State of The Team........... TE/FB

On to the TE's and FB's.. Both positions are somewhat underappreciated in our offense, but no less important..

Overview:
Our TE's are part o-lineman, part wr, and in the case of Heath Miller, part lead blocker, while we employ our fb's as lead blockers, receivers and occasional short yardage backs.
Our starting fullback is unquestioned, as is our top 2 te's and probably our #3, at least for this yr... The following yr. though, I see some serious competition on the horizon.

FB:
Will Johnson --- The unquestioned starter and perfect compliment to Leveon Bell.. Johnson has sprung Bell for quite a few long runs.. He can run the ball effectively if the need ever arose, and can easily surprise a defense with his receiving ability due to the attention that will be given to all our other weapons.. He should man this spot for quite some time.

Roosevelt Nix --- Huge back with a punishing style, and a decent blocker.. Not much of a receiver out of the backfield though.. Really just camp fodder due to Johnson's presence, but will be used to keep Johnson fresh until the season starts before cutting him loose.

TE:
Heath Miller --- Father time has starting to make his presence felt.. Miller has clearly lost a step, drops a few more passes than what we're accustomed to seeing, but remains more than effective enough to warrant a defenses attention.. Miller also remains an effective blocker, and to see him pulling to add his lead blocking to Johnson and Decastro is a sight to behold.. Not sure how many yrs. he has left, or if we will ever see his like again, but he will definitely be utilized while he is here.

Matt Spaeth --- Still the best blocking TE in the league, and can occasionally move the chains.. Also has some issues staying healthy... As with Miller, i'm not sure how much time Spaeth has left, but that time is coming soon.. So long as he remains a great blocker, and stays on the field more than the DL, than he will have a place on the team.

Jesse James --- A cross between Miller and Spaeth.. A good receiver and big target, especially in the red zone... May need some extra schooling on blocking technique, but I can think of no better teachers than Spaeth and Miller.

Cameron Clear --- Another big target that will probably be destined for the PS.. Has just enough athletic ability to give him an extended look.

Rob Blanchflower --- A good size target who knows how to get open.. Not much of an effective blocker and has a hard time staying healthy.. Unless we keep 4, I don't see him getting much of a shot here with James in the fold now.

Michael Egnew --- More like the modern TE that you see on most teams.. Highly athletic with the type of receiving ability that can throw a monkey wrench in any defensive scheme, not to mention make the coaches jobs extremely difficult when it comes to decision making..... Egnew's one drawback is his blocking, or lack thereof.. He certainly has the size and ability to become a good blocker, but is so highly athletic, that I believe his coaches simply never stressed that part of the position with him... Still, his receiving skills can't be ignored and i'm not sure if the coaches will want to part with his skill set... If his blocking matched his receiving, he might have been a 2nd or 3rd rd. pick.. This is one I will definitely keep an eye on.

Next up: K's/P's

 

There has been buzz about Jesse James since before he was drafted. He is a large physical presence and could become a breakout star from the get go. He will have the speed Miller does not have.

 

clear and egnew are definitely guys I'm keeping an eye on. my hope is AV takes over the swing tackle role and we actually see some of his TE ability out of that extra TE/T formation that we used with adams.

 

I can see us keeping 4 TEs this year...

 

Not on the 53. Never ever gonna happen. They only need heath and spaeth. They might keep cowboy or broccoliflower but not both, and quite frankly cowboy has WAY more upside

 

With Miller And Spaeth healthy I see us keeping only 3 TEs. Jesse being the 3rd. Cameron to the PS.

Cajun

 

I don't think with willJ.