Why the Bears don't need a TE

[jason]

Kellen Davis shows it all in this one. Route running, hands, agility, strength, elusiveness, speed. All he needs is more opportunities to catch the ball and show what he can do.

 

In this highlight reel, he displays his talents even more. Pay careful attention to nasty one-hander at about 2:51.

 

The Bears don't need another TE. They need to work with what they have and develop the obvious talent.

[Bears4Ever_34]

Not sure what to make of him. He's not the fastest guy out there at 267 lbs, so I don't know how consistent he would be, stretching the field but he's got the size and athleticism to be a primary redzone target but I don't know if it goes beyond that. He shows signs in spurts. I don't think we have enough evidence either way to define him just yet. Martz notoriously ignores all TE's so he was being wasted as a blocker for the last two seasons and before that was behind Greg Olsen and Dez Clark in the depth chart. I'm interested in seeing what he can do in a new offense. His measurements and 40 time are very similar to one, Rob Gronkowski. Who knows?

[madlithuanian]

Having Tice in there could prove handy. He played the position and understands it's value. Moreso than Martz I believe.

 

I'd certainly like to give Kellen the opportunity to be the man. But I have no problem drafting one in the later rounds is something presents itself.

 

Kellen Davis shows it all in this one. Route running, hands, agility, strength, elusiveness, speed. All he needs is more opportunities to catch the ball and show what he can do.

 

 

 

 

In this highlight reel, he displays his talents even more. Pay careful attention to nasty one-hander at about 2:51.

 

 

 

 

The Bears don't need another TE. They need to work with what they have and develop the obvious talent.

 

[ASHKUM BEAR]

Kellen Davis has looked good in his opportunities, but he is not an elite TE in the likes of Jimmy Graham, Rob Gronowski, J Finely, Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten, Dallas Clark and so on. With that said, if a player becomes available in FA or a steal in the draft I wouldn't mind the Bears upgrading.

[dawhizz]

Kellen Davis has looked good in his opportunities, but he is not an elite TE in the likes of Jimmy Graham, Rob Gronowski, J Finely, Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten, Dallas Clark and so on. With that said, if a player becomes available in FA or a steal in the draft I wouldn't mind the Bears upgrading.

 

The problem is, we don't know what kind of TE Davis can be because Martz's history demonstrates that he doesn't involve the TE in his offenses. Let's see what Tice does with him before breaking the bank for Finley or investing a high draft pick in a TE.

[Connorbear]

The problem is, we don't know what kind of TE Davis can be because Martz's history demonstrates that he doesn't involve the TE in his offenses. Let's see what Tice does with him before breaking the bank for Finley or investing a high draft pick in a TE.

Agreed 100%.

 

Peace

[madlithuanian]

I generally agree...but if a guy like Finley can be had w/o a serious dent in cash getting FA's at WR, OL, maybe DL and DB...then by all means we should take him. Having a 1-2 punch like NE would be wonderful.

 

The problem is, we don't know what kind of TE Davis can be because Martz's history demonstrates that he doesn't involve the TE in his offenses. Let's see what Tice does with him before breaking the bank for Finley or investing a high draft pick in a TE.

 

[Mongo3451]

I generally agree...but if a guy like Finley can be had w/o a serious dent in cash getting FA's at WR, OL, maybe DL and DB...then by all means we should take him. Having a 1-2 punch like NE would be wonderful.

Davis and Spaeth should suffice. They are part of the OL and I prefer the continuity they will provide. If some plays are designed for Davis, I believe he can be a 30 catch guy.

[Bears4Ever_34]

Davis and Spaeth should suffice. They are part of the OL and I prefer the continuity they will provide. If some plays are designed for Davis, I believe he can be a 30 catch guy.

30 catches is kind of bad if you want him to be more of a point of emphasis on offense.. 50 is probably average, 60-70 is slightly above and 90+ is reaching Graham, Gronkowski, and Jason Witten territory. I don't forsee him ever being a guy that's going to catch more than 50-60 passes at best but who knows.

[Stinger226]

30 catches is kind of bad if you want him to be more of a point of emphasis on offense.. 50 is probably average, 60-70 is slightly above and 90+ is reaching Graham, Gronkowski, and Jason Witten territory. I don't forsee him ever being a guy that's going to catch more than 50-60 passes at best but who knows.

I think Davis may be better than he has shown, but we dont know that. Good offenses have good TEs so we need to bring someone in to compete. I think we should go after Fred Davis in FAgency, he has shown he can be that guy, with 59 rec, with 796 yards, and 3 TDs. What do you think he can do with Cutler pitching to him and he wont break the bank.

[Bears4Ever_34]

I think Davis may be better than he has shown, but we dont know that. Good offenses have good TEs so we need to bring someone in to compete. I think we should go after Fred Davis in FAgency, he has shown he can be that guy, with 59 rec, with 796 yards, and 3 TDs. What do you think he can do with Cutler pitching to him and he wont break the bank.

I have a feeling the Bears are going to try to weaken their arch rivals by taking Jermichael Finley away from them. You add a guy like him and then possibly another receiver or two through draft or Free agency and suddenly, you've got a pretty potent offense. Fred Davis wouldn't be bad either. Just depends on how aggressive we want to be.

[ParkerBear7]

Kellen Davis shows it all in this one. Route running, hands, agility, strength, elusiveness, speed. All he needs is more opportunities to catch the ball and show what he can do.

 

 

In this highlight reel, he displays his talents even more. Pay careful attention to nasty one-hander at about 2:51.

 

 

The Bears don't need another TE. They need to work with what they have and develop the obvious talent.

 

 

Great post and could not agree more. I have been screaming at the TV "utilize the mismatch Kellen can create". Its time to unleash the beast! Maybe if Tice goes to oakland they will just save money and not hire a GM or OC and just let Jay bring in talent on O and call his own plays.

[jason]

I have a feeling the Bears are going to try to weaken their arch rivals by taking Jermichael Finley away from them. You add a guy like him and then possibly another receiver or two through draft or Free agency and suddenly, you've got a pretty potent offense. Fred Davis wouldn't be bad either. Just depends on how aggressive we want to be.

 

I think it would be slightly wasteful to sign Finley since nobody really knows the potential Davis may have, but if it's the double-edged sword of hurting a rival like this while picking up an already established player, it's a hard deal to pass up if the money is right.

 

Talked to a friend today who is from Green Bay, and when I posed the idea to him he didn't seem to upset or concerned. Apparently the going thought in GB amongst the hard-core fans is that Finley, while talented, is inconsistent with his focus, routes, and hands.

[Bears4Ever_34]

I think it would be slightly wasteful to sign Finley since nobody really knows the potential Davis may have, but if it's the double-edged sword of hurting a rival like this while picking up an already established player, it's a hard deal to pass up if the money is right.

 

Talked to a friend today who is from Green Bay, and when I posed the idea to him he didn't seem to upset or concerned. Apparently the going thought in GB amongst the hard-core fans is that Finley, while talented, is inconsistent with his focus, routes, and hands.

Yeah his hands are incredibly inconsistent but his talent is undeniable. He'd certainly help stretch the field and Cutler likes his TE's. IMO I'd use Finley as sort of a secondary option in free agency if guys like Nicks or Bowe fall through.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

We first have to sign Kellen Davis since he's a FA. I think the Bears will weigh the options, Kellen Davis on one hand or Fred Davis/Jermichael Finley on the other. I would like to keep Kellen since he was drafted and has shown some flashes, but I would hope if the money is right we bring in the best talent.

[madlithuanian]

Good point. I keep forgetting he's not under contract. However, odds are he'll be had for far less than F Davis or Finley. It all depends on the price and what else we're doing. But I feel that we'll have the money room to make a few big splashes... The question will be will they use that room?

 

We first have to sign Kellen Davis since he's a FA. I think the Bears will weigh the options, Kellen Davis on one hand or Fred Davis/Jermichael Finley on the other. I would like to keep Kellen since he was drafted and has shown some flashes, but I would hope if the money is right we bring in the best talent.

 

[BearFan2000]

I look at it this way as others have pointed out Martz doesn't see the TE as a real part of the offense other than a blocker and occasionally a receiver. With Tice in as OC and lets say for the sake of argument that Davis turns out to develop into a weapon in the passing game especially in the Red Zone that is just further indictment of why Martz system is obsolete in todays NFL. Look at the teams in the NFL that are successful... how many of them utilize one or more Pass catching TE's or better yet do any of them not use the TE as a receiver. If Tice will look to utilize the TE as a passing option I'd like to see what we really do have in Davis and if we can bring in Finley without making too big of a dent, then do it. When you can add more talent to your team you should do it. I for one am tired of the "we're good enough at this spot" thinking. Good enough only gets you so far. The teams that constantly look at upgrading or adding talent too every position are the ones regularly pushing for a strong post season bid. If we can develop Davis and pair him with Finley who is established. It gives Cutler more weapons to throw to and may take some of the pressure off the WR's who definitely need upgrading.

 

The flip side of this is that part of the reason we didn't use the TE as a receiver as much is because we kept them in to help bolster a weak OL. We sacrificed targets in order to max protect. So while it's tempting to turn our TE's loose on routes to give cutler more targets. A weak OL makes it tough for Jay to have time to find those targets and stay upright while running for his life. That said, Tice from what I've heard, will make protecting Jay a priority and looking to put him in a position to excel. That means not dropping back 5-7 steps and turning your franchise QB that you paid dearly for into a pinata where defenses could just tee off on him. Giving him multiple launch points, using his running ability to boot, and roll out, and PA. Jay is a heck of an athlete and his ability to make plays on the run salvaged more plays than we probably realize. The ability to Audible will also help by allowing Jay to use his knowlege of defenses, his experience, give him the power to check out of a bad play rather than run it knowing it's going to get blown up. I remember when I first heard that Martz didn't allow audibles by the QB, and thinking that is asinine! Is this the kiddie table? Is Jay not a grown man who has played QB long enough that he is capable of recognizing "this play is a bad idea." Martz system worked best when he had prow bowl talent at the OL along with PB QB, and WR. With Martz here we were our own worst enemy, and an offensive scheme that by and large highlighted the weakness of our OL. I believe that when you have a weak to average at best Line your offensive scheme itself can make that worse by stubbornly trying to do things you simply don't have the talent to do... But with the right schemes you can at least help minimize the issues. Even when we kept TE's in to block most of the pressure that got to Jay was up front the interior of our line was bad. But rather than use rollouts, boots, PA, etc to give Jay different launch points Martz used Jay as a drop back passer which just set us up for failure.

 

I may be sipping some kool-aid but who's to say Tice can't develop a system that better tailors itself to what we have to work with. And we see a Bears offense that gets more out of what talent it does have at OL, WR, and TE.

[Stinger226]

I look at it this way as others have pointed out Martz doesn't see the TE as a real part of the offense other than a blocker and occasionally a receiver. With Tice in as OC and lets say for the sake of argument that Davis turns out to develop into a weapon in the passing game especially in the Red Zone that is just further indictment of why Martz system is obsolete in todays NFL. Look at the teams in the NFL that are successful... how many of them utilize one or more Pass catching TE's or better yet do any of them not use the TE as a receiver. If Tice will look to utilize the TE as a passing option I'd like to see what we really do have in Davis and if we can bring in Finley without making too big of a dent, then do it. When you can add more talent to your team you should do it. I for one am tired of the "we're good enough at this spot" thinking. Good enough only gets you so far. The teams that constantly look at upgrading or adding talent too every position are the ones regularly pushing for a strong post season bid. If we can develop Davis and pair him with Finley who is established. It gives Cutler more weapons to throw to and may take some of the pressure off the WR's who definitely need upgrading.

 

The flip side of this is that part of the reason we didn't use the TE as a receiver as much is because we kept them in to help bolster a weak OL. We sacrificed targets in order to max protect. So while it's tempting to turn our TE's loose on routes to give cutler more targets. A weak OL makes it tough for Jay to have time to find those targets and stay upright while running for his life. That said, Tice from what I've heard, will make protecting Jay a priority and looking to put him in a position to excel. That means not dropping back 5-7 steps and turning your franchise QB that you paid dearly for into a pinata where defenses could just tee off on him. Giving him multiple launch points, using his running ability to boot, and roll out, and PA. Jay is a heck of an athlete and his ability to make plays on the run salvaged more plays than we probably realize. The ability to Audible will also help by allowing Jay to use his knowlege of defenses, his experience, give him the power to check out of a bad play rather than run it knowing it's going to get blown up. I remember when I first heard that Martz didn't allow audibles by the QB, and thinking that is asinine! Is this the kiddie table? Is Jay not a grown man who has played QB long enough that he is capable of recognizing "this play is a bad idea." Martz system worked best when he had prow bowl talent at the OL along with PB QB, and WR. With Martz here we were our own worst enemy, and an offensive scheme that by and large highlighted the weakness of our OL. I believe that when you have a weak to average at best Line your offensive scheme itself can make that worse by stubbornly trying to do things you simply don't have the talent to do... But with the right schemes you can at least help minimize the issues. Even when we kept TE's in to block most of the pressure that got to Jay was up front the interior of our line was bad. But rather than use rollouts, boots, PA, etc to give Jay different launch points Martz used Jay as a drop back passer which just set us up for failure.

 

I may be sipping some kool-aid but who's to say Tice can't develop a system that better tailors itself to what we have to work with. And we see a Bears offense that gets more out of what talent it does have at OL, WR, and TE.

We need an upgrade at TE but we have so many other needs that becomes a mute point. We have to get a couple of more OL, and a couple of WRs, a CB, ans some new blood at LB. The offense has to function with out all the extra help. If Cutler gets beat one more year, then will he want to stay here? If Tice stays I think he has a realistic view of the OL and Wr and will help address that.

[madlithuanian]

I don't think you're off base. There is reason to think Tice can make more of the OL, TE and offense in generanl than what happened under Martz. He might not. But I think he's shown enough and has had enough experience (especially since he was a TE in the NFL) to enlist hope.

 

I look at it this way as others have pointed out Martz doesn't see the TE as a real part of the offense other than a blocker and occasionally a receiver. With Tice in as OC and lets say for the sake of argument that Davis turns out to develop into a weapon in the passing game especially in the Red Zone that is just further indictment of why Martz system is obsolete in todays NFL. Look at the teams in the NFL that are successful... how many of them utilize one or more Pass catching TE's or better yet do any of them not use the TE as a receiver. If Tice will look to utilize the TE as a passing option I'd like to see what we really do have in Davis and if we can bring in Finley without making too big of a dent, then do it. When you can add more talent to your team you should do it. I for one am tired of the "we're good enough at this spot" thinking. Good enough only gets you so far. The teams that constantly look at upgrading or adding talent too every position are the ones regularly pushing for a strong post season bid. If we can develop Davis and pair him with Finley who is established. It gives Cutler more weapons to throw to and may take some of the pressure off the WR's who definitely need upgrading.

 

The flip side of this is that part of the reason we didn't use the TE as a receiver as much is because we kept them in to help bolster a weak OL. We sacrificed targets in order to max protect. So while it's tempting to turn our TE's loose on routes to give cutler more targets. A weak OL makes it tough for Jay to have time to find those targets and stay upright while running for his life. That said, Tice from what I've heard, will make protecting Jay a priority and looking to put him in a position to excel. That means not dropping back 5-7 steps and turning your franchise QB that you paid dearly for into a pinata where defenses could just tee off on him. Giving him multiple launch points, using his running ability to boot, and roll out, and PA. Jay is a heck of an athlete and his ability to make plays on the run salvaged more plays than we probably realize. The ability to Audible will also help by allowing Jay to use his knowlege of defenses, his experience, give him the power to check out of a bad play rather than run it knowing it's going to get blown up. I remember when I first heard that Martz didn't allow audibles by the QB, and thinking that is asinine! Is this the kiddie table? Is Jay not a grown man who has played QB long enough that he is capable of recognizing "this play is a bad idea." Martz system worked best when he had prow bowl talent at the OL along with PB QB, and WR. With Martz here we were our own worst enemy, and an offensive scheme that by and large highlighted the weakness of our OL. I believe that when you have a weak to average at best Line your offensive scheme itself can make that worse by stubbornly trying to do things you simply don't have the talent to do... But with the right schemes you can at least help minimize the issues. Even when we kept TE's in to block most of the pressure that got to Jay was up front the interior of our line was bad. But rather than use rollouts, boots, PA, etc to give Jay different launch points Martz used Jay as a drop back passer which just set us up for failure.

 

I may be sipping some kool-aid but who's to say Tice can't develop a system that better tailors itself to what we have to work with. And we see a Bears offense that gets more out of what talent it does have at OL, WR, and TE.

 

[Guest TerraTor]

Not sure what to make of him. He's not the fastest guy out there at 267 lbs, so I don't know how consistent he would be, stretching the field but he's got the size and athleticism to be a primary redzone target but I don't know if it goes beyond that. He shows signs in spurts. I don't think we have enough evidence either way to define him just yet. Martz notoriously ignores all TE's so he was being wasted as a blocker for the last two seasons and before that was behind Greg Olsen and Dez Clark in the depth chart. I'm interested in seeing what he can do in a new offense. His measurements and 40 time are very similar to one, Rob Gronkowski. Who knows?

 

 

http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dspro...008&genpos=

 

4.59 at 267...not bad... As for the depth chart, i wouldnt put much stock in any decisions/assumptions made by this offensive coaching..