thnking run, when Hartsock is in, but you still gotta cover that guy, or he?ll catch the ball.
