State of the Bills Roster: Tight Ends

A young quarterback’s best friend is his tight end.

Brian, you scared me with that line.

In reality, TE is a need but not a bigger need then a passing rushing DE, DT or OLB that can be disruptive. If we don’t address any of those positions via free agency then we could be drafting a TE in the mid to late rounds again.

I would still prefer to keep Royal over Schouman. I know that won’t be a popular opinion, but I feel like Royal makes for a decent backup and a great 3rd TE. I feel like he has been overly criticized because he is a terrible starter just like Josh Reed got torn apart last offseason. Royal is a classic case of the grass is always greener thinking. Here is my logic for keeping Royal over Schouman:

I want the Bills to let Derek Fine start next year and draft the most athletic, upside filled, down the field and after the catch threat they can find in the early/middle rounds. I don’t care if the rookie can’t block anyone, I just want a pass catching playmaker. Assuming that he can’t block anyone and that is the reason why he is still available in the 3rd or 4th round, do you really want that rookie and 223 pound (according to buffalobills.com) Derek Schouman to be the only backups to Fine? What happens if Fine gets hurt again? You wouldn’t have a decent blocker at the position.

I think Royal would make for a solid backup and role player who can come in and block in multiple tight end sets or in short yardage if Fine isn’t around and can make the occasional play down the field which Schouman hasn’t really done (only 1 career catch over 20 yards).

Ideally we would handle the situation with a free agent (which there sadly aren’t any of), or a high draft pick (which I think would be better spent elsewhere). So I am totally on board for the Fine starts and splits time with a pass catching rookie experiment. I just think Royal is the better #3 TE if the choice is between him and Schouman.

I would give the kid big money to bring him in. He is a restricted free agent so a big contract would probably needed, in order to block the Titans from matching. Somewhere in the 5 years 23 million dollar range is what I am guessing it would take.

Bo Scaife can be an impact Tight End?

…because I’m a little conflicted on this idea myself. But what Gonzalez? They were close to trading him last year, and they will have a new GM who’ll probably want to maximize his available resources.

Cut Royal, Keep Schouman and Fine and get Shawn Nelson, TE S Miss in Rd 4 to be our Vertical, seam stretcher TE. 4 year starter with 40 catch, 4 TD per year avg production. Good speed and RAC coupled with durability and 4 years of production.

Fine is the blocking TE, Nelson the playmaker and Schouman is hybrid look.

need IMO. Nothing will help this team more than a pass-catching TE, IMO. This position can do wonders for an offense. This position is vital to the offense moving forward big time in 2009. To have a pass-catching TE that can consistently beat Safeties and LB’s in coverage is a threat that we have not had in Buffalo for over a a decade.

A pass catching TE does the following:

1) runs seams routes that force the Safety to stay home in the middle of the field, thus allowing more 1:on:1 for our outside WR’s.
2) Gives a big target RIGHT in front of Trent’s eyes. The easiest throw for a QB is straight ahead between the hashes. A TE that can get open in the hashes is a great safety valve
3) Allows Josh Reed, to get either a LB or Nickel DB on him, where he can now exploit coverage or find a spot in the zone
4) RED ZONE OFFENSE – A pass catching TE forces double teams on play action passes forcing one on one coverage on guys like Evans and our RB’s. Matchups I would take any day. And if the TE gets single coverage, it is usually on a LB in the Red Zone which is a matchup a good pass-catching TE can exploit regularly.

This is a position that would drastically increase the Offense performance. It would make Trent better, Turk Schonert better, and all the other skill players on offense. Drafting a mid-round TE is not good enough IMO. We have to get an instant impact, which is why I prefer a trade or a veteran coming in. With Carl Petersen gone from KC, the loyalties to Gonzo aren’t as strong and John Clayton reported on WGR weeks back that Gonzalez would have gone to Buffalo if indeed the Bills offered what Carl Petersen wanted of a 2nd and a 5th.

Option 1 should be trading a 2nd round pick and a conditional pick based on Gonzo’s performance

Option 2 -Taking a TE in Round 1

Option 3 – Drafting one in Round 2

Option 4 – Trade for another viable TE

Look folks, I know we need a Center and a DE and another LB immediately. But, defenesively whether you like the scheme or not, we can hold teams down for the most part. We HAVE TO, MUST be able to score points regularly on offense. Without a big time help at TE, that will not happen and we will continue to struggle to score points against good defenses. We need a TE, and I for one think it would be the most impactful position to add to Buffalo’s roster if we get the right player

I’m convinced that thats partly that he isnt getting opportunities, because there’s no way that a Tight End can graduate from Boise State and not be able to catch the football.

And I like Fine. I’m in favor of a early-mid round pick like Chase Coffman. can’t block, can catch. Fine can do the blocking, let schouman be the backup.

While I have not watched the games up to my usual standard yet (thank you DVR), I think these are the Bills’ top 5 needs right now (I can almost guarantee these will change):

1. DE
2. C
3. DT
4. TE
5. LB

I really have no legitimate basis for this list, yet (I’ve got more film to watch). Just my gut instinct right now. I care more about the future than I care about 2009, if that makes any sense.

Brian, that YouTube video (Breath of Fresh Air) was high quality. One of the funniest I’ve seen in a while.

I think the Bills will chuck Royal out the door on his keister. At that point we have Schou and Fine on the roster, and the past 5 games this year anyhow Fine was the first TE on the field, he was an upgrade over Royal in blocking, so no loss and only net gain there.

As much as I would like an impact Rd. 1 TE, it won’t happen. We need to look at guys from smaller D-1A and D-1AA schools who are the focal points of their passing attacks, and there are quite a few of them out there. We should nab one of them in the 3-4th rounds, because I have a feeling that we may in fact fall back from the #11 pick due to the demand for DEs and other positions by other teams.

We should throw all the Owen Daniels talk out the window. Rotoworld has him under contract through 2009 so he isn’t an RFA this year. I guess he got a 4 year deal after the draft instead of the standard 3 year contract.

I think Aaron schobel is a decent player, even a good player. However he’s not the guy. If we go get a guy like Julius Peppers, then Schobel/Williams/Stroud/Peppers is a really good defensive line, I think. It goes from a weakness to a strength

To me, Aaron Schobel is a Phil Hansen. He’s was a good player, but he was successful when he had Bruce Smith on the other side. Schobel can’t be Bruce, he’s got to be Phil. We need to go get a Bruce.

Let’s face it, the top tight ends in the draft, Pettigrew and others will be gone. A few late round picks that could be their in 4-5 rounds are Coffman from Missouri and Ryan Purvis fom Boston College. Coffman can really get down the field and stretch it.

And I think needs a good offseason, and a chance to start, unless OBD think sotherwise.

Cut royal, or only a backup, and then like smeone else said, draft the most athletic TE with no blocking ability in RD 4

from the TE position is what you have to ask yourself. There are so many ways to address the situation and all the permutations depend on how you want to utilize the TE. So far, Buffalo’s coaches have shown that they don’t emphasize the position either personnel-wise or schematically. You can all bet your bollocks to a barn dance that it will be de-emphasized again, this offseason. So expect a veteran free agent or a 4th-7th round draft pick.

Who does that leave us with? Well, if you’re satisfied with the blocking of Fine and Royal (I believe Schouman is the odd man out here), then that leaves Buffalo with little dynamo at the position. A draft pick that could fix that is a guy like Cornelius Ingram who will be a mid-round draft pick because he blew out his knee last spring and is undersized as a TE. Ingram is a physical freak but needs to work on his hands. Or a guy like Travis Beckum, who is really just a huge WR… he may cost a late 2nd or 3rd round pick, however. Beckum catches everything you throw at him and no one could match up with him at the collegiate level. If they go free agent, we could be looking at a guy like LJ Smith who could fix the position for us entirely as he’s a pretty well-rounded player. Free agent options are pretty limited and dissatisfying, unless we get lucky and there are some interesting cuts made.

Robert Royal would be a great part of this team if he was our 2nd TE… a primary blocking role and less balls thrown at him. Can Derek Fine start for us? Why not? He showed a pretty good feel for the game as a rookie and was better than expected as a blocker. Why not give him the chance to improve? Either way, someone would have to hold down the position until a rookie could fully take over… so we are likely to see it anyways.

PREDICTION:

The Bills will draft a player in the 4-5th round they feel would play hard and be able to do the things they ask their TEs to do… not much. Robert Royal and Derek Fine will battle in camp for the starting role and it will be given to Royal because Fine doesn’t have the skills right now to separate himself from a vet like Royal. The rookie will be buried until Fine or Royal inevitably gets hurt and we might get a chance to see what he can do.

WHAT I WANT:

Travis Beckum. He could do for a team what Antonio Gates does for the Chargers because he is serious match-up problem. He runs excellent routes, can stretch the field, and catches everything you throw at him. He won’t have a ridiculous work out so he may last until the 3rd, in which case Buffalo should do what’s necessary to get him. Beckum was a factor every time I watched the Badgers play. He would also be huge in the red zone.