CK What TE's if any in do you see the Dolphins picking in this years draft and in which round?
They have had their eye on Kellen Davis of Michigan State, as well as Jermichael Finley of Texas and Martin Rucker of Mizzou. Martellus Bennett and Brad Cottam are absolutely Bill Parcells types. But, Dustin Keller might be more of the H-Back type that Dan Henning is looking for. Yet, they've been sniffing around Jermaine Wiggins lately and if they sign him, I would not handicap the Fins taking a TE early.
This is a strong TE draft. The more I watch the TEs play, the more I think so.
Martellus Bennett is the best all-around TE in the draft. He's tall at like 6'6" and 260 pounds. He ran a 4.68 in Indy, has what amounts to probably a 38 inch vertical. He proved in Indy that on his big frame he can get down the field in a hurry, but he's a natural jumping athlete and rebounder, a former basketball player at TAMU that decided to focus on football. His experience at TAMU has mostly been blocking...couldn't be helped. They were a running offense down there, under Franchione. Fortunately for Bennett that means he might be the most accomplished blocker in the draft. But in the passing game is where he has tremendous upside with his great height, great athleticism, natural rebounding skills, I love how he gets body separation in traffic. Rumors had it he was ticked at Franchione and wanted to leave because of his under-use in the passing game. But, after researching more and seeing interviews, I think he takes just as much pride in his run blocking as his pass blocking. Where he griped was he felt like they sat him on the bench too long. He's a character, definitely a comedian. Not quite a Jeremy Shockey who will rub people the wrong way, more like a Rex Hadnot.
Fred Davis is also a VERY accomplished blocker, that's one thing I don't think people realize about him is he was known mostly as a blocker that needed to get more involved in the passing game, and he got so involved in the passing game and looked like such a good athlete with deep speed and natural instincts, good hands, etc...that people forgot he was a good blocker. What I like about Fred Davis is how he was used in the USC offense. He was definitely used in a variety of ways, lining up all over the field and executing all kinds of assignments. I think of him as the most experienced and pro-ready guy among the Tight Ends. Just ask Karl Dorrell about Fred Davis, he knows from playing him at UCLA. Their defensive coordinator went on record before playing USC saying the one guy on USC's offense that they really felt they had to account for on every play was Fred Davis. Some people probably prefer their TEs to be more on the 6'6" side, where Davis is more 6'3"...could be more suited for H-Back.
Dustin Keller is a Dallas Clark clone. He might be more athletic, which is mind boggling. He's a little lighter. He runs about 6'2" and 245. He ran a 4.53, jumps around 42 inches, broad jumped nearly 11 feet, put up the bar 26 times...I mean, there aren't actually that many differences between Keller's stuff and Vernon Davis' stuff. Primarily just Davis' clocking 4.38 at 254 pounds while Keller clocked 4.52 at 242 pounds. You watch the way Keller was used at Purdue, and he screams at you H-Back, if his height dimensions didn't already scream that at you. He did some of his best work at Purdue from the backfield as an upback. He has the speed to put an entire defense behind him. I think Bill Parcells NORMALLY would like a guy that is big, 6'6" and like 260 or 270 pounds...but if you asked Dan Henning, he might say...give me Keller. I don't know. It's hard to say.
Brad Cottam is exactly what Parcells would want. Big country boy is 6'8" and 270 pounds, yet he ran a 4.63 in the 40 and can clear about 37 inches vertically. This is a big, athletic animal. As big and as athletic as they come. Soft hands, great strength to be a good blocker. He practiced for and played in the Senior Bowl and showed he could play with quality people. But, only one touchdown in his college career. The story on him is injury after injury kept him from reaching his potential at Tennessee. If a guy was injury prone in college you should never be surprised if he's injury prone in the pros. The upside is he could be the next Jason Witten. The downside is he could be the next Joe Toledo.
I've recently been watching more of Kellen Davis and I have to say he's a very underrated prospect. He's 6'7" and 262 pounds, ran a 4.59 in Indy, has a 34 inch vertical, can clear about 10 feet in a broad jump, and you look at his body and how it's built and he is very impressive. Many people think of him as an underachiever. For certain, prior to 2007 he really wasn't delivering on his talent level. However, in 2007...I believe he could have been a LOT better than he was if the coaching didn't get in the way. He caught for 500 yards and 6 TDs in 2007 but he could have done a lot better. The problem was, he's such a good athlete that Michigan State used him as a Defensive End on obvious passing downs. And you know what? He's damn good! When you watch him, you can't escape thinking of Jason Taylor. I know Gosder Cherilus had genuine problems with him in pass rush in the bowl game. Thing is, you can't have a single guy playing iron man football like this. It wears him down. He was taking nearly every snap on offense, probably 90%, and then taking like 30% of the snaps on defense...in that game against BC. And let me tell you playing DL will wear you out more quickly then TE. What you ended up with was a highly compelling athlete for the first 20 minutes of the game, then over the next 30 minutes you had a guy that just looked tired. Too tired to do the little things. He got back into that BC game during the last 10 minutes purely out of adrenaline because MSU made some big plays and got back in the game and made it tight. At some point you've got to pick a position for him. Is he going to be a DE? Or is he going to be a TE? Pick the position, and let him flourish. I think he will.
I don't have much to say about Rucker. He's a good athlete, good in the passing game, but not by any means an accomplished blocker. Jermichael Finley I have even less to say as I've rarely ever focused on watching him play.
