TE Preview & Discussion thread

[georgiafan]

TE Preview​

Present
Delanie Walker had a career year last year with 63 catches for 890 yards and 4 TD. But as the old saying goes what goes up must come down so don't expect Walker to match this number this year. His rating will probably be in the mid 80's maybe even the highest offense player on the team. Delaine is undersize at only 6 feet tall and is a very good run blocker.

He will be backed up by 3 veterans in Anthony Fasano, Craig Stevens and Chase Coffman none of which are anything to get excited about. Fasano should win the backup TE job after catching 25 balls for 4 TD's last year. He is also a traditonal TE that is know more for his blocking. Which the same can be said for Craig Stevens a former bust of a 3rd round pick. Last week the team signed Chase Coffman who is more of a receiver at a 6'6 250 pounds who is also a former 3rd round bust.

Future
This is the only position that we have did so far where there isn't any young players to get excited about so some young fresh legs will need to be brought in. Walker and Stevens are 30, Fasano is 31 and Coffman is 28. If the titans are picking in the top 15 like expected that might be a little to high to draft one in the first round. But anytime you have a young QB you want a good TE as a safety valve. The new owner believes in surrounding a young QB with as many playmakers as possible so expect one to come off the board but the TE will have to be able to block to. Walker should be able to be a quality starter for two more years so the plan is to draft one in rounds 2-4 who can learn for a year and take over in year 2 or 3.

The Star - Delanie Walker
The unknown - None
Start packing your bags - Chase Coffman
Offseason priority - High

 

[georgiafan]

* Before I get started posting stats I want to say that my TE Delanie Walker had the majority of his stats in 5 games that I didn't play. In those 5 games he had 22 catches for 264 yards. So in the 11 games I played he had 26 catches for 276 yards in 2 TD.

Final 2015 Stats​

Delanie Walker - 48 catches for 540 yards, 2 TD, 11.3 Avg.

Craig Stevens - 6 catches for 42 yards, 0 TD, 7.0 Avg.

Anthony Fasano - 3 catches for 15 yards, 0 TD, 5.0 Avg.

Thoughts - The TE group as a whole is one of the deepest on the team but that did not show up on the stats this year. The 2nd TE went back and forth between Stevens, Fasano and Phillip Supernaw. With the OL being weak this unit was used more as blockers.

Grade - C

 

[georgiafan]

2016 TE PREVIEW​

Delanie Walker (87 ovr) returns as the starting TE but he is 32 and is coming off a down year from where he was in 2014. He is still a good run blocker (82) so that will be enough to keep him in the starting lineup even if he doesn't catch much passes. But we expect his receiving stats to go up a bit with more passes being thrown in MM 2nd year. While he can still be good starting TE his skills are starting to decline.

The titans feel like they got the steal of the entire free agent class in Josh Hill and were shocked that he had no other offers and he is locked up for several years at a low salary. Josh is a young guy at 26 and is a big target at 6'5 260 and better receiving ratings then Walker but not quite the blocker. He will see plenty of action as the titans run a lot of 2 TE sets. He graded out at 82 overall, 82 speed, 83 agility, 86 agility, 80 catch, 77 catch in traffic, 87 jump.

Last year the titans keep 4 TE's but I don't know if that will be the case this year with Anthony Fasano (80 ovr) and Phillip Supernaw (74 ovr) will battle it out for the 3rd spot. With big things expected from Hill this year and with Walkers age and contract being up it will be interesting to see if Hill can make a serious push for the starting job. At worst we expect him to start next year and some young talent to be brought in.

 

[georgiafan]

2020 TE Preview​

For the 3rd straight year the same 3 TE's return with starter Justin Austin, Josh Hill and Darren Waller. Last year we saw Austin live up to his superstar potential and if he isn't the best TE in the NFL he is in the conversation. He is 6'6 with mid to high 80's speed and low to mid 90's in route runner, catch and catch in traffic. He isn't a good blocker, but the team feels they can sacrifice that since the OL and FB excel so well in that area. He has had 40 catches in each of his first 2 years and his yards was actually down last year. Where he took his game to the next level was TD's where he went from 1 to 9.

Darren Waller is another 6'6 TE and he is a niche player as he is the fastest TE in the NFL. He had a career high last year 260 yards and 4 TD. With so many teams loading up blitzing and playing cover 1 in redzone and short yard situations to stop Darrell Jordan. These guys are taking advantage of the aggressive defense playing calling.

Veteran Josh Hill splits time with Waller at the #2 and he is the best run blocker of the bunch and grades out mid 80's overall. He hasn't caught many passes in his 4 years even though he is a solid receiving TE. If. something was to happen to Austin then he can step and start and the drop off would be minimal.