Pre-Draft Roster Analysis: Tight Ends Posted on April 20th, 2009 - by Bassett As we head towards the draft, we?re going to look the position groups to assess the current roster, before determining who the team should look at in the draft. Jets Tight Ends Dustin Keller - The current number one, sure, we all know that Keller can catch, but the question remains as to whether he can be as effective a blocker as the team needs in a full-time player without much of a net behind him with the departure of Chris Baker.At this point, the team shouldn?t put their hopes in it. He?s already planning on bulking up some for this season, but doing too much will take away from those quicks to split defenders and mismatch defensive backs and/or linebackers. Keller should be allowed to play to his strengths by finding some suitable blockers to bring into the offense rather than strip him of them by asking him to overbulk his frame. James Dearth - One of the most consistent long-snappers in the league, but not a viable option to really help the offense. To risk losing a talented special teamer like Dearth to an injury on offense would be a mistake. Kareem Brown - Although a solid athlete, last season Brown had a hard time keeping his roster spot as a Defensive Lineman. Now converting to TE, it remains to be seen as to whether the team will truly use him as a TE for the season. Going into the season with him as the #2 would be a dicey move. Analysis: The team had brought in some players like Billy Bajema and Robert Royal, but neither were the right option for the Jets. With Keller in-house, the team doesn?t need a pass catching Tight End, they need a Tight End who can block, plays at the traditional TE size and can catch some short passes when needed. Since they?ve avoided signing signable vets, the Jets want to get younger and the best way to do this is through the draft. There are just a few options of larger blocking tight ends in this draft.Brandon Pettigrew might be a nice option, but might be overkill for a team that just drafted a TE last year in the first round. Look for the team to get some value later in the draft if Pettigrew is already off the board when the team picks at 17. Look for players in the likes of Anthony Hill or Richard Quinn. > http://www.thejetsblog.com/2009/04/20/pre-draft-roster-analysis-tight-ends/ _________________ > http://www.thecure.com/default.aspx
Rob Myers Height: 6-31/8 | Weight: 243 | 40-Time: 4.58 Strengths: Good athleticism...Excellent speed and quickness...Soft hands and can make the difficult catch...Terrific body control and ball skills...Can stretch the field vertically...Has the ability to do some damage after the catch...Decent effort as a blocker..Versatile...Still has some upside. Weaknesses: Has major health and durability issues...Just average size and bulk...Is not very strong or physical...Sub par blocker...Didn't face a lot of top competition...Doesn't have much experience...Wasn't real productive. Notes: Redshirted in 2004...Worked as a special teamer in 2005 and logged just 13 career starts for the Aggies, all in 2006 and 2007...Missed the entire 2008 season with a turf toe injury that required surgery...Also battled groin, leg and knee ailments during his college career...Named the John Mackey National Tight End of the Week for November 21, 2007...Hails from the same program that produced Chris Cooley and is a very similar type of player...Appears to be a prototypical H-Back prospect and while his resume is relatively unimpressive he could get some looks in the late rounds due to those intriguing triangle numbers. > http://www.draftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/te/Rob-Myers.php
I don't understand why you just posted that. Did we pick him up as an UDFA? Doesn't sound like what we need ...
ooops , sorry ! - yes , we signed him as an UDFA. - we need to staff our TE dept. ( he played TE & his breathing so . . . ). cheers ~ ~ :beer:
I disagree with you in that we NEED another tight end for blocking.* The reason DK did not completely replace Baker last year was because he was a rookie still finding his way.* As the #2 he didn't take all the pressure and was able to learn from Chris Baker.* That was the plan since the Jets decided to draft him.* Keller is capable of blocking and blocking well.* If you watch enough tape, you'll find a mistake or two in even the blocking of pro bowl lineman.Taking DK off the field for a less versatile, questionable hands blocker would not only limit our capabilities in the passing department, it will telegraph to defenses that we are VERY likely going to run.* Additionally, Keller is unquestionably our best receiver.* I am not opposed to having another tight end, only because DK can be used all over the field.* He and Clowney are our only deep threats, and he is our ONLY jump ball receiver.* You don't take that off the field...
Make no mistake, Keller is awful at blocking. Hopefully they can teach him, but there's no denying he sucks at it now.
Dearth doesn't even belong on these lists. He has played TE in a whopping 2 out of 144 games. So as of right now we have a TE who can't block...and a mutant. Great.
Too bad we didn't go after another former Raven, RFA Quinn Sypniewski. The dude is huge at 6'6" and 270lbs, is huge in the run game plus has good hands. Seems like he would have been a perfect compliment to Keller.
I think Keller will be that full-time guy this year. We definitely need another blocking tight end though. That way, we can do two tight end sets, and free up Keller to catch the ball more. Keller will play enough where he'll be in most running downs. We still need a guy to block when we DO need to run, too, especially on short-yardage plays.
Keller is not a great blocker and there are about a million reasons you can't go into the season with one TE on the roster.
The good news for DKNY is that Cimini recently bashed his blocking ability, which all but guarantees that he will be a great blocker this year. In fact with all the Jet bashing Cimini has been doing recently we all might as well buy our Super Bowl tickets right now.
