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Unless your team has a Kelce, Gronk, Ertz or Rudolph you have to be looking for a TE.
Raiders going to be a pain in the butt. They could steal our LB in the 1st and TE in the 2nd.
Our need for a TE is so great that there may even be merit in taking Hayden Hurst in the 1st round. Maybe we trade down from 11 for an additional pick and still get Hurst.
Alternative approach is to settle on a good prospect like Gesicki or Goedert in the 2nd round. With so many teams needing TE's, Hurst will attract attention and be gone by the time we pick in round 2.
Troy Fumagalli from Wisconsin is a very interesting player. He didn't compete in the Combine and struggled in the Senior Bowl, but looked terrific in some Badger games. He would probably be a mid round prospect with decent upside. Inspirational player who would become an obvious crowd favorite. He lacks a digit in one hand but it doesn't seem to affect him catching the ball.
Personally, I'd take Gesicki over all of the other TE prospects. I liked his production in college, I like his potential, great size, great vertical and length, great speed, he reminds me a lot of a young Jimmy Graham. He would be a mismatch all the time and have attributes that could exploit size on 3rd down and in the red zone, speed to stretch the seams, length to chip a little (although he's not a good enough blocker at this stage), durable, good work ethic. Lots to like there.
The other guy I would love to have is Adam Breneman, who is a nice prospect who reminds me of Shannon Sharpe. Excellent hands, bigger than DB's and faster than LB's. If his medicals check out he could instantly fill the role that Landry played in the short game but with the potential of being a seam threat and a bigger body for blocking.
I would really love to find a great TE who was an excellent receiver and blocker ... but I'm just not seeing those guys in this draft. But, there are a fair amount of pretty decent prospects at move TE. Let's finally get one ... or two.
He played 3 years of professional baseball (he was a pitcher), that's why he's an "old man" of 25. He happened to be blessed with great talent in 2 sports. I don't think that it should be viewed as a major negative.He'll be a 25 y/o rookie. You can't draft that in the 1st.
A comment I made in another thread got me thinking about where the TE's might come off the board and who may or may not be inclined to consider the position. I realistically started my breakdown with the Rams at 23. Scoring them on a 1-10 scale, 10 being more likely, 1 least. OJ Howard, David Njoku and Evan Engram are all better prospects than anything 2018 has to offer so I think it's possible no TE's go in the first.
23. Los Angeles Rams - Tyler Higbee, 2016 4th round pick. Need is there but value likely isn't.
Score: 2
24. Carolina Panthers - Greg Olsen, awesome player but one eye on retirement already. Value still not great.
Score: 2
25. Tennessee Titans - Delanie Walker, 2017 3rd round pick Jonnu Smith (*FIU*).
Score: 2
26. Atlanta Falcons - Austin Hooper, 2016 3 round pick. Matt Ryan rarely looks his way. I like this guy as a no.2 if he were available.
Score: 3
27. New Orleans Saints. No one. Biggest need so far by a team at TE.
Score: 5
28. Pittsburgh Steelers. Jesse James. Servicable player but they've always gotten more from the TE.
Score: 4
29. Jacksonville Jaguars. Signed Austin-Sefarian Jenkins this week. They could use another, not in the 1st.
Score: 2
30. Minnesota Vikings - Kyle Rudolph has rebounded nicely not missing a game the last 3 years and putting up 20 TD's. They don't have many holes but would be better served with an OL than TE. Still possible.
Score: 4
31. New England Patriots - Drunkowski. The end will come quick for this scum bag. Belichek knows the value of a TE better than any NFL coach. Needs might keep them from being able to take Drunk's replacement.
Score: 3
32. Philadelphia Eagles - Zach Ertz. Like New England, Philly loves the TE spot. They lost Burton to Chicago but are more in the market for a blocking TE. No 2nd round pick means no TE in the first.
Score: 2
33. Cleveland Browns - David Njoku. 2017 1st round pick with a buttload of talent. I wouldn't be shocked if they decided to use the 33rd pick to select the draft's first TE and bolster that offense even more. LT became a big need after Thomas retired so a 2nd TE is luxury. Having picks 35 and 64 makes anything possible with this team.
Score 3
34. New York Giants - Evan Engram, same boat as Cleveland but without the excess picks. Not gonna happen.
Score: 1
35. Cleveland Browns - See 33.
Score: 3
36. Indianapolis Colts - Jack Doyle. Solid player, they don't have to take a TE but with the extra picks in tow, getting Luck help is always on the agenda. Arguably the NFL's worst roster needs everything.
Score: 4
37. Indianapolis Colts - Look up.
Score: 4
38. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - OJ Howard. Nuff said.
Score: 1
39. Chicago Bears - 2017 2nd round pick Adam Shaheen, Trey Burton and Dion Sims. Very solid group.
Score: 1 (Should probably be a 0 but never say never)
40. Denver Broncos - 2017 5th round (should've been 2nd round) pick Jake Butt, Todd Huereman. Solid group that could use bolstering for sure. Butt has potential and they probably want to see where he's at post ACL injury.
Score: 3
41. Oakland Raiders - Jared Cook, 30 years old. 54 receptions, 688 yards, 12.7 per but only 2 TD's. Might have to take a closer look at some of Jon Gruden's teams to figure his TE usage. He had Ricky Dudley in Oakland and then brought him to Tampa along with Ken Dilger. By his third year in Tampa Dilger and Dudley were still his top 2 TE's.
Score: 4
42. Miami Dolphins - Finally, the Miami Dolphins get a TE. Who though?
43-64. If you need a TE, get ahead of Miami.
I am curious to know if anyone has a better read on any of these teams and their TE situations.
Obviously we won't take a TE at 42 if he's not worth the pick but I am ok with moving up to get the one we want.
Really? DamnSad but Breneman had to retire because of his injuries.
Wait. What about all those teams who draft pure BPA?