Is Charles Clay finally coming around? And other TE remarks.

DOLFAN016

I watched him pretty exclusively yesterday and definitely like what I've been seeing from him. He has the ability to come out of the backfield, line up at TE, or come out of the slot. Tannehill seems to be looking to spread the ball out a lot more now than at the beginning of the season when Hartline was getting a lot of looks. If Clay can emerge now and Egnew can come to grips with the playbook we may be in a better position moving forward. I honestly still wouldn't mind Eifert in the mid-late first round as I think he will help Tannehill's progression a lot more because we will finally have a reliable redzone target. A trio of Eifert, Fasano, and Clay would be an upgrade over what we have this year. On a sidenote, I was very impressed with a specific catch by Clay yesterday where the defender was in front of him and should've picked the pass off, but Clay kept his focus and made a great catch. I know it's only one game, but it at least shows progress. That's something that I want to see going from week to week from this team as a whole. We still have Egnew on the PS and I will give him the benefit of the doubt since he's still a rookie. Hopefully in year two, or even by the end of this season we can see a few steps from him in the right direction. Fasano is what he is...an excellent blocker and an average pass catcher. He will never be anything more than that unfortunately. He has the hands just not the athleticism that we need for our offense. I also believe that he's a FA in the offseason, so maybe that is why we are giving Clay some increased reps at this point to see what he can do. We need a consistent safety valve at TE no matter who it is. Hopefully we can find somebody soon, or maybe they're already on the roster.
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WaterBear56 · Joined: 26 Jul 2010 Posts: 2878

Love Eifert but I would rather use our first on a receiver with both Clay and Egnew on the team.

Clay is being more involved and is producing well. Looks like the coaches finally figured out that he's a vertical threat, not a route runner.
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Deets · Joined: 16 Oct 2004 Posts: 12660 Location: Red Sox Nation

Big maybe. Very good game and the talent is there but we need to see this week in and week out. I still want to pursue Keller, I think we need two TEs and hopefully either Clay or Egnew will fill the other spot. I'm sick of Fasano.
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Clutch · Joined: 04 Nov 2004 Posts: 2236

PhinFan52 · Joined: 01 Nov 2007 Posts: 4308

a TE I have been keeping an eye on, and hope the Phins look at is Joseph Fauria from UCLA.. great size 6'7" 258.. Good blocker .. good hands.. in 2011 was ucla's leading receiver with 38 catches 481 yrds.. 6 td.. this year 39 catches.. 544 yrds.. 11 tds.. 13.9 ypc.. in 2010 he had only 3 catches but 2 tds... IMO we need a redzone target..

phinmun · Joined: 29 Dec 2007 Posts: 2231 Location: South Carolina

TE is an unfinished position. It's a question mark.

But, WR & Guard are ahead of every other position of need this team has by a country mile. I'll be saying that until April. DE, TE & CB are positions I'd like to see more from but they are all temporarily filled with adequate players and are not directly effecting the team's inability to win games. Let me say that to preface this topic with the note that we're talking 2nd-, 3rd-, 4th and 5-th round picks here.

The lack of talent at WR is only made worse by the fact the position requires so much in this offense. We need at least 2 more guys who can contribute regularly in this offense, I think. TE is a position where we simply need someone with reliable hands, good size and appreciable speed. Egnew could be that player, but he's proven nothing yet.

Defensively, we are as good if not better than the majority of teams we'll face in this league. We are not elite (Play-Off caliber) yet but I'm not looking at this draft from a defensive perspective or settling for a LB, CB or even DE 1st overall simply under the guise that bringing talent to Miami is the right thing to do. That, I believe, is wrong.

No, if we insist on being general, then we must say the team needs offensive talent. Clay is definitely part of this team moving forward but I question his height, especially in the red zone. He has speed to beat LBs which is part of what we need but we still want a fast and athletic body at the position who has the size to be effective in the red zone.

The questions are whether Egnew will provide that? Well, with as many TEs as we have on this roster there's little doubt we need to continue to invest at the position.

I'm alright with continually adding to the position in the mid-rounds until we find someone who'll produce alongside Clay at a high level. New England isn't the only team with an outstanding TE tandem--Baltimore and San Fran also feature multiple TEs who regularly contribute.

The question I'll have for all the fast TEs is whether they have the size. The question I'll have for all the big TEs is whether they have the speed. A big body to compliment Clay is what we're after but we cannot buy a 1-dimensional guy just for the red zone. We need someone who'll contribute across the field but be useful in the red zone, not a red zone specialist.

I'm convinced there is no such thing in this league as a red zone specialist aside from the FB position. There is no great TE I've seen who only gets thrown at when on the goal-line. We're looking for a weapon at TE to cause match-up problems just like we are at WR.

We still need to understand we're looking for a complete player at TE to provide a weapon to Tannehill and to begin the process of actually putting on the field a variety of players in Miami who are difficult to match up with.

Right now, no one in Miami aside from Clay is a match-up problem defensively-speaking. This is why I consider it a lost cause to debate whether or not WR is our 1st round pick. It's the clear hole right now.

Clay is part of the solution at TE but he needs a companion. That piece will be a young, developing player in the mold of well...Egnew. Guys like Jimmy Graham and Aaron Hernandez represent the finished product but inevitably they begin as unproven guys who look like Egnew.

We'll pick someone in the mid-rounds I think and probably replace one of the 4th or 5th TEs we have on the roster. I'll say this much though, Egnew on the roster and with what Clay has shown, I'm not rushing to reach at the position. I put TE on the same level as DE & CB. If we can improve WR & Guard this season and add talent to 2 other spots (between DE, TE or CB) I'll be very satisfied.

Clutch · Joined: 04 Nov 2004 Posts: 2236

Eifert/Ertz/Fauria would all work. Clay, to this point, has proven that he would be given a shot to complete for a starting positon, but thats it. One game doesn't change that. Now if he closes the season putting up similar numbers to yesterday, I may change my tune.
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patdt13 · Joined: 10 Dec 2007 Posts: 6867

Keller/Clay/Egnew
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Russ57 · Joined: 25 Aug 2008 Posts: 538

There is a world of difference between a Clay/Egnew and "Gronk". Some guys have speed, some have size, and a few have both.

Pats have proven that the right TE can be more of a match up problem than the right WR.

We need someone who can step in on day one and be an important part of the running game/blitz protection. He needs to have the speed to separate from LB'ers. He needs to have the size and strength to be impossible for the average DB to cover/tackle him.

Tyler Eifert is all of those things but one. He lacks the elite speed. If I could have him with my second round pick I'd jump all over it. The guy from UCLA and Stanford are worth a look but at that point I'll take a OT/OG/DE/CB/FS first. Now if we are talking 3rd/4th....I'm all in.

IMHO we need to come away from the draft with at least 3 new pass catching options. One of them could/should be a TE/RB/FB.

Given that we run to the right....and Jake hasn't been the same....and Pouncy is too good for a center....I could make some very radical moves on the OL.

phinmun · Joined: 29 Dec 2007 Posts: 2231 Location: South Carolina

PhinFan52 · Joined: 01 Nov 2007 Posts: 4308

phinmun · Joined: 29 Dec 2007 Posts: 2231 Location: South Carolina

Miami2DaMax · Joined: 24 Mar 2010 Posts: 775 Location: North Carolina

Why does everyone want Egnew? He's been pretty bad, even in practice.

ViolentMonk71 · Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2012 8:46 pm Post subject:

I'm a little shocked that Egnew (unless some radical information has been released) is even seen as an options. Granted the kid could be developing, but from the glimpses we saw on hard knocks, what has been reported, and the fact the kid can't even smell the field is a little telling....

As far as the draft....why not take a TE...like others have said an elite TE can do wonders for an offense since they create great match-ups (which is becoming the key to the NFL passing game). Eifert at TE, Clay/Bush out of the backfield, Bess in the slot, Robert Woods and Hartline on the outside looks a lot more promising for Tannehill in year 2.

fishfan4life · Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2012 9:37 pm Post subject:

I recently heard he was practicing well but he needs to improve blocking but more importanly it was special teams he is having trouble with and for him to be active he has to play special teams. I have preached patience with him and actually flashbacked to some pre draft articles and college game tape just last week and im not so sure anymore damn near 60 percent of his catches were bubble scteens that the tigers ran. It would help to get him active for the last few games to give them a idea if he can be the guy but at the same time if he cant help us win now i guess is why they dont.