through fifteen games this year:
LJ Smith has 22 receptions for 236 yards, which works out to 10.7 ypc. His longest reception was 26 yards and he has scored just one touchdown. Schobel has 10 receptions for 100 yards--10ypc average--with a long of 18 yards and also just one touchdown. Brent Celek logged 13 catches for 160 yards and zero touchdowns.
Together they have 46 receptions for 496 yards and 2 TDs.
That's pathetic.
There are 12 TEs in the league who boast more yards alone than these three combined. 40 tight ends have as many or more TDs alone than Philly's entire TE squad.
And these number are coming out of an Andy Reid offense. Addicted to the pass. In which the TEs are supposedly an important feature of the offense.
By any measure, the TE position was awful for the Eagles this year.
Where is this team going with the TE position? I hope to hell LJ is gone as soon as this abortion of a season is over. I don't know what he'll get paid elsewhere, but whatever it is, he's not worth it; Celek is obviously no worse.
Celek and Schobel going into next year then, with Celek as the starter? Do they add a real TE via FA? Pickings are slim, see below. Draft another? Pick up a scrub and preach the 'we're fine at TE' gospel?
FA TEs..
Klaus Alinen ERFA Atlanta Falcons
Billy Bajema RFA San Francisco 49ers
Dwayne Blakley UFA Atlanta Falcons
Chris Cooley UFA Washington taterskins
Bryan Fletcher UFA Indianapolis Colts
John Gilmore UFA Chicago Bears
Ben Hartsock UFA Tennessee Titans
Nate Jackson UFA Denver Broncos
Eric Johnson UFA New Orleans Saints
Ryan Krause UFA Cleveland Browns
Billy Miller UFA New Orleans Saints
Matt Murphy UFA Buffalo Bills
Marcus Pollard UFA Seattle Seahawks
Sean P. Ryan UFA New York Jets
Ben Troupe UFA Tennessee Titans
Aaron Walker UFA St. Louis Rams
Jermaine Wiggins UFA Jacksonville Jaguars
Kris Wilson UFA Kansas City Chiefs
Dallas Clark UFA Indianapolis Colts
2008 TE draft prospects (* underclassman)
Fred Davis, USC
John Carlson, Notre Dame
Martin Rucker, Missouri
Jacob Tamme, Kentucky
Chase Coffman*, Missouri
Martellus Bennett*, Texas A&M
Travis Beckum*, Wisconsin
Dustin Keller, Purdue
Shawn Nelson*, Southern Miss
Darius Hill*, Ball State
Joe Jon Finley, Oklahoma
Chris Hopkins, Toledo
Kory Sperry, Colorado State
Craig Stevens, California
Brad Cottam, Tennessee
Joey Haynos, Maryland
Tom Santi, Virginia
Gary Barnidge, Louisville
Kolo Kapanui, West Texas A&M
Darrell Strong, Pittsburgh
Adam Bishop, Nevada
Robbie Agnone*, Delaware
Kellen Davis, Michigan State
Cornelius Ingram*, Florida
Jonathan Stupar, Virginia
Tate Casey, Florida
Eric Butler, Mississippi State
and don't forget whoever BYU has at TE
I thought a big part of the lack of production was because they continued to insist on playing LJ, who wasn't healthy enough to help. Schobel was clearly a piece of shtein last year. Celek has looked OK so far, nothing more. Of course, that may be all you can expect from a rookie 5th rounder.
The real question is has Celek shown enough to warrant starting? Or do you go get someone else. I'd lean toward the latter, just because you need to cover your ass if Celek doesn't work out.
Cooley re-signed
http://www.taterskins.com/news/newsDetail.jsp?id=4216
I thought Tamme was too small to play TE, but Spads said Gasperson could see some time there and he's only 6'4" 220, albeit in an emergency type of situation. Tamme is 6'5" 240, Celek 6'3" 250, LJ 6'3" 260. Tamme (white boy) took over in the Tennessee game. Big catches, good grabs at times Kentucky needed them. I'm not sure if he's an NFL level TE though, 240 is pretty light and he's more of a wr than LJ (not sure about his blocking though), but if Gasperson was even thought of a TE vs NO, why not Tamme. And like mentioned before, this offense needs a gamebreaker TE, and seeing as how he's kinda a WR first type of TE, maybe he could be that guy. I feel he's a better athlete than LJ. Or an H-back type of deal. ...or he could end up being like Spach/Thorn. :-D
Yeah, I knew Cooley signed. I meant to take him off that list, but now it's there for all eternity.
Boy, based on that free agent list, we'd be better off with LJ. Blech.
Any chance the Saints let Eric Johnson go?
Unless Reid pulls a rabbit outta' his hat, it's LJ next season.
Our TE's suck, and Reid is lucky as hell he has three players in one coming out of the backfield. Westbrook is so friggen' great he almost makes you forget that this offense even has a TE.
Even a guy who would catch 4-5 balls a game for 50 yds. with a TD every 3rd or 4th game would be a great boost to this offense. It's sad how Reid hasn't given Dmac the help other qb's in the league have on offense.
http://www.concretefield.com/forum/index.php?topic=19649.0
Dallas Clark voided the last year of his contract so he's a UFA too
Odds he hits the streets? Pretty low I gotta think. Comes down to whether they think they need Bob Sanders worse.
Dallas Clark Please
If not, draft a TE by the 3rd round
Dallas Clark should be the #1 choice but he's gonna get mad money in free agency and I doubt the frugal Eagles will go that high for a TE. I'd like to point out the Eagles could have selected their TE of the future (Olsen) with their 1st round pick last season then taken Kolb in the second. If LJ comes back so be it, he's not my first option but he isn't a horrible TE, however I feel that's a long shot.
My guess is the Eagles sign a second tier TE then call it a day.
Celek is their tight end of the future. I don't know why you guys are even bothering with this. Either you haven't been paying attention or you're deluding yourselves.
Olsen was sitting there and the Eagles passed. They passed knowing L.J. wasn't going to re-sign and they drafted a tight end later in the draft.
Celek's it so long as Reid's in charge.
Case closed. (Unfortunately)
celek might be a player...have you seen enough of to know otherwise romey...i havent...i wouldnt be opposed to going into next year with him and a competent veteran battling in camp for the starting job
id be shocked if dallas clark made it to the open market...at the very least he would get franchised i think...but i expect him to be signed
I don't know if he's a player or not, IGY. I wasn't advocating for him either. All you need do is read the signs that are flowing from NovaCare, specifically the Spadaro suite, to know what they think of him.
well when you said "unfortunately" i got the impression that youd rather him not be starting next year
I'd rather the Eagles draft a stud or get a legitimate free agent starter.
I'm sick of the plug & pray bullshtein that the Eagles regularly employ.
Admitting that and expecting anything different from those clowns are two different things entirely, though.
Celek is a manbearpig that much is known, getting Clark would make me so wet i would fall off seats
have you ever shtein so bad you could taste it?
Colts just dropped a load of cash on Bob Sanders. Maybe that helps free up Clark.
Probably not.
it helps free up the franchise tag for him
precisely
Quote from: FastFreddie on December 29, 2007, 04:20:49 PM
Colts just dropped a load of cash on Bob Sanders. Maybe that helps free up Clark.
Probably not.
Probably the opposite, because now they don't have to worry about which of the two to apply the franchise tag to.
I wonder how Clark will handle getting tagged. He was a real bitch about that EA sports ad he didn't like.
QuoteSmith's career as an Eagle may be over
Saturday, December 29, 2007
BY JOHN NALBONE
PHILADELPHIA -- Free safety Brian Dawkins and cornerback Lito Sheppard are listed as doubtful for tomorrow's season finale against the Buffalo Bills at Lincoln Financial Field.
Veteran tight end L.J. Smith is out.
Possibly for good.
Smith admitted this week that negotiations for a new contract with the Eagles (7-8) have broken down, and the unrestricted free agent come March is not about to risk his future and a potential payday elsewhere for one meaningless game.
"At this point, I don't want to get hurt. Period," the former Rutgers University standout said. "I don't care if it's free agency or not. If my knee is not right, my knee is not right. I can't rush it."
Smith, the Eagles' second- round draft pick in 2003, played in only 10 games this season due to groin, sports hernia and knee inju ries. He missed all of the post-draft mini-camps recovering from the hernia surgery, only to break down after only a few days into preseason camp with a severe groin strain.
Smith's final totals for 2007 are 22 receptions for 236 yards and one touchdown -- not exactly a glowing resume' to take into free agency.
Since 2003, Smith has 194 catches for 2,227 yards (11.5 avg.) and 15 touchdowns in 73 games (44 starts).
The only other tight end of note with the ability to test the market is Dallas Clark of Indianapolis, but many suspect he will re-sign with the defending Super Bowl champion Colts.
"I've been hurt since May," Smith said. "It's been a frustrating year for me, but at this point I really can't control anything, so I'm just looking forward to playing football from start to finish next year. Wherever it may be."
The Eagles have received only 45 catches, 496 yards and two touchdowns worth of production from their three tight ends, including only 13 receptions and no trips to the end zone for rookie Brent Celek after the fifth-round pick from Cincinnati led the team in receiving during the preseason.
Smith, 27, averaged 55 catches per season in 2005-2006 and seems resigned to his fate.
"I've thought about not being here since the beginning of the season," Smith said. "I can't cry over spilled milk, (but) this definitely is not the way you want to go out."
Bringing Smith back remains a possibility, albeit a long shot, but with neither Celek or Matt Schobel doing much to stand out in an offense that depends on its tight ends to make plays, where does head coach Andy Reid and the front office go from here?
"We haven't really gone through all that yet," Reid said yesterday. (General manager) Tom (Heckert) and I will sit down with (team president) Joe (Banner) after the season. We'll see how things work out. L.J. is a good football player. He's been banged up a little bit, but that doesn't mean he's not a good football player. It's just been one of those years for him."
The injury-plagued seasons of Dawkins (foot) and Sheppard (knee) also appear to be over, as both are expected to be de-acti vated for the Bills (7-8).
Contact John Nalbone at jnalbo ne@njtimes.com
I don't want LJ back. It's irrational, I know. There aren't better options in FA.
So be it. I think you can find plenty of TEs who can't block, can't hang onto/run with the ball. Time to let one of them have a shot. It could hardly turn out worse than this year has.
I really don't want him back either. I soured on him this year with his comments, attitude and the inability for the butterfingered farg to not hold the ball. That's one reason why I want to see Celek do well today.
Find a pig who can block as the #2. And hope Magnum PI can be a #1 guy that this offense needs.
I hope this is just lip service being paid to bringing him back. If Celek develops and if Smith is brought back and is the Smith of old they could be a solid 1-2 punch. But I'd rather see them move on.
But hey - aren't we all glad Jason Witten is in Dallas? LJ 2nd; Witten 3rd. farg.
Boss looked pretty good last night. When was the last time we could say that about an Eagles TE, much less a back up?
[crack dream]Maybe the Colts will sign LJ because they can get him on the cheap compared to what they'll have to pay Clark and Clark will fall into the Eagles lap.[/crack dream]
I'd be happy to get Eric Johnson away from the Saints and let Johnson and Celek fight for the starting role.
I'm sure that's a pipe dream too.
Johnson would be a nice pick-up. He hasn't done much in Nawlins this year, but when he was with SF he was money.
Johnson's had some injury problems in the past though too, no?
yeah, he was out all of '03 and '05 iirc
When healthy, he's better than LJ imho
Definately. I was pretty sure he had a couple serious injuries in the past but wasn't 100% positive.
Celek has been a nice player this year and would be a perfect #2 TE. The only problem is Schobel is certainly not a #1.
Considering all the things on this team that need to be fixed, I think Celek will probably be the starter next year.
How does this make everyone feel?
i would have no problem with celek starting enxt year but like a lot of things on the offense i will only accept this IF they get the #1 wr everyone wants
curtis
brown
avant
celek
NO
ocho
curtis
brown
celek
YES