Gronkowski123
Pro Bowl Player
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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.But the offense that creates the mismatch is not really 2 TEs, its a TE and a hybrid TE/SlotWR/HBack.
There are not many of those in the league.
martellus bennett might get cut
Chandlers last 3 season in Buff were 655,571,497 yards
Yes, without a doubt. The number one question that we have to ask ourselves is "why" we don't use that formation more, and the easy answer would be lack of adequate personnel.
Wright couldn't block for anything, and Chandler couldn't really do anything all that well. Those types of players aren't going to allow us the opportunity to take advantage of mismatches, nor is the lack of a running game.
Would Marcel Reece qualify?
For a team to have two elite TEs like we had with Aaron and Gronk is incredibly rare to replicate that will be very difficult. Aaron was also unique in that he was an athletically gifted TE who could play as a wideout on the line and he was even lined up as a rb in the flat. He was basically Jimmy Graham.
When I look at TEs there are maybe three players that you can shift anywhere on the field in Gronk, Graham and Reed. Graham and Reed are below average blockers and are basically wideouts. Kelce can block and runs good seam/out routes but his hands are just ok. I'm not sure where we can get this 2nd TE?
I expect this type of TE to be a below average blocker. He needs to be just good enough as a blocker to help out. He needs to ideally be more of a dynamic pass catcher with speed. Those guys are typically smaller/shiftier/faster like Hernandez was.
It's not easy to find a replacement but it's not impossible. Obviously we're not going to go out and throw 8-10 million dollars at guys like Julius Thomas or Charles Clay. That's why we've been talking about finding guys in the bargain bin in free agency. Guys who have the skill set but are devalued due to injury or production.
Or you can go the draft route. People seem to think it's impossible to find a guy comparable to Hernandez, but if you look back at the last few years, it's really not. It's not like these guys are all first round picks. A ton of them are available in the middle rounds of the draft, possibly because of questions surrounding how their skill set projects to the pro level
Jordan Reed and Travis Kelce were third round picks.
Charles Clay and Delanie Walker were sixth round picks.
Zach Ertz was a second round pick.
Ladarius Green, Jordan Cameron, and Julius Thomas were all fourth round picks.
These guys are there to be had. It's not like you're investing a ton of draft capital on them. I'd much rather spend a third or fourth round pick on a TE with that type of skill set than draft special teams players as Bill sometimes chooses to do.
I think what i would rather have is a TE who can block and catch passes down the seam giving us flexibility to go with 2 TEs on the line or flex Gronk to the outside and still have a blocking TE who can get those short passes. I would love a healthy D Allen type/