I guess you guys have made me understand this better. There are many things that can be done with him if he works out and I guess I have to remember that FA could solve the other issues. The devil is always in the details, but where is the added speed coming from? Darrien Sproles??.
Maybe. . . I really don't care whose number is running the TD's as long as they run them. Just win brother !! :-) Time will tell.
Marshall is gonna love playing in this offense. It was a massive priority to help him earn his money, and we succeeded in a big way. Double him up and Clay, Gates, and Thomas will make defenses pay. Single up Brandon and he's gonna eat them alive. happy dance.
There is a small herd of Developmental Wr's who just got their wake up call when Gates arrived, Jpru, Wallace, Moore, Carter, etc, perform or you will be leaving.
He's a confusing player to understand cobra so I understand where you're coming from. Speed's coming from Gates, Clay (ex receiver who is a mismatch vs a linebacker), and probably a RB in FA. Could be Sproles. Sparano said he liked him IIRC, no? Daniel Thomas might not be fast, but he can make plays in the run & pass game. All these players tie together very nicely with who we currently have on offense. VERY NICELY.
This awesome draft haul basically allows us to do whatever the heck we want in FA. We're not really pigeon-holed into anything, which I wasn't expecting to be possible.
I'm not even sure we planned on Gates. I can see the war room now----- Everyone's sitting there looking around at each other as if Gates is the last jumbo shrimp on the appetizer platter that no one has touched for a few minutes.
I think we did TP, I seriously think Irish met with the coaches and they told him what they needed and he did his best to find them, that is why we see this balance between D/O/ST, Gates was probably the best Returner on their board, Wilson the best ST player etc. For the first time in 4 drafts every unit was looked out for, in the past if a player was waived the ST implication were not even a factor, now Rizzi and Fipp have "their guys"..
I know he was on our radar and we were interested, but I don't think we were planning on taking him ahead of a running back or Oline is what I meant. I meant we were lucky he landed in our lap b/c there was a decent chance he should've never been there in the 4th round. If we wanted him THAT badly, we would've traded up for him. We took a wait and see approach to the 4th round and hit a homerun. There's a lot of guys Ireland wanted; we couldn't have taken them all.
With all this talk about spreading the field and creating mismatches you can take advantage of in the ground game, imagine if Miami had a mobile QB that could pass pretty well. Say Christian Ponder for example. Remember that Matt Cassel game in Miami in 08. Imagine that except instead of just a running QB, Moss, and Welker you're also facing yet another mobile threat coming from a RB and your defense didn't start out in say a dime to begin with. Your defense started in a nickel. I've got LBs on Thomas and Clay, a safety over the top to prevent perhaps Gates from taking one to the house, and I'm probably still trying to double cover Marshall. One of my CBs has no help against Hartline. I've accounted right there for 7 defenders. I have my line and my QB. Oh by the way I forgot to mention that my QB can run, hahah *****es.... You'll need a DL to spy against him. Perfect now you've got a three man rush with Hartline and my two RBs in single coverage. Yes you're ****ed. Vince Young? Just saying... Just saying... Even better idea. We'll do this formation until the defense has to use safeties to cover one of the running backs. Then Miami will quickly see that the defense is in a dime with perhaps one capable LB and a DL trying to play spy on Vince Young (you're ****ed *****es). Now they'll go undersized. Guess what happens? Miami goes into its 3 WR set perhaps even bringing in Marshall close to the line to play what is essentially a second TE against a dime formation with undersized line. Miami's new and improved line romps on the other team holding the ball for twenty minutes.
Remember too we have an entirely different Offense now. Our definition of FB may have changed. Polite may be on the way out.
While researching Gradkowski found an interesting thing about Daboll: Qb coach in NY, which puts Dorrell in a weird position. ST Coach Fipp: Wonder if they saw in Clay the same thing they saw in Robinson in SF as far as ST goes?
Here's one of the ways we can use Clay: 0:40 mark (no, not the fumble)..... and his ability to make plays starting at the 2:40 mark (3 runs in a row). Just a reminder, he was a Freshman All-American as a WR. [video=youtube;qnnqcKxk0Ek]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnnqcKxk0Ek[/video] Check out the nifty handwork at the 1:38 mark. [video=youtube;Ary_jhbGVq4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ary_jhbGVq4[/video]
He has this extra gear that won't show up at all on the 40. Quick with a burst short, then decent speed, and then Boom.
Jesus F'ing Christ, you are quibbling over an 1/8 of an inch? His combine height was 6'2 7/8", but it really does not matter if he is that or an even 6'3. http://www.footballsfuture.com/2011/combine/te.html
Hearing the comparison to Chris Cooley, but think he can run the ball a bit as well as being a natural receiver, he and Gates are really smooth catching the ball even in traffic.
Haynos is 6'8 for all the good it does him. I don't care if Clay is 6'3 or 6'2 7/8s or whatever. I just hope he is a good player for us. Why do you hate using an H-Back?
Then there's this nice catch as a freshman with a defender draped on him at the 1:10 mark. [video=youtube;3irQZqOyKx8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3irQZqOyKx8[/video]
I think he could be a fine weapon as a runner. How about running him in behind Polite in the I? Like a jumbo package.
Well, Sparano is such a Roster Flexibility maven Clay's ability to absorb the offense will dictate his ceiling, if he can play TE/Fb/Rb/ST gunner and maybe even return some kicks in a pinch, his role is really up to his learning curve. Interestingly enough, in 4 yrs at tulsa, not a single fumble: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/player/profile?playerId=237445
He had roughly 30 plays of 30+ yards through the ground and air combined, so I believe there are a lot of ways we can use him, MC.
lmao...... That would make sense b/c Clay's ****ed a lot of defenses the past 4 years. PS: why doesn't it surprise me that you'd be the one to come up with that? lol.
The thing I like most about him is he was a Freshman All-American WR who caught 1000 yards. Then a new coach comes in, switches his position, and and somewhat takes him out of the limelight by doing so. A lot of kids could become dejected by this as you know----- because you're old and old people know s***. lol. During the games I watched, he showed me a selfless kid who seems to love the game, plays with passion, and is a great teammate. He was always downfield greeting his teammates with enthusiasm after TDs or big plays. I got the impression he's extremely coachable and will give 100% to whomever drafts him. I'm happy it's us.
I think he is the most interesting pick next to Wilson, both are difficult not to cheer for making the team.
You dont need bench press stats when u catch the ball in space. Ive seen his videos. He can get the ball in the endzone. Thats what i want to see.
Clay tweeted: This is one of the reasons I really liked him during the season; I got the impression he's the kind of player who leaves everything on the field.
In this age of specialization, the mega versatile Clay is a real throwback player. I'd not be surprised if he could play LB too. If he had been born 60 years earlier he'd have been a 2 way player I'd bet. I'm glad we got him and if he stays healthy will prove to been a steal in the draft. My 2nd favorite pick after Pouncey.