With respect to Michael Egnew I think four particular points are relevant:
1. So much of this is about opportunities. Charles Clay was wallowing in disappointment until D.J. Swearinger went Jeff Gillooly on Dustin Keller's knee. People forget but Clay was right there next to Egnew on Hard Knocks getting chewed out by Mike Sherman (since fired). He was inconsistent, a tweener, a late round pick, and his position on the roster (#2 tight end) was often cited as a position where Miami needed to get better and/or draft a replacement. Then Keller's knee detonates, and Clay becomes a top 10 fantasy tight end. Weird how that works, eh?
2. Great athletes (from a size-athleticism standpoint) at the position who were written off for one reason or another have a way of turning up like bad pennies in the NFL. Julius Thomas was nothing in the NFL for two years. He had one damn catch in two years as a pro, and that included a year with Peyton Manning. He gets his shot in 2013 and we're talking 1000 yards and 12 TDs. Jordan Cameron was a wide receiver convert who had virtually a blank for a college career, but the main thing he had going for him was really compelling tangibles at 6'5" with 4.53 speed. That's another guy that didn't do much of anything for two whole years in the NFL. He gets his chance, suddenly he's a top tight end. Joe Fauria goes undrafted despite being a 4.72 guy at an outstanding 6 feet, 7.5 inches. Commonly disrespected coming out as being "soft". He got 7 TDs as a rookie. Look at Luke Wilson of Rice. Not even the top tight end on his college team (which was Rice, not Notre Dame or anything) and if you watched him play you knew his limitations as a football player. What does he have going for him? He has 4.51 speed at 6 feet, 5.5 inches. He becomes the #2 tight end all year for the Super Bowl champs. For a season and a half Ladarius Green (6'6", 4.45 speed) wasn't anything in San Diego. Final seven games including two playoff games he scores 4 TDs and catches for 270 yards. When Jeff Cumberland came out he's just a 6'4" & 250 lbs former WR who runs a 4.45 and had a blank mark for a college career because of his tweener status. He goes undrafted but catches on with the Jets and when Keller leaves he gets 400 yards and 4 TDs.
3. Remember that when they took Egnew in 2012 the position was very weak after the top two (Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen). I had Chase Ford (who went undrafted) as a top 5 tight end and I don't think I was too far off as the guy has resurfaced as the #2 tight end in Minnesota and is getting +3.5 PFF marks on limited participation. There was a big dropoff after Fleener and Allen and I think Egnew should've rightly been considered the best tight end prospect after those two.
4. Like it or not right now he's the #2 tight end on the depth chart and that's been showing up in how they use him in OTAs. So I think any talk about him being a long shot to even make the roster should keep that in mind. When the Dolphins drafted Arthur Lynch, given the type of player he is that probably said more about Dion Sims than it did Michael Egnew. A lot of the negative perception about him has to do with a few scripted minutes on Hard Knocks and his draft placement. If not for those things I think people would be singling out Egnew as being a potential breakout player, citing his athleticism and the fact that his strength-weakness profile in college was that of a standout receiver with next to no blocking ability and over the course of his two years in the league he's arguably become the Dolphins best blocker at tight end. Those are normally reasons to have a guy tabbed for potential breakout, but "Freaking Egnew" and drafting the guy in the 3rd round have made that impossible.
