Dorin Dickerson, WR

[Wraith]

In the 2nd or 3rd round with our first selection, why not take this guy as a WR instead of trying to pigeonhole him as a TE? He is 6'2" 226 lbs timed 4.40 in the 40, has a 43" vert leap and was productive last year at Pitt with over 800 yards receiving and 10 TDs? His QB called him an athletic freak, and he never had any discipline problems in college that I can find.

[BengalPimp]

In the 2nd or 3rd round with our first selection, why not take this guy as a WR instead of trying to pigeonhole him as a TE? He is 6'2" 226 lbs timed 4.40 in the 40, has a 43" vert leap and was productive last year at Pitt with over 800 yards receiving and 10 TDs? His QB called him an athletic freak, and he never had any discipline problems in college that I can find.

Won't happen. The guy doesn't know how to run the routes it takes to be a WR. Do you really want another guy sitting on the sidelines for 2 or 3 years learning ala Jerome Simpson? And at least Simpson played WR in college. Quick....name a college TE who quickly and successfully made the transition to NFL WR.....you can't.

[Wraith]

The guy essentually plays WR today he lines up in a spread formation not in tight like a traditional TE, he is almost never called on to block in this scheme and the more we see guys like this come out of college the more likely one of them is going to make the switch effectively. Only one guy Dorin Dickerson's size has ever come out of college with the kind of athletism that Dickerson has and he was Vernon Davis and Davis is big enough to not make size any kind of issue, but wasn't Davis essentually the 49ers primary receiving target this year, has Kellen Winslow, Jr ever been called on to actually block somebody? Aren't those guys just large WRs in today's NFL? The only difference is we would actually be calling Dickerson a WR.

[BengalPimp]

The guy essentually plays WR today he lines up in a spread formation not in tight like a traditional TE, he is almost never called on to block in this scheme and the more we see guys like this come out of college the more likely one of them is going to make the switch effectively.

No offense, but I don't think you understand completely. The guy does NOT "essentially play WR" and I'll tell you why. As for where he lines up, he may not be next to Tackle, but split out just a little more. Trust me when I say from the experience of playing NCAA D1 ball at the WR position, he is NOT a WR because

1) He is just split a few feet out more than where a normal TE lines up.

2) HE IS COVERED BY LB's NOT CB's (completely different, CB's know you are going out for a pass, and are more aggressive, will jam you more, etc. LB's immediately will drop back, and just try not to let you get a big gain, if a LB plays too tight they run the risk of getting blown by and dont have the same recovery speed as CB's.

3) He DOES NOT run WR routes. TE's generally have a smaller set of routes they run, and are not as crisp.

It's not an easy transition to make. The only chance this guy has, is to be the receiving TE on a team that runs a lot of 2 TE sets. Again, he cannot play WR at the NFL level.

[kingwilly]

The guy essentually plays WR today he lines up in a spread formation not in tight like a traditional TE, he is almost never called on to block in this scheme and the more we see guys like this come out of college the more likely one of them is going to make the switch effectively.

No offense, but I don't think you understand completely. The guy does NOT "essentially play WR" and I'll tell you why. As for where he lines up, he may not be next to Tackle, but split out just a little more. Trust me when I say from the experience of playing NCAA D1 ball at the WR position, he is NOT a WR because

1) He is just split a few feet out more than where a normal TE lines up.

2) HE IS COVERED BY LB's NOT CB's (completely different, CB's know you are going out for a pass, and are more aggressive, will jam you more, etc. LB's immediately will drop back, and just try not to let you get a big gain, if a LB plays too tight they run the risk of getting blown by and dont have the same recovery speed as CB's.

3) He DOES NOT run WR routes. TE's generally have a smaller set of routes they run, and are not as crisp.

It's not an easy transition to make. The only chance this guy has, is to be the receiving TE on a team that runs a lot of 2 TE sets. Again, he cannot play WR at the NFL level.

To say he "can't" play WR at the NFL level is silly. He certainly has not done anything to show he "can't". He lines up at TE or in the slot, one of the Bengals weakest spots since TJ left, and he is a mismatch with LB's and safeties. So, call his position wat you want but I see no issue with him becoming a serious receiveing threat at the NFl level. He can work screens, drags, in-motion, slants, come-backs, etc. I've seen no issue with the routes he's run (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9fZQpuoJ_Q)

[Wraith]

Exactly