seadog Posted February 25, 2005 Posted February 25, 2005 that's the rule of the pittsburgh system, and they've done their best when they've had guys like bruener in there. a key statement from mularkey this year was when he was asked about the relative lack of productivity of the TEs (before they were hurt). his response was that as a matter of fact, he thought it was one of the best-played positions on the team, and he was clearly referring to the improvement in TE blocking (especially with regard to Campbell, who really improved). There's a reason why guys like Kyle Brady are so admired despite not catching a ton of balls - they're sensational blockers. moreover, mularkey was this sort of TE in his playing days, and coached these types of tight ends for the steelers in the late 90s before becoming OC. the long and short: the bills are planning to operate a run-first, play-action, ball control offense, and my strong hunch is that they want a TE who can block well. i could be wrong, but i seriously doubt they want a guy like pollard, for whom blocking is an inconvenience (I'm sure they'd love Daniel Graham from NE -- a terrific blocker -- but he's not available). for this sort of offense, pass catching comes second, and blocking comes first. their offensive line isn't good enough to overcome weak blocking by the tight end. denver in the late 90s and dallas in the early 90s could overcome it because their o-lines were so dominant, but the bills' current o-line can't hold a candle to them. anthony becht seems like a pretty good blocker, and while he's not a top flight receiver, he could fit the bill. he's a free agent. 251572[/snapback] Jason Peters
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