Tight End in the First Round?

[Kazkal]

I stand corrected: since Schobel in 2002. The point still holds, however.

I know,I just loved me some Schobel when he was a Bengal even though he never quite worked out because Dropping the ball and all.

[wpeldios]

I doubt Kelly is coming back, Coffman is still a complete ? and we have yet to see how FA pans out so I'd be on board at this point if the guy can block. I don't follow much college football so I don't have a good idea about the blocking skills of these guys, although if I'm not mistaken isn't Hernandez known to be a pretty good blocker in addition to having good hands? Seems like a good compliment/upgrade to what we have.

Watched Hernandez alot in college, and he is a dreadful blocker. His impact on this offense will not be any more than Coffman's was this year. No matter how good the pass catcher he won't see the field until he can block. And giving Coffman a chance will be just as effective as bringing him in.

Thanks for your take on Hernandez. I guess when I saw the guy is 6'2"/250 I assumed he's big enough to be a good blocker!

He's just as good of a blocker as Dallas Clark and he's a Pro Bowler but whatever...

And in Brats system, Dallas Clark would sit on the bench and block way too much. I'll even say Dallas Clark most likely wouldn't be a pro bowler in this system. I'm against drafting a recieving tight end because we did that last year. Hernandez was not head and shoulders a better player than Coffman. I think there are too many needs, and Tight End isnt as crazy. Plus, add me to the group that likes the free agent class.

Safety, WR, RG, DE, DT all before TE and Since there isn't a sure fire all around tight end, I'm sure you can get a comparable player at one of those positions.

[Dadraftnick]

Gresham ,Gronkowski and McCoy are all comming of injury.

Did we learn nothing about drafting a TE coming off in injury last year?

Besides, its hardly ever a good idea to take a TE in the early rounds.

The TE's that I love in this draft are TE Jimmy Graham Miami and TE Dennis Pitta BYU both guys are mid to late rounds of the draft and I believe that they will have as good as or better careers in the NFL than the guys that are rated as 1st rounds picks.

I stil think that Chase Coffman will play well for the Bengals after he gets healthy and has camp to get into the blocking.

He was the Mackey award winner for the best TE in ncaa football. HE HAS GREAT HANDS.

[Walrus]

Gresham ,Gronkowski and McCoy are all comming of injury.

Did we learn nothing about drafting a TE coming off in injury last year?

Besides, its hardly ever a good idea to take a TE in the early rounds.

The TE's that I love in this draft are TE Jimmy Graham Miami and TE Dennis Pitta BYU both guys are mid to late rounds of the draft and I believe that they will have as good as or better careers in the NFL than the guys that are rated as 1st rounds picks.

I stil think that Chase Coffman will play well for the Bengals after he gets healthy and has camp to get into the blocking.

He was the Mackey award winner for the best TE in ncaa football. HE HAS GREAT HANDS.

This doesn't wash. With some exceptions, the best TEs drafted over the past 10 years have come in the 1st 2-3 rounds. For most years, the first 2 selected are still solid starters or pro bowlers. Look at the TEs drafted over the last 10 years. Actually, you can start in 1999 with Reggie Kelly.

[walzav29]

I just think the 21st pick can be used in a better area than TE. Kelly could come back, it's too early to call Coffman a bust. I also think that the team could use a defensive sparkplug and grab a TE in the 3rd rd or later.

[HairOnFire]

If a TE like Gresham proved he was healthy, went through a VERY extensive physical, and had a good combine, I wouldn't mind them drafting him.

Ignoring Gresham for a second, it's pretty freaking remarkable how many top prospects in this draft didn't play a lick last year.

[HAPPYJAQ]

If a TE like Gresham proved he was healthy, went through a VERY extensive physical, and had a good combine, I wouldn't mind them drafting him.

Ignoring Gresham for a second, it's pretty freaking remarkable how many top prospects in this draft didn't play a lick last year.

Yep, great observation and it occurred in last year's draft, too. Needless to say, two of the notables in Ingram and Coffman finished the year on the IR and recorded no stats in '09.

I think your new rookie TE in 2010 will be a guy like Colin Peek, of Alabama.

The reasons?

Well, Peek has solidified himself as a guy who's been extremely effective in the blocking department, and has been productive enough to be a First-Team All-American, even over some guys who had greater statistics in catching the fooball.

Colin has repeatedly pointed out that he was the "point blocker" on most of the runs last season, and takes great pride that he blocked for a Heisman trophy-winning RB.

Peek also refers to himself as a "tough guy", which is a trait that both Lewis, and especially Hayes, crave in a draft prospect.

Peek is a different type of TE than Coffman, and can probably be had in the 3rd or 4th round range, so the Coffman selection doesn't look as much like a mistake (at this point, at least).

My final thoughts are that we won't see a TE selected in the first OR second round, unless the truly unexpected happens. Depending on how fast Gresham runs (and how he tests), I wouldn't be surprised to see him drop until much later, similar to the Malcolm Kelly situation from a couple of years ago.

[nfldraft2010]

No love for Rob Gronkowski?

[HAPPYJAQ]

No love for Rob Gronkowski?

As far as I'm concerned, the jury's still out on Gronk due to only 2 years of playing college football and a year on the shelf due to an injury. How could the Bengals justify drafting ANOTHER TE with injury questions, and this time a back injury, which always seem to be 50/50?

That said, maybe I'm wrong.

GREAT read on Rob G. Not to ruin it, but when his position coach says he's the best TE in "25 or 30 years", it raises your eyebrows, at the very least:

/>http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/college/103253.php

[cincy5885]

last draft i wanted the bengals to select a tightend in the top 3 rounds because i wanted the bengals to have a recieving tightend much like most playoff teams. now however i don't feel like we need to select a tightend in the first couple rounds for many reasons.

1. i don't think and can't imagine the bengals selecting a tightend in the 1st or 2nd round

2. i know alot of people don't like foschi but i thought he was very impressive for just coming in late to replace coats which i know couldn't be to hard but he made alot of progress and is a big target for palmer and has the size to be a descent blocker

3. who knows what can happen in the free agency

here is what i think should happen stick with foschi, kelly, and utech if they stick around and use them for a couple of seasons and pick up a young tightend with potential and size to be a good nfl tightend let him develope over a period of a year or two and see what happens there i have alot of faith in foschi but i wouldn't mind us drafting someone like gresham but i think we should pick a reciever but yet again it all comes down to the free agency too many recievers but none other than ocho are solid but ill end by saying i do believe you need a successful recieving tightend to make it to the next level in making and winning playoff games to bad dustin keller played better than any of our tighends

[Kazkal]

Well we did draft receiving Tight End in Coffman unless his foot is still bothering him should be able to be used as so,Only question is can he block? and why won't we use him still even though he can't

[cincy5885]

Well we did draft receiving Tight End in Coffman unless his foot is still bothering him should be able to be used as so,Only question is can he block? and why won't we use him still even though he can't

I do realize we drafted Coffman but he didn't play at all last season and it's too early to call him a bust and I don't know why he didn't play but from what I heard the Bengals really didn't like him during training camp. Last season though I definetely liked the pick up and could see him playing I still think if he can progress and develope more NFL quality skills over the next year or two I could definetely see him as a Dallas Clark (a fast athletic tightend that could play both reciever and tightend much like Gates). Does anybody know what the problem was with Coffman you think with the injuries of Utech and Kelly and poor play of Coats he would have played a little? And what happened to Jerome Simpson does he just flat out suck or is it the fact that he is good but the guys in front are better and there is no need for him to be on the gameday roster I have heard both.

[BengalPimp]

I also think that the team could use a defensive sparkplug and grab a TE in the 3rd rd or later.

That's why we never get any production from the TE position.,..We keep waiting until the 3rd Rd or later to select one.....

Each year coming out, there are maybe 2 or 3...sometimes just 1 quality TE. Whereas other positions WR, DE, DT there are handfuls. It's much more likely to pick up a quality WR or DT or Saftey in rounds 2-3 than TE.

We can still use Coffman or Foschi in 2 TE sets, or as a back-up...But neither of them is an impact TE. Foschi surpised, yes, but don't fool yourself into thinking he put up good numbers. As for Coffman, if any of you watched him in college, then you know the reason he put up big numbers is because in Missouri's offense he rarely lined up next to Tackle..He was almost always split out. More like a WR, and that's also why he doesn't have the first clue how to block.

Again, if he's healthy (and I'd run every test imaginable) I'd take Jermaine Gresham...He's a STUD...

Gresham's injury wasn't anything "Major" like torn ligaments or anything. He had Arthroscopic surgery to stitch together cartilage in his knee. The guy is a TD machine...He was only 5 TD's away from breaking the school's TD receiving record...and he's a TE. He had 14 TD's in '08, after grabbing 11 TD's in '07. 6'6" 260lbs, and NOT a product of the system like Coffman.

Drafting a TE first may not be the "sexy" pick, but damn will this guy help....Congratulations to whoever does draft him.

[BengalPimp]

If this doesn't impress you guys....nothing will. Watch the play 15 seconds in...also the hands and concentration at about 1:35.

/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLXZq7Rv_NY

[cincy5885]

I also think that the team could use a defensive sparkplug and grab a TE in the 3rd rd or later.

That's why we never get any production from the TE position.,..We keep waiting until the 3rd Rd or later to select one.....

Each year coming out, there are maybe 2 or 3...sometimes just 1 quality TE. Whereas other positions WR, DE, DT there are handfuls. It's much more likely to pick up a quality WR or DT or Saftey in rounds 2-3 than TE.

We can still use Coffman or Foschi in 2 TE sets, or as a back-up...But neither of them is an impact TE. Foschi surpised, yes, but don't fool yourself into thinking he put up good numbers. As for Coffman, if any of you watched him in college, then you know the reason he put up big numbers is because in Missouri's offense he rarely lined up next to Tackle..He was almost always split out. More like a WR, and that's also why he doesn't have the first clue how to block.

Again, if he's healthy (and I'd run every test imaginable) I'd take Jermaine Gresham...He's a STUD...

Gresham's injury wasn't anything "Major" like torn ligaments or anything. He had Arthroscopic surgery to stitch together cartilage in his knee. The guy is a TD machine...He was only 5 TD's away from breaking the school's TD receiving record...and he's a TE. He had 14 TD's in '08, after grabbing 11 TD's in '07. 6'6" 260lbs, and NOT a product of the system like Coffman.

Drafting a TE first may not be the "sexy" pick, but damn will this guy help....Congratulations to whoever does draft him.

Thanks for the post you had a couple good points true about the sexy pick and that there is only a limited amount of quality tightends out there. I just looked at Greshams stats and film and I'm getting more and more sold on him he is a touchdown machine and I think he can help Carson's play and I could see Foschi playing in a 2 TE package with Gresham. Foschi surprised me more than anything but I still think he is a big target and a good posession reciever. Congrats you just sold me on Gresham and it seems more logical to pick him up in the first and pick a widereciever or defensive tackle in the second.

[BlainThePain]

They were wanting to trade for Martellus Bennett, so I would say tight end is pretty high on their radar.

[nfldraft2010]

No love for Rob Gronkowski?

As far as I'm concerned, the jury's still out on Gronk due to only 2 years of playing college football and a year on the shelf due to an injury. How could the Bengals justify drafting ANOTHER TE with injury questions, and this time a back injury, which always seem to be 50/50?

That said, maybe I'm wrong.

GREAT read on Rob G. Not to ruin it, but when his position coach says he's the best TE in "25 or 30 years", it raises your eyebrows, at the very least:

/>http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/college/103253.php

Good article, thanks

[HAPPYJAQ]

If this doesn't impress you guys....nothing will. Watch the play 15 seconds in...also the hands and concentration at about 1:35.

/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLXZq7Rv_NY

Good stuff, and I agree with you on the fact that he looked very impressive in those highlights.

If you consider that he wouldn't have played in a real football game in about 18 months when the season starts, is he REALLY worth your first-round pick in the 2010 draft?

Kinda like Rey, the more that I think about it, I think this guy might be the one you talk about dropping the most by draft time. He wasn't the best athlete at the position before the injury, I don't think the Combine or Pro Day numbers will make a difference, unless he runs a 4.85 or slower, in which case he's a sure second round pick. I think he's a much-less complete player than Brandon Pettigrew, who went in that range WITHOUT an injury that caused him to miss his entire final year in college.

It's be different if he played a skill position, but the fact is he plays TE. In fact, I remember reading on many a mocks last year that Chase Coffman was the best TE in last year's draft, and the foot injury almost knocked him into the 4th round! It will all come down to Gresham's medical evaluations, which vary by team.

Unless Dez drops, expect your first-round draft pick to be a defensive lineman, at what looks to be an extremely deep draft at both DT and DE.

[Kazkal]

I do realize we drafted Coffman but he didn't play at all last season and it's too early to call him a bust and I don't know why he didn't play but from what I heard the Bengals really didn't like him during training camp.

Well from what I heard still foot was lingering Injury on top of him just not being ready to block...He pretty much WR for Mizz which I don't thinks problem if brat would get half brat and use him like indy uses clark.

[redsbengalsbucks]

I also think that the team could use a defensive sparkplug and grab a TE in the 3rd rd or later.

That's why we never get any production from the TE position.,..We keep waiting until the 3rd Rd or later to select one.....

Each year coming out, there are maybe 2 or 3...sometimes just 1 quality TE. Whereas other positions WR, DE, DT there are handfuls. It's much more likely to pick up a quality WR or DT or Saftey in rounds 2-3 than TE.

We can still use Coffman or Foschi in 2 TE sets, or as a back-up...But neither of them is an impact TE. Foschi surpised, yes, but don't fool yourself into thinking he put up good numbers. As for Coffman, if any of you watched him in college, then you know the reason he put up big numbers is because in Missouri's offense he rarely lined up next to Tackle..He was almost always split out. More like a WR, and that's also why he doesn't have the first clue how to block.

Again, if he's healthy (and I'd run every test imaginable) I'd take Jermaine Gresham...He's a STUD...

Gresham's injury wasn't anything "Major" like torn ligaments or anything. He had Arthroscopic surgery to stitch together cartilage in his knee. The guy is a TD machine...He was only 5 TD's away from breaking the school's TD receiving record...and he's a TE. He had 14 TD's in '08, after grabbing 11 TD's in '07. 6'6" 260lbs, and NOT a product of the system like Coffman.

Drafting a TE first may not be the "sexy" pick, but damn will this guy help....Congratulations to whoever does draft him.

Unless I am wrong, Dustin Keller came from that same system as Coffman and was consider the 1B option as TE on that team. Give Coffman a chance and dont waste another pick on TE. A vet FA TE is the simple answer here. Vet FA or Kelley, Foschi and Coffman at TE works for me much better than picking (Gresham) a slow, bad blocking TE at #21. Rookie TE's dont produce very often and Gresham has his drawbacks on being able to run the offensive scheme that the Bengals run.

BTW Utecth is done, he will be making music from now on, if his head quits spinning long enough to read the notes.

[BengalPimp]

Unless I am wrong, Dustin Keller came from that same system as Coffman and was consider the 1B option as TE on that team. Give Coffman a chance and dont waste another pick on TE. A vet FA TE is the simple answer here. Vet FA or Kelley, Foschi and Coffman at TE works for me much better than picking (Gresham) a slow, bad blocking TE at #21. Rookie TE's dont produce very often and Gresham has his drawbacks on being able to run the offensive scheme that the Bengals run.

Allow me to correct some of the inaccuracies of the above statement.

#1 Who doesn't run a spread offense in college footbal these days? You can't compare Keller (Purdue) and Coffman (Missouri) just because they're schools run spread offenses....Below is a link from ESPN stating that 48 teams currently run a Spread Offense...Came from the same system my butt.

/>http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4327427

#2 If they Draft Gresham, that doesnt mean they won't give Coffman a chance. He obviously wasn't ready last year, due to injury/piss poor blocking. What makes you think he will be ready this year? If he is, Great, we can use 2 TE sets...

#3 A Vet FA TE is the simple answer here? really? Like who? Quality TE's are generally not given the chance to hit the open market. They're locked-up, unless they're too old, or non-productive. Below is a link showing FA TE's, of which only Ben Watson is unrestricted, meaning we would have to overpay to get a Restricted FA because if we paid market value, the other team will match, and we get squat.

/>http://www.footballsfuture.com/2010/fa/wr.html

#4 You called Gresham slow and bad blocking? Where do you get this stuff? Are you just making stuff up here? Gresham is a good blocker, and runs a 40 in the 4.6 range...Whereas Coffman (who didnt run at the combine by the way) ran 40's in college in the 4.85 range..Coffman is slow.

#5 How did you come to the conclusion that "Gresham has his drawbacks on being able to run the offensive scheme that the Bengals run" ??????? Did you personally hand him a playbook, and work him out on the field? Do you know something the rest of us don't? Again, another statement not supported by any facts......

Look, I don't want to argue, but I've provided facts, while you on the other hand, are just making stuff up.

I don't understand why so many are fine with our current situation at TE ??? We had virtually no production from the position last year, and our offense suffered because of it. We got by without for a while because when teams would double up Chad, we had TJ. Last year we had no solid #2 , and still no TE. This can't continue....Many people ripped on Carson last year, but the guy had NO WEAPONS, yet you don't want to spend a 1st pick on one? Oh I forget, TE isn't important....Tell that to Dallas (Witten) Indy (Clark) Atlanta (Gonzalez) SD (Gates) Philly (Celek) Houston (Daniels) and damn near every other team in the league. By the way after scoring at least 24 points in their first 8 games this season (Owen Daiels got hurt 8th game at which time he had 40rec 519 yds 5 TD's) Houston only broke 24 pts in 4 of their final 8...take that for what its worth.

[cincyhokie]

If this doesn't impress you guys....nothing will. Watch the play 15 seconds in...also the hands and concentration at about 1:35.

/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLXZq7Rv_NY

Good stuff, and I agree with you on the fact that he looked very impressive in those highlights.

If you consider that he wouldn't have played in a real football game in about 18 months when the season starts, is he REALLY worth your first-round pick in the 2010 draft?

Kinda like Rey, the more that I think about it, I think this guy might be the one you talk about dropping the most by draft time. He wasn't the best athlete at the position before the injury, I don't think the Combine or Pro Day numbers will make a difference, unless he runs a 4.85 or slower, in which case he's a sure second round pick. I think he's a much-less complete player than Brandon Pettigrew, who went in that range WITHOUT an injury that caused him to miss his entire final year in college.

It's be different if he played a skill position, but the fact is he plays TE. In fact, I remember reading on many a mocks last year that Chase Coffman was the best TE in last year's draft, and the foot injury almost knocked him into the 4th round! It will all come down to Gresham's medical evaluations, which vary by team.

Unless Dez drops, expect your first-round draft pick to be a defensive lineman, at what looks to be an extremely deep draft at both DT and DE.

From those highlights he looks like a stud. Very very impressive. Quick, good hands, hard to bring down and YAC. I liked how there was a play where he caught a screen pass. Dude looks versatile. He can block too? Yeah, I'm a fan.

[redsbengalsbucks]

Unless I am wrong, Dustin Keller came from that same system as Coffman and was consider the 1B option as TE on that team. Give Coffman a chance and dont waste another pick on TE. A vet FA TE is the simple answer here. Vet FA or Kelley, Foschi and Coffman at TE works for me much better than picking (Gresham) a slow, bad blocking TE at #21. Rookie TE's dont produce very often and Gresham has his drawbacks on being able to run the offensive scheme that the Bengals run.

Allow me to correct some of the inaccuracies of the above statement.

#1 Who doesn't run a spread offense in college footbal these days? You can't compare Keller (Purdue) and Coffman (Missouri) just because they're schools run spread offenses....Below is a link from ESPN stating that 48 teams currently run a Spread Offense...Came from the same system my butt.

/>http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4327427

#2 If they Draft Gresham, that doesnt mean they won't give Coffman a chance. He obviously wasn't ready last year, due to injury/piss poor blocking. What makes you think he will be ready this year? If he is, Great, we can use 2 TE sets...

#3 A Vet FA TE is the simple answer here? really? Like who? Quality TE's are generally not given the chance to hit the open market. They're locked-up, unless they're too old, or non-productive. Below is a link showing FA TE's, of which only Ben Watson is unrestricted, meaning we would have to overpay to get a Restricted FA because if we paid market value, the other team will match, and we get squat.

/>http://www.footballsfuture.com/2010/fa/wr.html

#4 You called Gresham slow and bad blocking? Where do you get this stuff? Are you just making stuff up here? Gresham is a good blocker, and runs a 40 in the 4.6 range...Whereas Coffman (who didnt run at the combine by the way) ran 40's in college in the 4.85 range..Coffman is slow.

#5 How did you come to the conclusion that "Gresham has his drawbacks on being able to run the offensive scheme that the Bengals run" ??????? Did you personally hand him a playbook, and work him out on the field? Do you know something the rest of us don't? Again, another statement not supported by any facts......

Look, I don't want to argue, but I've provided facts, while you on the other hand, are just making stuff up.

I don't understand why so many are fine with our current situation at TE ??? We had virtually no production from the position last year, and our offense suffered because of it. We got by without for a while because when teams would double up Chad, we had TJ. Last year we had no solid #2 , and still no TE. This can't continue....Many people ripped on Carson last year, but the guy had NO WEAPONS, yet you don't want to spend a 1st pick on one? Oh I forget, TE isn't important....Tell that to Dallas (Witten) Indy (Clark) Atlanta (Gonzalez) SD (Gates) Philly (Celek) Houston (Daniels) and damn near every other team in the league. By the way after scoring at least 24 points in their first 8 games this season (Owen Daiels got hurt 8th game at which time he had 40rec 519 yds 5 TD's) Houston only broke 24 pts in 4 of their final 8...take that for what its worth.

Gresham has been said to not block well by the talking heads, and he is slow by comparision to the elite NFL TE's.

I am not arguing with you, my opinion is TE in the first round is a wasted pick and Gresham is not the player that can contribute immediately, that is needed there. I didnt know that your opinion was so much better than mine before your last post, so I will now bow to your superior mental acuity.

[HAPPYJAQ]

Unless I am wrong, Dustin Keller came from that same system as Coffman and was consider the 1B option as TE on that team. Give Coffman a chance and dont waste another pick on TE. A vet FA TE is the simple answer here. Vet FA or Kelley, Foschi and Coffman at TE works for me much better than picking (Gresham) a slow, bad blocking TE at #21. Rookie TE's dont produce very often and Gresham has his drawbacks on being able to run the offensive scheme that the Bengals run.

Allow me to correct some of the inaccuracies of the above statement.

#1 Who doesn't run a spread offense in college footbal these days? You can't compare Keller (Purdue) and Coffman (Missouri) just because they're schools run spread offenses....Below is a link from ESPN stating that 48 teams currently run a Spread Offense...Came from the same system my butt.

/>http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4327427

#2 If they Draft Gresham, that doesnt mean they won't give Coffman a chance. He obviously wasn't ready last year, due to injury/piss poor blocking. What makes you think he will be ready this year? If he is, Great, we can use 2 TE sets...

#3 A Vet FA TE is the simple answer here? really? Like who? Quality TE's are generally not given the chance to hit the open market. They're locked-up, unless they're too old, or non-productive. Below is a link showing FA TE's, of which only Ben Watson is unrestricted, meaning we would have to overpay to get a Restricted FA because if we paid market value, the other team will match, and we get squat.

/>http://www.footballsfuture.com/2010/fa/wr.html

#4 You called Gresham slow and bad blocking? Where do you get this stuff? Are you just making stuff up here? Gresham is a good blocker, and runs a 40 in the 4.6 range...Whereas Coffman (who didnt run at the combine by the way) ran 40's in college in the 4.85 range..Coffman is slow.

#5 How did you come to the conclusion that "Gresham has his drawbacks on being able to run the offensive scheme that the Bengals run" ??????? Did you personally hand him a playbook, and work him out on the field? Do you know something the rest of us don't? Again, another statement not supported by any facts......

Look, I don't want to argue, but I've provided facts, while you on the other hand, are just making stuff up.

I don't understand why so many are fine with our current situation at TE ??? We had virtually no production from the position last year, and our offense suffered because of it. We got by without for a while because when teams would double up Chad, we had TJ. Last year we had no solid #2 , and still no TE. This can't continue....Many people ripped on Carson last year, but the guy had NO WEAPONS, yet you don't want to spend a 1st pick on one? Oh I forget, TE isn't important....Tell that to Dallas (Witten) Indy (Clark) Atlanta (Gonzalez) SD (Gates) Philly (Celek) Houston (Daniels) and damn near every other team in the league. By the way after scoring at least 24 points in their first 8 games this season (Owen Daiels got hurt 8th game at which time he had 40rec 519 yds 5 TD's) Houston only broke 24 pts in 4 of their final 8...take that for what its worth.

Gresham has been said to not block well by the talking heads, and he is slow by comparision to the elite NFL TE's.

I am not arguing with you, my opinion is TE in the first round is a wasted pick and Gresham is not the player that can contribute immediately, that is needed there. I didnt know that your opinion was so much better than mine before your last post, so I will now bow to your superior mental acuity.

Good points on both sides, but I'll agree in saying that Gresham would be a wasted pick. There is GREAT value there if Gresh is on the board. One could argue that he would've been a Top 10-15 pick in the '09 draft. The question is, does JG fit the offense. There could be arguments made either way there, too. One could say that Brat simply doesn't use TEs. Even if you date back to his Seattle days with Jon Kitna, the TE plays a different role in his offense. The alternative argument could be made that he's never really had a major receiving talent at TE, at any point. If the latter is the case, do you trust Brat and Hayes to get the most out of Gresham's talents? Based on the track record, and the Bengals new identity as a running football team, I'm really not sure. As I type this, I'm reminded that neither Todd Heap or Dustin Keller (who both play in primarily running offenses) were known as blocking TEs coming out, so it's all pretty much subjective.

FWIW, if the Bengals don't trade down, I'm OK with them taking the best player on the board, regardless of position.

[BengalszoneBilly]

FWIW, if the Bengals don't trade down, I'm OK with them taking the best player on the board, regardless of position.

I've always hated the BPA angle, but this year I think it fits.