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Top Billin' - Hunter Long

Love it...the only thing I disagree with is I think Long is more fluid than Gesicki. In the tapes I have seen of Long, he is very fluid and does not waste motion when getting to his spots. Gesicki is more athletic, but more choppy in his route running IMHO.
I would have to agree. Long seems to be more of “complete” TE than Gesicki. That fluidity also helps Long be respectable after the catch as well. To me that is the one area Gesicki really struggles. He just seems to be an awkward runner despite being a terrific athlete.
 
Gisecki is never going to be a big YAC guy. He does have some straight line speed but he's far from a shifty break away type athlete. Gisecki is great at high pointing the football and out-leaping everybody to make the catch. He'll give you miss matches all over the field and he will force the defense to react to his movements be they pre or post snap. He will get you the first down when needed and he'll score TDs for you in the red zone. He'll be the move TE in this offense with Long and Durham Smythe doing the inline work. Having Long and Gisecki on the field at the same time with Waddle, Fuller and Parker gives the defense a ton to worry about.

The TE room is crowded and it looks like some very fine players could be cut, same with the wide receiver room. This is the mark of a vastly improved team. The players we cut this year, in some cases, were starters for us last year. There are some tough decisions coming and some players we love are going to get cut. It's all about tweaking the roster until it's perfect.
 
Gisecki is never going to be a big YAC guy. He does have some straight line speed but he's far from a shifty break away type athlete. Gisecki is great at high pointing the football and out-leaping everybody to make the catch. He'll give you miss matches all over the field and he will force the defense to react to his movements be they pre or post snap. He will get you the first down when needed and he'll score TDs for you in the red zone. He'll be the move TE in this offense with Long and Durham Smythe doing the inline work. Having Long and Gisecki on the field at the same time with Waddle, Fuller and Parker gives the defense a ton to worry about.

The TE room is crowded and it looks like some very fine players could be cut, same with the wide receiver room. This is the mark of a vastly improved team. The players we cut this year, in some cases, were starters for us last year. There are some tough decisions coming and some players we love are going to get cut. It's all about tweaking the roster until it's perfect.
There have been a lot of Tight Ends like this... some of them have played for years just because they were money on third down... even guys like Bavaro who could barely practice during the week.
 
I would have to agree. Long seems to be more of “complete” TE than Gesicki. That fluidity also helps Long be respectable after the catch as well. To me that is the one area Gesicki really struggles. He just seems to be an awkward runner despite being a terrific athlete.

Oh yes! When all else fails revert back to “Akward runner!”
 
He was pretty spot on about some of our guys that we drafted and how well they fit our scheme,,,,
 
Wasted pick. I loved this draft although I wish the donkey's hadn't gotten our RB, but this is the only pick I hated. Poor mans Durham Smythe.
 
Here's Zierlein's commentary from NFL.com:

Pass-catching tight end with decent speed and plus ball skills but a concerning lack of consistent aggression in his play. Long is much too passive and unskilled as a run blocker at this point of his development to consistently help against NFL competition. He also needs to get better at controlling his catch space with body control and physicality. However, when the ball is in the air, he plays with a plus level of tracking and focus to make tougher catches look easy, including throws that are down near his feet. He doesn't look like a burner, but he does have success running the seam and working over routes, so play speed should not be an issue. He's unlikely to ever be much of a blocker, so he must learn to become more competitive and feisty in fighting for his space and the football.

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Now, to me... this sounds more like Shaheen, than Smythe, but this is just one man's opinion.

SI's guy said this:

Great size and catch radius with good build-up speed; isn’t a dynamic athlete but knows how to uncover, find voids in zones, and create enough separation in the short to intermediate parts of the field. He does well to find the seam and bend away from coverage against the middle of the field closed types of defenses as well as the middle of the field open.

A good pass-catching tight end with quality ball skills and only has five drops on his resume--several of them were against North Carolina in 2020. He does a solid job releasing up the line of scrimmage and bending around the covering defender with active hands that could be used more efficiently in conjunction with his feet to beat good press defenders.

He does a solid job running routes but isn’t overly fluid in and out of breaks which are somewhat rounded. He brings very soft hands to the table--hands that adjust and extend away from his large frame well.

He does a very good job making contested catches (outside of that NC game) through traffic, and he plays with a lot of concentration. A quality security blanket in the short to intermediate parts of the field for his quarterback.

He has enough speed, change of direction ability, and quickness to be trouble for some two down linebacker types in the NFL; he can also use his frame to box out smaller safeties and dictate the catch point with his solid play strength and long catch radius. He isn’t going to make many men miss in space with the football in his hand, but he brings good physicality to the tackle point.

He is a solid overall blocker with good foot quickness to mirror if needed in pass protection. He doesn’t overwhelm EDGE defenders with his play strength, but he has enough strength to hold up the point of attack as long as he keeps his center of gravity down.

He is more of a pass-catcher than a blocker, but he’s a willing blocker that is a bit more advanced than Evan Engram was in that area when he came out of Ole Miss in 2017.

Overall, Long is a top-five tight end in this draft who has quality receiving skills highlighted by his soft hands and solid ability to uncover in the short to intermediate parts of the field.

His build-up speed allows him to be effective up the seam as well. He’s a solid blocker who could still develop that area of his game a bit, not to allow defenders to separate so quickly on initial contact. Long should be a late day two selection in the draft.

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Both analysts say he has plus hands and is more elusive than you'd think. One spoke well of his blocking, and one said 'no', so it will be interesting to see where this goes. Either way, it looks like we are envisioning him as an old-school Y-type TE. If he becomes a plus blocker, then we will have a better Smythe, because he is a better receiver.
 
Wasted pick. I loved this draft although I wish the donkey's hadn't gotten our RB, but this is the only pick I hated. Poor mans Durham Smythe.
I'm going to tag this. You're take on Long is miscalculated. In 3 years he will be among the top tier TEs.
 

"Rank 5
Hunter Long

Hunter Long
Boston College
Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins
Draft pick: Round 3, No. 81 overall

Long is my second-highest ranked rookie tight end when it comes to win share. However, this article focuses on production in fantasy football categories, so he slides a bit in the forecast because of the pass-catching situation he finds himself in (with Will Fuller, Mike Gesicki, DeVante Parker and Jaylen Waddle also competing for opportunities). However, Long was targeted 17 times in one game at Boston College -- and PFF gave him an impressive 83.2 pass game grade last season -- so it's not hard to see his pass-catching potential. On passing downs where the target was in the middle third of the field, Long was able to create separation of at least three feet at the second-highest rate last season among Power Five tight ends. Given his strong performance in blocking and spatial metrics, Long's versatility helps project usage in the NFL. Being on the field doesn't ensure fantasy gold, but it's certainly a good starting point and helps drive value for the entire offense."
 
I love Murf, the 'Top Billin' guy. I love the mix of slang and on-point technical language. I get more hip and football-smart watching his videos.
 
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