White Tight Ends

[Don Wassall]

While it has been another disastrous year for white receivers other than Bennett and Stokley and the occasional big game or big play by Proehl, Chrebet, Curtis and a few others, it has been a good year for white tight ends.

Jason Witten and Eric Johnson are both having huge seasons and have moved to the top of the class among receiving tight ends, joining Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates.

Jeremy Shockey has stayed healthy for the first time in his three years as a pro and is also having a nice year, though the Giants don't come close to tapping his potential as a receiver.

After hardly being used the first quarter of the season, Dallas Clark has been showing his talent with the Colts, catching a touchdown in five straight games, topped off by an 80-yarder last Sunday. Like Witten and Shockey, Clark is as fast as many black NFL wide receivers.

Jeb Putzier of Denver is coming on as a receiving tight end. Veteran Ken Dilger has been one of Brian Griese's favorite targets the past few weeks. Washington rookie Chris Cooley has had his moments and looks to be a future star.

It's too bad Todd Heap has been injured most of the season because he is extremely talented and should be Kyle Boller's main target when he returns.

 

[JD074]

Hopefully they'll soon be joined by Heath Miller of
Virginia, a great collegiate tight end. I think he was
the one with that spectacular one-handed
touchdown grab on Saturday.

 

[white lightning]

That is one position that whites still dominate.ASU produced Todd Heap and they have an even better t.e.
now by the name of Zach Miller.He is going to be even
better than Heap when all is said and done.In fact,ASU
has 3 different Millers on the team and they can all play.I hope Todd gets healthy soon.Witten has been the
suprise of the year thus far!He might just be better than Jay Novacek when his career is done.

 

[bigunreal]

I think that Dallas Clark is gradually overcoming the natural bias
against him, so that soon Indy may have to acknowledge that keeping a
TE with his kind of speed and big-pay capability off the field at any
time is ridiculous. Marcus Pollard is still a decent TE, but Clark is
superior to him in every way, and should unquestionably be their
starting TE. It's almost as if the team still feels it would be
inappropriate to have both Clark and Stokley on the field at the same
time, which results in Stokley only being there when Indy is in their 3
WR set, while Clark replaces Stokley when they go to a 2 TE set. But,
can't complain too much- both Clark and Stokley are really
producing.

 

[Lance Alworth]

I wouldn't say that its been a disasterous year for white WR's. In fact, I think the Sterling Sharpe segment on white WR's on the NFL network proved otherwise.. that whites are just as capable of being recievers as blacks are. In fact, you're starting to see more and more white WR because of their pass catching ability and overall toughness. Compare that to the many black WR's who routinely drop passes and make crucial mistakes by not being mentally focused.

Ever notice how white recievers rarely ever drop passes while black recievers seem to drop them on an almost regular basis? IMO this has to do with the mental aspect of the game. Whites are generally known as "thinking mens" players or "intellectual assassins" while blacks are more known for their physicality. Remember, football is 90% mental, and as long as it stays that way, we whites will always be there to claim our rightful place in professional football

 

[jaxvid]

The University of Michigan last year had an amazing 5 tight ends on NFL rosters:

Mark Campbell
Benny Joppru
Aaron Shea
Jermane Tuman
Jay Riemersma

 

[Don Wassall]

The best rookie receiver this year has arguably been Michael Clayton of Tampa. His timed speed in the 40 at the Combine this spring? 4.7.

There isn't a white receiver who would even be invited to the Combine if he was that slow. In fact 4.7 is on the slow side for a lot of white tight ends. Yet Clayton was a first round draft pick, 15th overall.

The black receivers' supposed big advantage over white receivers is their speed. So then how did the slow Clayton become so good so fast? Maybe he's a good route runner, has a feel for the game, is smart, and has great hand-eye coordination.

Yet if so, these are all attributes whites have in abundance, but their supposed lack of speed and quickness prevents them from getting an opportunity in the first place. To name just one, John Standeford, the Big Ten's all-time career leader in receptions, is faster than Clayton in the 40, yet went undrafted and was cut by Washington in the preseason after not so much as seeing the field of play in any exhibition games.

Is it possible that Standeford and many other white receivers could, like Clayton, compensate for having less than blinding speed by utilizing other skills to become successful in the NFL? Nah. . .

 

[white lightning]

S.Heiden of the Browns had 7 catches for 82 yards today including 3 touchdowns. He is quietly having a good year.
Just another good tight end that you don't here too much about.

 

[Don Wassall]

Rookie Chris Cooley of the Redskins has really become an integral part of the offense in recent weeks and is now one of the most productive tight ends in the league.

But I can't stand Joe Gibbs. He will develop a talent like Cooley, but John Standeford was treated as badly as can be. It's pretty sad when a very wealthy, self-professed Christian man in his 60s whose reputation as a great coach is already well established, will still refuse to give a record-breaking white receiver even the most basic of opportunities.

 

[white lightning]

Both Witten and Johnson just might crack the 1000 yard barrier which would be great. Witten has the best chance.As you said,it's too bad Heap was hurt most of the season and Shockey was underused until recently.

 

[bigunreal]

Don,



As someone who watched virtually every Redskins game during Joe Gibbs'
first tenure there, I have always felt that he is the luckiest coach in
the history of the NFL. If you have ever watched him interviewed, it is
something to behold. He uses the word "guys" in almost every sentence,
and is always addicted to saying "we kinda felt like" or "I kinda felt
like" over and over again. In short, he sounds like a complete moron.
Gibbs was the beneficiary of a couple of great, great drafts by the
Redskins' front office (this is how Bobby Beathard made his
reputation). The "Hogs" on the offensive line all came in the league
pretty much together and gave him one of the most dominant lines of
all-time. This allowed him to win constantly with mediocre QBs like
Doug Williams, Jay Schroeder and Mark Rypien. I saw Gibbs win more
games by the other team missing a makeable field goal, or having a
crucial penalty called against them than seems humanly possible. Also,
I coined the term the St. Joe Drop-O-Meter (I called him St. Joe
because of this incredible luck) to describe the drops of opponent WRs
and DBs week after week. Okay, rant off.

 

[Don Wassall]

Witten needs 97 yards against the Giants tonight to become the first white tight end in 18 years to have 1,000 receiving yards.

 

[Don Wassall]

Aaaaargh!!! Witten dropped a pass on the final play of the game, which would have put him over the 1,000 yard mark!He played another very strong game and ended unofficially with 980 yards. The Pro Bowler is among the very best tight ends in the NFL now, but oh so close!

 

[white lightning]

I saw that last play.He was going deep but Vinnie under
threw the pass badly.Witten ran back,dove and almost made
a incredible catch.What a shame.I wanted him to get the
1000 yards so bad. What did Eric Johnson finish up with.
I'm guessing around 800 yards.

 

[Don Wassall]

Johnson ended with 82 for 825. If Tim Rattay had not gotten injured he probably would have had over 100 catches and 1,000 yards.

 

[IceSpeed]

Some of the best athletes in the world are TE's and linebackers.
These guys run 4.7 forties, bench 300 pounds, and squat 500 pounds.
They are football's decathletes. Jeremy Shockey ran an average
4.66 forty at the NFL combine and benched 370 pounds. It is
interesting that people talk about blacks being superior athletes when
the best all around athletes are white. Think about the number of
white decathletes. Then think about the number of whites in the
NFL who have good strength and speed.

 

[Don Wassall]

It was encouraging to see two teams fighting over Jeb Putzier. The Jets signed him to a nice-sized offer sheet, which the Broncos matched.


Putzier is a former wide receiver at Boise State. He's a pure pass catching tight end who showed last season that he can be a star. He averaged the most yards per reception of any tight end in the league. There's no reason he can't have the same kind of impact in Denver that Shannon Sharpe did -- if Mike Shanahan has the "courage" to use him in a way that maximizes his talent.

 

[white lightning]

We have some more good young tight ends coming into the
nfl and we already have a great bunch.The future is very
bright at this position.Expect Todd Heap to have a monster year coming off the injury,Shockey,Witten,
Johnson,and Dallas Clark who is quickly becoming one of
P.Mannings favorite targets!

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Yeah, I expect great things from all the guys you mentioned, but I also expect they will get nill press coverage from it, even if they do play well.

 

[kevin]

i think clack will have a big season moving from HB to TE. Finnalypollard is leaveing, i always though he was overratted.Clark could become a new favorite target in the middle if james does leave. Clark alway impressed me even during his days at Iowa. He had decent speed and better hands then anyone in the game.


My other favorite is Jason Witten of Dallas, He is the best TE i have seen since Jay Novacheck, with the right quarterback i think this guy could shine for the next several years.

 

[Don Wassall]

These are the Steelers' tight ends. Outside of kicker and the rare o-line, how unusual a group is this? Even at quarterback one expects at least one of the contenders to be black.


Under Bill Cowher the TE was little more than a mandatory blocker for the running game. Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians said in an interview yesterday that he expects Heath Miller to have 60 catches this year and 90 total from the tight end position. Miller is as good as any of the receiving TEs in the league, and rookie Matt Spaeth won the Mackey Award last year. Maybe Arians means it. He also said the TEs will line up in the slot and at fullback at times as part of a retooled offensive scheme. TheSteelersare very weak at WR outside of Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes, it makes complete sense to use Miller, Tuman and Spaeth in the passing game.


http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07152/790688-66.stm

 

[backrow]

haha, love this pic! very unusualto see that these days, unless they take ST photos

good find Don. and i really hope that they use Miller to his potentialwith Spaeth and some other guys in the mix. Miller could be just as effective receiving TE as Todd Heap or Gonzalez.

 

[backrow]

"Steelers | Miller working on the outside
Thu, 31 May 2007 11:21:39 -0700

Scott Brown, of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, reports Pittsburgh Steelers TE Heath Miller has been lining up as a wide out in some formations at practice during the Steelers' organized team activities"

 

[whiteathlete33]

I would like to see what Greg Olsen can do. He could have easily been a receiver if not for the caste system. Just look that he runs a 4.5 as a tight end. Without that extra weight he could run a tad quicker. Anyways 4.5 is what most of those black hero receivers run anyways.

 

[whiteafflete15]

Why isn't Vernon Davis a tight end? He's fast but not that great of a blocker is he? Most all of the upper-tier receiving white tight ends in the NFL should be receivers. Olsen is just one of the most obvious recent cases. BOO caste system.