TE group

[SmokinwithWilly]

1 hour ago, kungfoodude said:

That's why you gotta be careful about those early takes. Pretty sure there are a lot of dusty ass Kelvin Benjamin jersey's out there.

KB was always an anomaly to me and hard to judge. He never looked the same after his knee injury and his mom's passing. Grief does strange things to people. I know some people who've bounced right back and I've known some that it just tore apart and it changed their personality and life perspective. He was admittedly in a dark place after that and it just kept going downhill. I always thought that grief may have played a bigger role than we think, or it may not have. That's just one of those I shake my head and say man, I just don't know.

[kungfoodude]

3 hours ago, tukafan21 said:

The only place a game breaking can't miss TE is available, is in the 1st round of the draft.  Yes, you can hit on them from anywhere else, but even once you're in the 2nd round it's by no means a game changing TE that you're not going to miss on.  So there's no way I'd be on board with a TE in the 2nd or 3rd round of the draft either, not with who we already have.

So, if we're sitting there in the 1st round next year, there is no way a Bowers type of TE falls to us while at the same time not having any other available players there at positions of a bigger need, particularly on defense.

I mean this is not only demonstrably false, it's laughable.

Most of the top NFL TE's over the past decade were not 1st round draft picks.

[tukafan21]

5 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

I mean this is not only demonstrably false, it's laughable.

Most of the top NFL TE's over the past decade were not 1st round draft picks.

I wasn't saying that's the only way to get one.

My post was in direct response to the "if you have the opportunity to get a game breaking TE, you take them"

I was just saying that if you're taking a TE in the 2nd or 3rd round, you're just hoping they can become that game breaking TE.  The ones that you KNOW will become that, are the guys like Bowers or Warren who go in the early 1st round.

We just took mid round TEs that both show solid potential, I don't see how taking a TE in the 1st would make sense over the other available players.  And taking one in even the 2nd or 3rd just seems like to big of a risk at that position when we have so many other needs.

[strato]

2 hours ago, SmokinwithWilly said:

KB was always an anomaly to me and hard to judge. He never looked the same after his knee injury and his mom's passing. Grief does strange things to people. I know some people who've bounced right back and I've known some that it just tore apart and it changed their personality and life perspective. He was admittedly in a dark place after that and it just kept going downhill. I always thought that grief may have played a bigger role than we think, or it may not have. That's just one of those I shake my head and say man, I just don't know.

Yeah grief. Too damned familiar with it It will wreck a person  

We forget about guys have lives outside of Sunday. A player going through relationship issues even, can be really affected. Divorce. or something good like a new baby right when you are trying to get your rest and get ready to play? No sleep. Tired all the time.
All kinds of reasons for players to be ‘off’. 
I hate hearing that a player has a newborn in football season lol. 

[kungfoodude]

7 hours ago, tukafan21 said:

I wasn't saying that's the only way to get one.

My post was in direct response to the "if you have the opportunity to get a game breaking TE, you take them"

I was just saying that if you're taking a TE in the 2nd or 3rd round, you're just hoping they can become that game breaking TE.  The ones that you KNOW will become that, are the guys like Bowers or Warren who go in the early 1st round.

We just took mid round TEs that both show solid potential, I don't see how taking a TE in the 1st would make sense over the other available players.  And taking one in even the 2nd or 3rd just seems like to big of a risk at that position when we have so many other needs.

Literally three of the top 10 overall receivers from this draft so far(guys I really liked pre-draft, BTW) are not 1st round TE's.

[Tomcatn]

12 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

My issue with Tremble is that his career development curve is very Ian Thomas-esque. Doesn't seem to be getting better year after year.

This^^

[SCO96]

13 hours ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Sanders looked like a guy who didn't belong in the league at first then improved then got hurt. I still don't know who he is as an NFL player but I haven't seen enough yet to count on him as anything more than camp competition long term. Tremble is a mediocre #2/solid #3. That's just what he is. That people are excited about Mitchell Evans and his 9 catches for 90 yards through 7 games kinda says everything about our TE group. Wanting to take TE off the board this off-season is bat poo crazy.

There are several reasons you shouldn't consider a TE in the 2026 draft, especially during the first two days.

1) Canales offenses do not place a very high priority on the TE. You can look at his coaching history to notice this trend.

2) We've spent back to back #1 picks on WR's (TMac/XL). We also have players who have shown potential like Jalen Coker and Brycen Tramayne at the same position. All of our RB's can catch the ball out of the backfield. There's only so many touches these guys are going to get per game, especially if we run the ball 50% of the time (which we should). I can't see any TE making major contribution to our offense over the next couple of seasons.

3) Our defense has too many needs to take a TE over a top defensive prospect. We have 11 sacks on the year and 6 of those came last week against the worst team in the NFL. We have 6 INTs in 2025. One player (J.Horn) has half of them and 2 of those also came last week. None of our safties has an INT this season. Our LB's are looking better recently., but we really could use an impact player at ILB if we continue to run this 3-4 scheme.

4) BY is still an underwhelming presence at QB. I'd rather spend a high choice on a QB than a TE based on our current passing game.

 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by SCO96

[NorthTryon]

Mitchell Evans is continuously grading out very high week to week. He makes all the easy plays and blocks like his hair is on fire. He was working with a first to second round grade before being down graded by draft pundits for past injuries. He was a semi-finalist for the Mackey award. I believe we got a great late draft pick up. Tremble when healthy is an excellent blocker and has become more of a sure handed catcher. Sanders has to stay healthy and catch better. We have depth and if Bryce could be more consistent, maybe the stats would look better. Upgrading is not a priority right now. 

Edited 53 minutes ago by NorthTryon

[X-Clown]

10 hours ago, tukafan21 said:

 The ones that you KNOW will become that, are the guys like Bowers or Warren who go in the early 1st round.

I will never understand with how we've seen things play out over the years that there is a such thing as we KNOW such and such player will be great before they've taken a snap. Kyle Pitts came into the league with more hype than any TE prospect I can remember going 4th overall (thanks Falcons for drafting him one pick before Jamarr Chase). Eric Ebron and TJ Hockenson are two others that come to mind. Bowers had a historically great rookie year, but the knock on him was staying healthy and so far this year that's been a huge issue. Warren wasn't even the first TE drafted in this year's class. 

[kungfoodude]

1 hour ago, SCO96 said:

There are several reasons you shouldn't consider a TE in the 2026 draft, especially during the first two days.

1) Canales offenses do not place a very high priority on the TE. You can look at his coaching history to notice this trend.

2) We've spent back to back #1 picks on WR's (TMac/XL). We also have players who have shown potential like Jalen Coker and Brycen Tramayne at the same position. All of our RB's can catch the ball out of the backfield. There's only so many touches these guys are going to get per game, especially if we run the ball 50% of the time (which we should). I can't see any TE making major contribution to our offense over the next couple of seasons.

3) Our defense has too many needs to take a TE over a top defensive prospect. We have 11 sacks on the year and 6 of those came last week against the worst team in the NFL. We have 6 INTs in 2025. One player (J.Horn) has half of them and 2 of those also came last week. None of our safties has an INT this season. Our LB's are looking better recently., but we really could use an impact player at ILB if we continue to run this 3-4 scheme.

4) BY is still an underwhelming presence at QB. I'd rather spend a high choice on a QB than a TE based on our current passing game.

 

 

I will say a chunk of those don't have to do with trying to improve the team overall. While not a big fan of the Evans pick, he has largely been our best TE so far this season in limited action.

BPA should always rule the day. Don't reach for need, draft the best players available with caveats added for schematic fit and literal ability to roster a player.

But X being needed over Y should never come into the equation when Y is a far higher rated player on your board. 

[LinvilleGorge]

13 hours ago, OldhamA said:

Off the top of my head:

• LaPorta - 2nd round
• McBride - 2nd round
• Ferguson - 4th round
• Freiermuth - 2nd round
• Andrews - 3rd round

Bowers is a freak of nature, but TEs that change the game can be found outside the 1st round.

As can every other position. My point is that once you get the very top prospects in every draft they all have warts. The ideal prospects go very high.

[kungfoodude]

13 minutes ago, X-Clown said:

I will never understand with how we've seen things play out over the years that there is a such thing as we KNOW such and such player will be great before they've taken a snap. Kyle Pitts came into the league with more hype than any TE prospect I can remember going 4th overall (thanks Falcons for drafting him one pick before Jamarr Chase). Eric Ebron and TJ Hockenson are two others that come to mind. Bowers had a historically great rookie year, but the knock on him was staying healthy and so far this year that's been a huge issue. Warren wasn't even the first TE drafted in this year's class. 

Especially considering typically few of the top TE's in the league ARE 1st round picks. 

Kelce, Kittle, McBride, LaPorta, Mark Andrews, Jake Ferguson, Dallas Godert, Zach Ertz, etc, etc.

Literally more than half the who's who of NFL TE's over the past decade are not former 1st round draft picks. 

As I said, of the top 10 rookie receivers from the 2025 draft class three of them are not 1st round TE's(Fanin Jr., Gadsden III, Mason Taylor).