Greg Cosell - article on passing attack des-Dustin Keller

Is it me or did Keller become this great-great player that's so critically important, AFTER he got hurt.

 

Its not you.
Good read by the way.

 

It's you. Keller has been considered critically important from the get go IMO. As much as having a legit seam threat TE can be considered critically important. The next 3 in line are all unproven.

 

Not me. I expected Keller to fulfill his potential. Keller showed it in his 1st couple of seasons. Jets woeful QB situation hurt him. I expected Keller to step up this season and help Tanny in the process.

 

I loved it when they signed him, and when he and Tanny gel'd INSTANTLY, even more...truly hated watching him go down.

 

I agree, and anyone who believed that from the beginning has a legitimate gripe. I'm talking more about people in the media. I didn't hear much of anything about Keller or how critical he'd be to the team until he got hurt. Then all of a sudden Keller's a modern day Mike Ditka and it's a devastating loss OMG OMG OMG.

With Clay, Egnew and Sims I am more worried about their experience level than their talent level. Knowing the checks, route adjustments, deciphering coverages, etc. No replacing Keller w/ respect to that stuff.

 

No doubt, Keller was going to be a big help to the QB. But in terms of how important he was to the offense as a whole I'd rank him behind Tannehill, Martin, Pouncey, Wallace, and probably Miller too, making him 5th or 6th on the list of offensive players we can't afford to lose.

 

I saw him as a 750-1,000 yard receiver with about 5 or so TD's this season. I'm hoping play calling, the waiver wire, or a light clicking for Charles Clay can replace that.

 

nice

 

Agree. Alot of changes and new and 2nd season breakout seasons expected on the Offense with those players. With Keller i was expecting that vet presence to show up. I thought we had that pass outlet and checkdown weapon weve been waiting for. I know its by the by now but i was still p*****d days after that injury. It happens. Clay and Sims to step up and maybe Egnew. Gotta stay positive. Will be interesting to see who Tanny favors when he's looking downfield tonight and more importantly, who can get open for him at TE.

 

I also look forward to Cosell's opinion since he's a guy I know watches a ton of film. What you get from him is perspective relative to how everybody else is doing. You don't get those ridiculous complaints about Tannehill's accuracy, for example. Obviously Tannehill wants to be more accurate just like every QB in the league does, but if you compare him to how accurate other QBs are then it's a baseless complaint. He's one of the more accurate QBs in the league with far fewer WTF throws then guys like Luck or Newton.

You get the same perspective regarding the OL. If you read the forum you would swear that our OL's pass blocking was among the worst in the league this preseason. The biggest critics pretend their being realistic when they say we may be below average. Cosell points out in the article that our OL has graded out as 15th in pass blocking this preseason. And that's with our third option at RG starting due to injury. I see no reason to doubt that the RG position will improve when Jerry returns. And the improvement will be even greater when Louis rounds into form. I see Jerry as an average RG and Louis as above average when healthy. So the realistic expectation for our pass blocking this season is that we're already average and will most likely be above average when healthy.

 

Couldn't agree more. 3rd downs, vs the blitz and in the RZ is where he's gonna be missed the most.

 

I hear gripes about the run game as well, when it's pretty obvious the staff has been more focused on other things. Miller (who's been going 3/4 speed to this point) has what, 9 or 10 carries? Thomas has a few more, but Gilly and Gray have gotten the bulk of the work. There was a lot of hand wringing about the run game during the 2012 preseason also and it turned out to be noise.

If I had to guess I'd say they want to get Clay/Sims/Egnew a lot or work this week. Might be another game where the run game takes a back seat.

 

2ND yr QB from a WR background with limited starts at QB in college. Taken in 1st round and hes commanding the Offense and the leader in 1st season. If that isnt alot to stick on a Rookie then i dont know what is. Luck, RG3, Wilson....Ryan Tannehill was afforded the luxury of being invisible last season by default with those rookie QB's from 2012. Tannehill still is by QB reps alone a rookie learning on the job even in his 2nd season behind a suspect LT and average running game. He's doing a great job imo.

 

Greg Cosell should be more mainstream. He might be the best NFL voice out there.
Then again, making him mainstream could ruin him....

 

IMO Tannehill has one of the highest ceilings in the league. Of the young QBs out there I might only take CKap or Luck above him long-term, and if I did it wouldn't be by much. RT won't be on their level this season, but when he gets those 4 - 5 years of experience it'll be a toss up as to which is the best.

 

Luck I would for sure......Most likely Wilson......maybe CKap....no to RGIII

 

Wrs all look good. Clay might shock the world this season if he stays consistent. He's got the tools, hope he steps up. I think Gibson will be the guy that quietly changes things for our passing game while Wallace very loudly changes it

 

They all have weaknesses. Luck is less accurate and doesn't have as strong of an arm. Wilson doesn't have anywhere near the arm of RT. CKap doesn't read defenses in the passing game as well. RGIII has poor pocket awareness. He takes so many hits that I don't trust him to last. RGIII also makes simplified reads. But I have more faith that RGIII's ability to read defenses will improve than I do in his pocket awareness improving.

Now of course, they all have strengths too. I just think that RT's weaknesses are most likely to go away with experience.

 

Love the confidence but does anybody actually know what his ceiling is? Wallace is huge to contribution but im not sold on Tanny yet. We cant go on natural talent because that "talent" right now is 1 season in the NFL. He's got the tools. I think whatever Tannehill will bring to the party will be by learning on the job and the Phins Front Office and coaches giving him the weapons, players and time to get him there. Stick Luck, Wilson or RG3 into the starting QB position for the Dolphins last season and you would have seen a drop off in production, stats and wins. Colts sucked huge because they wussed on purpose to get him which was a win/win situation. Wilson was a ? mark who proved with a great defense backing him up to be good if not better. RG3 gave the stagnant Redskins Offense life all of a sudden with a QB that brought the bootleg option and then some when their O schemes which was more than stagnant and thats being kind. Tannehill was drafted into an Offense and team that most of their players couldnt spell Playoffs let alone have experience actually participating in them. That still stands.

 

I could have envisioned Brandon Gibson being the 5th WR by the end of the season. If Binns' camp translated to the field then it was probably going to happen. Matthews could very well pass him by around week 12. Matthews showed some nice things in college and has had a solid off-season report-wise. Gibson will have his place moving the chains, especially early on, but he and Matthews are physically the same person except I believe Matthews has a higher ceiling and more physical tools to succeed.

In a year if Binns recovers well and Bumphis is an NFL receiver, Gibson could very well be a pre-season trade or camp cut.

 

I hope Matthews takes the #3 job.

If egnew improves, we shouldn't miss a beat in the passing game.

 

In my experience you evaluate players based on both their potential (talent level) and on their likelihood of reaching that potential. IMO that likelihood is based largely on what they are and aren't already good at, whether those weaknesses are areas that usually improve and on the personality (dedication, drive, willingness to put in the work, etc.) of the prospect. I think that RT's odds of reaching his ceiling are pretty good and that his talent level is as high as almost anybody's.

 

It's not just you. Dustin Keller has been overrated by most on here since he signed. The guys stats when he is healthy for his career are pedestrian. He's supposedly a tight end that stretches the field vertically, yet he is consistently in the middle of the back to the bottom of the pack when it comes to yards per targeted pass and # of long receptions. He's never been close to average as a blocking tight end in his career.

 

I was banging the Keller drum long before he signed. The guy is talented. It's unfortunate he had to spend his prime with Mark Sanchez as his QB. If Keller was a patriot, he'd be all pro. Hell, if Hernandez got arrested sooner, he might just be one. Sucks we have to move on now, but it is what it is. I disagree about it not being a loss. It's not going to break the offense, but it's still an important loss. Especially on a team with only one playmaker.

Holy ****, 22% of pressure throws were dropped? God we sucked. Glad to see GC saying positive things about Tannehill though.

 

Some of us have been saying it for awhile.....Tannehill was hampered by his receivers.

 

Mark Sanchez.

 

No way he beats out Gibson if both are healthy.

 

"Some of us" includes me..... And frankly, I'm still of the opinion the receiving core isn't good enough. I love Mike Wallace, am open minded about Gibson, and don't like Hartline. I would've rather we signed Amendola in his stead. I also question if RM can take a step forward and become a playmaker. I also wanted to draft a receiver, namely Bailey, Patton, or Wheaton to develop.

 

I disagree. I'm not saying he would be an all pro or anything but he looked like he was going to be really solid and be a nice release valve when Wallace, Gibson and Hartline were covered. And the other tight ends just don't seem to be there yet I feel.

 

With Tanny and Gibson seeming to get more on the same page last night, does anyone else think that we could see a lot of 3-wide, H-back. Single back looks this season, ala the Gibbs Redskins from the late 80s and early 90s? Without Keller, we dont have an all around TE on the roster anymore, so I think that we could use Clay & Simms depending on the situation, and spread the field a bit to give Miller room to use his speed.

 

This x1000

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FTR, I didn't mean to imply you weren't one of the ones. I was just immaturely gloating.

I was on the Bailey wagon too.

I think Gibson is going to become a favorite. Seriously, all he does is catch 1sts and TDs.

Hartline...sigh. His TD allergies are very, very, very real, but he's a solid route runner and seems to be a heck of a person. But I'd would like to see him upgraded too.

Other than that, we are night and day better than last year. Our starting WRs have already got the same amount of TDs in 4 games of preseason as they did all year.

 

Yes, but I think as the season goes on Rodriguez becomes more integral then Clay.

 

I never felt Keller was a great TE. But I certainly think he is far and away better than the TE's the Dolphins now have on their roster. Keller was an above average NFL receiving TE. The remaining TE's are mediocre at best.

 

In what sense exactly?

 

If he stays on the team, I think he'll become the go to FB/TE hybrid that they want Clay to be. I think he catches the ball better, runs better routes, has better hands, and blocks better than Clay.

 

I agree.

 

Cosell is right. The performance of Miami's offense, good or bad, will have so much more to do with Ryan Tannehill than it would have had to do with Keller or lack of Keller. The loss of Keller hurts, no doubt. But if Tannehill is ready to make that next step to becoming a proven NFL QB then he will be able to find other open guys. Based on last night's action, I think Gibson might be capable of catching a lot of those passes that Keller might have seen.