Tight End position. Should we be worried?

[Blokestradamus]

Clay - really good starter. Scheme fit, health is a long term worry.

Dray - decent #2 TE for the system. Also lots of 'forgot about Dray' jokes to be had.

Gragg - linear athlete, blocking is alright.

O'Leary - very not good, crappy athlete.

Gronkowski - Not a tight end.

 

All in all, pray Clay doesn't get hurt.

[8-8 Forever?]

When it comes to the Bills offense, many posters here have a lot of concern with the Bills O-Line, particularly the situation at RG & RT. Which is understandable.

 

However, my biggest concern is at Tight End.

 

I don't have an issue with Charles Clay. In fact I am hoping that he becomes a much bigger weapon for us this season, and there is no reason why he shouldn't be.

 

After Clay, we have Jim Dray, Nick O'Leary & Chris Gragg. Not a lot to get excited about.

 

Dray is a veteran, and seems adequate. But is he just another Matthew Mulligan?

 

O'Leary has potential, but has he done enough to take that big leap this year?

 

Meanwhile it looks like Gragg has found his home on Special Teams.

 

I know that we can't have super stars at every position. I just think that this could be an area of trouble for us.

 

Especially if, God forbid, Clay gets injured.

 

I remember vividly from last year during the Eagles game, Clay got injured in the first half, and things went really down hill at the position after that. The Bills were using Jerome Felton as a TE in that game.

 

Should we be concerned about our Tight Ends this season?

no matter who the backup is, if Clay goes down, that is a major problem and major dropoff to whoever is the #2. Pray the guy makes it through 14 or 15 games. Can't have guys like this missing 8-9 games. Period, end of story.

[Mark Vader]

Clay - really good starter. Scheme fit, health is a long term worry.

Dray - decent #2 TE for the system. Also lots of 'forgot about Dray' jokes to be had.

Gragg - linear athlete, blocking is alright.

O'Leary - very not good, crappy athlete.

Gronkowski - Not a tight end.

 

All in all, pray Clay doesn't get hurt.

I'm praying

[dave mcbride]

Clay - really good starter. Scheme fit, health is a long term worry.

Dray - decent #2 TE for the system. Also lots of 'forgot about Dray' jokes to be had.

Gragg - linear athlete, blocking is alright.

O'Leary - very not good, crappy athlete.

Gronkowski - Not a tight end.

 

All in all, pray Clay doesn't get hurt.

Says who? The Bills medical staff signed off on him, and when they signed him Rex said such reports were hooey.

[Blokestradamus]

Says who? The Bills medical staff signed off on him, and when they signed him Rex said such reports were hooey.

 

You don't have your knee drained half a dozen times for no reason. It seems to keep on nagging at him.

 

I hope it's wrong but it's something I think we have to entertain as a future risk.

[Dorkington]

I fully expect that to happen with a year under the belt and full time reps, but time will tell. I agree, we need to attack all parts of the field.

Where do you think Clay caught most of his passes?

[dave mcbride]

You don't have your knee drained half a dozen times for no reason. It seems to keep on nagging at him.

 

I hope it's wrong but it's something I think we have to entertain as a future risk.

Bloke, I'm being facetious.

[Blokestradamus]

Bloke, I'm being facetious.

 

And there was me thinking you were being an idiot. Phew!

[Nanker]

I'd feel better if our or QB would occasionally throw a pass over the middle to whatever TE is playing. I'm more concerned about that,

Well, that would be a start. I think TT will show improvement in that area this year. Getting all the #1 reps during TC and the preseason should help.

[Cash]

 

And what I want to know is how many of the 31 other teams have the luxury of a lateral move from a TE like Clay to whomever their backup is.

There are a lot of teams that have a better 2nd tight end than the Bills. There are not a lot of offensive schemes where the TE as is important as it is in Roman's scheme.

Exactly. I get the sense that Roman would ideally prefer to play a 2nd TE or FB much more often than a 3rd WR, but he wants a lot of different personnel groupings regardless. It's hard to say for sure who played more, the "3rd WR" or "2nd TE", because Hogan started a few games due to injury, and Harvin/Woods were kind of the co-3rd WR the first couple of games. Plus Mulligan went from 2nd TE to cut, with an O-lineman sometimes replacing him. I took a quick look at snap counts last year, and per-snap, the Bills averaged 2.33 WRs, 1.28 TEs, 0.27 FBs, and 5.10 OL. That doesn't just mean that we ran 3-wide sets 33% of the time, because we ran some 0, 1, and 4 WR sets, but I feel confident in saying we had 2 or fewer WRs on the field [EDIT] at least half the time.

 

Last year (and this year, unless Dray turns out to be better than I expect), our non-Clay TEs were really bad. Like, probably should've been a 3rd or 4th TE level. I think we all overrated Gray because of the way he burst into our consciousness with his first 2 catches, and because he's a good guy with an interesting backstory. And when Harvin was still healthy, our WR corps was pretty good. Even after he and Goodwin went down, it was still (IMO) much more talented top to bottom than our TE corps. And yet Roman still played a 2nd TE (or Felton or Kouandjio) at least as much as he played a 3rd WR.

 

Other than Martellus Bennett, I don't recall seeing any TEs out there this offseason that would really move the needle, so I'm not upset with the Bills FO or anything. But I think that as long as we're running this offense, it makes sense to think of the 2nd TE as at least as much of a starter as the 3rd WR. I think if we ever get 2 starting-caliber TEs, you'll see them both play 60+% of the snaps.

Edited May 18, 2016 by Cash

[3rdand12]

 

 

Exactly. I get the sense that Roman would ideally prefer to play a 2nd TE or FB much more often than a 3rd WR, but he wants a lot of different personnel groupings regardless. It's hard to say for sure who played more, the "3rd WR" or "2nd TE", because Hogan started a few games due to injury, and Harvin/Woods were kind of the co-3rd WR the first couple of games. Plus Mulligan went from 2nd TE to cut, with an O-lineman sometimes replacing him. I took a quick look at snap counts last year, and per-snap, the Bills averaged 2.33 WRs, 1.28 TEs, 0.27 FBs, and 5.10 OL. That doesn't just mean that we ran 3-wide sets 33% of the time, because we ran some 0, 1, and 4 WR sets, but I feel confident in saying we had 2 or fewer WRs on the field no more than half the time.

 

Last year (and this year, unless Dray turns out to be better than I expect), our non-Clay TEs were really bad. Like, probably should've been a 3rd or 4th TE level. I think we all overrated Gray because of the way he burst into our consciousness with his first 2 catches, and because he's a good guy with an interesting backstory. And when Harvin was still healthy, our WR corps was pretty good. Even after he and Goodwin went down, it was still (IMO) much more talented top to bottom than our TE corps. And yet Roman still played a 2nd TE (or Felton or Kouandjio) at least as much as he played a 3rd WR.

 

Other than Martellus Bennett, I don't recall seeing any TEs out there this offseason that would really move the needle, so I'm not upset with the Bills FO or anything. But I think that as long as we're running this offense, it makes sense to think of the 2nd TE as at least as much of a starter as the 3rd WR. I think if we ever get 2 starting-caliber TEs, you'll see them both play 60+% of the snaps.

Interesting and well thought out post.

Folks forget about CKs reps as the 6th O line man playing Blocking TE ( kinda).

 

 

Patriots are going to kill it with Bennett and Gronk healthy. No one can defend those two all day

Edited May 17, 2016 by 3rdand12

[RevWarRifleman]

I'm more concerned with the right side of the O line. To me, that's a bigger worry.

[Green Lightning]

 

 

I'm sorry, but if the Seahawks can be a top team with Russell Wilson throwing primarily outside to a bunch of nobodies then we can too. Our defense will be solid and we will rely on the power rushing game. I don't understand this obsession with where we throw the ball, as long as we throw it to open up some rushing lanes.

No,the middle is where great QB's and receivers make their living. Writing off the middle of the field means you don't really have a franchise QB or a complete offensive attack.

[Formerly Allan in MD]

No

[boyst]

Clay - really good starter. Scheme fit, health is a long term worry.

Dray - decent #2 TE for the system. Also lots of 'forgot about Dray' jokes to be had.

Gragg - linear athlete, blocking is alright.

O'Leary - very not good, crappy athlete.

Gronkowski - Not a tight end.

 

All in all, pray Clay doesn't get hurt.

i wish we had more depth at wr, or something to make me think that past clay - who got injured, and sammy who has been injured, and woods who was injured...we had some sort of insurance.

 

that's why i liked hunter henry in round two, even if trading up.

[CommonCents]

i wish we had more depth at wr, or something to make me think that past clay - who got injured, and sammy who has been injured, and woods who was injured...we had some sort of insurance.

 

that's why i liked hunter henry in round two, even if trading up.

 

I was hoping to take a flyer on Rico Gathers, I'm not sure how well he will adapt to blocking in the NFL but he is going to be a good receiving threat. He is a 6'8 monster and ran pretty well.

[John from Riverside]

I was hoping to take a flyer on Rico Gathers, I'm not sure how well he will adapt to blocking in the NFL but he is going to be a good receiving threat. He is a 6'8 monster and ran pretty well.

Same problem every year...only so many picks

i wish we had more depth at wr, or something to make me think that past clay - who got injured, and sammy who has been injured, and woods who was injured...we had some sort of insurance.

 

that's why i liked hunter henry in round two, even if trading up.

Which of course would mean no Reggie Ragland?

[Steve Billieve]

Not worried at all. I thought I remembered several of our back up tight ends being praised for their blocking. If Clay goes down we just won't throw to the TE much. We barely do anyways.

[boyst]

Same problem every year...only so many picks

 

Which of course would mean no Reggie Ragland?

inside linebackers are much much easier to find than vertical threat tight ends. He was the best in the class by a half mile.

[Mark Vader]

Not worried at all. I thought I remembered several of our back up tight ends being praised for their blocking. If Clay goes down we just won't throw to the TE much. We barely do anyways.

How encouraging