Charles Clay, budding superstar | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Charles Clay, budding superstar

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gafin

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His 69 catches were the second most a tight end had in Dolphins history, behind only Randy McMichael's 73 in 2004, and his 759 receiving yards also were the second most behind McMichael's 791 that same year.

As the season progressed, Clay became Ryan Tannehill's top weapon in the red zone, and on third and fourth downs.

In one season Clay transformed himself from a marginal NFL player into a budding superstar.

"He's a big, physical guy that moves like a receiver, so it's a tough matchup for defenders," Tannehill said. "He wants to be good. I think that's the biggest key. He's constantly trying to be better."
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After last year people came to me and said, 'Hey, you had this good year.' I don't look at it that way. I look at all the things I could have done better," said Clay, who got married this off season to Tenia Clay, his high school sweetheart. "I think about all the plays I left on the field….[There's] a lot of situations and plays I'm looking forward to this year so I can take advantage of those [missed opportunities]."
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And that leads us to what Dan Campbell, Clay's position coach, always knew about his protege.

Campbell, who played tight end for 11 seasons in the NFL, coaches Clay with the understanding that no matter how hard he is on this 2011 sixth-round pick, Clay's beating himself up worse.

That was the source of Clay's early struggles in his first two seasons. He'd drop a pass and then be in the tank for the rest of practice, or the game. He admittedly spent too much time in his own head.
"If you get on him all you're doing is dog-piling," Campbell said. "He'll just beat himself up. It has been a good two-year process of him climbing out of that hole, and last year he finally got out."
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Lazor compares Clay to former Washington tight end Chris Cooley, whom he coached during his tenure as an assistant for Joe Gibbs.

"He's is a very sudden player," Lazor said. "There are a lot of pictures of him on video last year getting matched up inside and just being explosive with his quickness, being hard to cover."

Lazor's goal is to improve Clay's route running, and Philbin hopes Clay becomes a better in-line blocker. If both of those things happen, Clay could be looking at his first Pro Bowl season.

"We want to open up the world of more things for him to do. We want to utilize his speed, his explosiveness," Lazor said. "We are going to try to help him become an all-around player at the position."

But Clay realizes the odds of him sneaking up on anyone this season are slim to none.

"I don't want to say people didn't pay attention to me last year because a lot of [teams] do a good job when it comes to scouting, but I expect things to be different, more difficult," he said.

Clay knows with all the praise comes "great responsibility."

He's got a name that's known now, and it is his job to make people remember, and respect it.
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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/...hins-lead--0829-20140826,0,6270631,full.story


Good article from Omar on Clay's makeup.
 
I'm hoping for him to be my late round pickup in my fantasy draft sunday...Get the Known goodys first, then scoop him up as a decent sleeper. Thank goodness the dolphins are irrelevant to every one else. If Mike Wallace is available in round 10 I might just take a hit on that too.
 
PyroDOLFAN said:
I'm hoping for him to be my late round pickup in my fantasy draft sunday...Get the Known goodys first, then scoop him up as a decent sleeper. Thank goodness the dolphins are irrelevant to every one else. If Mike Wallace is available in round 10 I might just take a hit on that too.
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I don't see Wallace falling to the 10th round, but if he does...that's a no brainer value wise. Low risk/high reward.
 
AFCMiamiEast said:
I don't see Wallace falling to the 10th round, but if he does...that's a no brainer value wise. Low risk/high reward.
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Its a 12 team ppr league with a 500 dollar prize on the other side, Its a 10 player team with 6 on the bench so it gets pretty deep. Lots of research goes into it and I wouldn't be surprised to see Wallace drop, although chances are my homerism will reach for it. (because every year most others seem to have a personal hate for the phins in my league, lol) We even have a Lombardi trophy and championship RINGS...we get a little fancy ;)
 
Clay went around rnd 8 or 9 in both of my drafts this season. Wallace usual somewhere in the 6th rnd maybe 7th
 
PyroDOLFAN said:
I'm hoping for him to be my late round pickup in my fantasy draft sunday...Get the Known goodys first, then scoop him up as a decent sleeper. Thank goodness the dolphins are irrelevant to every one else. If Mike Wallace is available in round 10 I might just take a hit on that too.
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I waited to take Clay late in my draft last night... my wife took him one spot before me.... didn't see that one coming.
 
He's definitely for real. Best part of last year. I hope his contract demands are reasonable because clay and gator could make for a very interesting offensive threat moving forward.
 
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