TE for a 1st rd pick supporters

[part-timer]

For all of you who are hopeing to rebuild the Gronk Hernandez duo again, please present other instances of teams who have TWO no 1 TE's on the roster

 

[jah]

Bengals.

You didn't ask if it worked out for those teams.

 

[OhExaulted1]

We had Daniel Graham and Ben Watson in '05-'06. #21 and #32 1st Rders IIRC.

 

[part-timer]

Bengals.

You didn't ask if it worked out for those teams.

thats the point of the thread, to bring things into context for the dreamers and mediot followers.

 

[BradyFTW!]

For all of you who are hopeing to rebuild the Gronk Hernandez duo again, please present other instances of teams who have TWO no 1 TE's on the roster

Up until this past year, the Pats did, and it led to one of the most effective offenses in modern NFL history. Who cares if other teams don't do it? The Pats have never been followers anyway.

Besides, with Gronk's propensity for getting injured, two #1-caliber TEs might be a necessity to ensure that they can consistently have even one good TE on the field.

To answer your question, though, the Chargers have Ladarius Green and Antonio Gates. The Eagles have Zach Ertz (not there yet, but an intriguing player) and Brent Celek. The Bengals have Jermaine Gresham and Tyler Eifert. The Saints have (had) Jimmy Graham and Ben Watson.

And the Pats can blow every one of those combinations out of the water with Gronk and one of the top 3 TE prospects in this draft.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

For all of you who are hopeing to rebuild the Gronk Hernandez duo again, please present other instances of teams who have TWO no 1 TE's on the roster

Not sure whether you mean "TWO first-round TEs" or "TWO #1-caliber TEs."

GRONK was a second-round pick, and the Prisoner was a fourth-round.

And all they did, especially in 2011, was give the Patriots the biggest advantage any team had at any single position.

 

[TriplecHamp]

outside of those already presented itt, Id add possibly (looking into the future) San Francisco, and The Dallas Cowboys to the list of teams who at least believe they have 2 #1 quality TE's.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

you could always go with Dennis Pitta and then defense in round 1.

 

[micronin127]

There aren't many DT's in the draft, and young top-end talent would be great. We found some good rotational and depth players last season.

It is hard to plot out a draft strategy before FA.

 

[RayClay]

There aren't many DT's in the draft, and young top-end talent would be great. We found some good rotational and depth players last season.

It is hard to plot out a draft strategy before FA.

Sad but true. I'm all for a DT pick, but if there isn't a top one available, we need to do what we can to improve the team. Of course a #1 TE might or might not be it. We could use other spots, get a slider, or a FA at TE.

 

[Ivan]

For all of you who are hopeing to rebuild the Gronk Hernandez duo again, please present other instances of teams who have TWO no 1 TE's on the roster

What is relevant is how well it works for the Patriots, not how many other teams employ it effectively. I am just fine with their opponents lacking that capability and i think that if you are going to get past the very best defenses in football you better have more than a dependence upon your wideouts and run game because they can shut both down. And if you want to make your wideouts a real factor against teams like Seattle and SF then the only way you will do it is be forcing them to cover your TE's and slot receiver's and giving them 1-1 match-ups. Despite the questions the Patriots are really just a top flight TE to pair with Gronk away from being a 30+ point a game Offense. I would still like the WR to add to their young corps but it is the 60+ Receiving TE to go with gronk that will make the most difference.


*I will say that if the actual draft fell where they had to choose between a Mike Evans and Jace Amaro then i may well go with the WR and try to fill TE after that because you never pass on the guy you think will be a much better player unless they cannot fill a need.

 

[DarrylS]

Back to the question at hand... in 2011 the Pats two tight ends accounted for 169 receptions and 24 TD's.... in 2012 it was 114 and 16 TD's..

Last year it was 52 and 6.....

 

[dhamz]

From what I recall, the Patriots played the majority of their season last year with no #1 tight ends and it showed in the red zone.

 

[scout]

Defense wins championships. We have seen Brady score on opponents only to see the other qb shred our defense, score, and win. Our offense will be fine without spending the #1 pick on a TE unless that player is way too good to pass up.

 

[Peachhead]

Up until this past year, the Pats did, and it led to one of the most effective offenses in modern NFL history. Who cares if other teams don't do it? The Pats have never been followers anyway.

Besides, with Gronk's propensity for getting injured, two #1-caliber TEs might be a necessity to ensure that they can consistently have even one good TE on the field.

To answer your question, though, the Chargers have Ladarius Green and Antonio Gates. The Eagles have Zach Ertz (not there yet, but an intriguing player) and Brent Celek. The Bengals have Jermaine Gresham and Tyler Eifert. The Saints have (had) Jimmy Graham and Ben Watson.

And the Pats can blow every one of those combinations out of the water with Gronk and one of the top 3 TE prospects in this draft.

And in 2007 the Pats had the #1 offense with Welker, Stallworth and Moss but I had to look up who were the TEs on the roster because they weren't the focal point...or anything special (Ben Watson, Kyle Brady and Stephen Spach FTR). Brady, BB and the coaching staff are what makes a #1 offense. Not the specific configuration. BB and co. have always been ones to design an offense around the players. To make the best of what they have. Not pass up good players in other areas because they must have 2 of this or that instead.

Surround Brady with good players and the coaching staff will do the rest. Rather than take a TE who may not hold a candle to Gronk and APerp just so you can run a specific set of plays...you hope.

Drafting too much for "need" or want instead of a heavy dose of BPA is a tried and true way of wasting draft picks. After all, BB didn't draft APerp because he had to have a 2 TE offense. Many of us were saying "WTH is he drafting another TE, he just drafted Gronk?" or speculated it was insurance in case one of them didn't work out. BB drafted APerp because he was a great value (at the time*) and the staff designed an offense around what they had.





*sadly, now we know why APerp fell

 

[moosekill]

Defense wins championships. We have seen Brady score on opponents only to see the other qb shred our defense, score, and win. Our offense will be fine without spending the #1 pick on a TE unless that player is way too good to pass up.

No it doesn't, whichever team scores the most points wins championships.

 

[mgteich]

Teams don't necessarily need top TE's in order to have red zone threats. Some teams have wide receivers who are actually threats to catch touchdowns in the red zone.

BTW, I support drafting a TE early.

From what I recall, the Patriots played the majority of their season last year with no #1 tight ends and it showed in the red zone.

 

[scout]

No it doesn't, whichever team scores the most points wins championships.

You can word it however you like, but the SuperBowl winners throughout the years won because they had a superior defense. Or if you prefer, scored more points because they held their opponent to a lesser amount.

 

[mgteich]

As an exercise, list the top defenses each year in the AFC and where they ended up.

It amuses me to think of the superior defenses of recent SB winners IND, NO and GB.

You can word it however you like, but the SuperBowl winners throughout the years won because they had a superior defense. Or if you prefer, scored more points because they held their opponent to a lesser amount.

 

[Deus Irae]

Defense wins championships. We have seen Brady score on opponents only to see the other qb shred our defense, score, and win. Our offense will be fine without spending the #1 pick on a TE unless that player is way too good to pass up.

Teams win championships, sometimes with great offenses, sometimes with great defenses, usually with some degree of both. That's proven to be the case in every major U.S. team sport.