In depth look at the TE position

[brooks1957]

The other day I gave my thoughts on the offensive line positions. Today I move 1 door down the line to the TE position.

My overall feeling is we have a Pro Bowl stud starting - and not a whole lot else that really inspires confidence. If there is one area on this roster that "needs" help - here we are.

We currently only have 3 rostered tight ends, David Njoku, Jordan Akins, and Zaire Paden-Mitchell. We also have UDFA Treyton Welch, but he has not been added to the 90 man summer roster yet. Minicamp this weekend will resolve that. For the purpose of this breakdown, I will include him as a rostered TE.

Starter - David Njoku (Pro Bowl TE) - David has developed into so much more than just "Deshaun's security blanket". He has become a real weapon capable of driving a stake right through the heart of the defense.

First off, he possesses enough receiving skills to be counted on to make catches and convert them into first downs. So important for continuity of the offense and rest the defense.

Secondly, his size and foot speed make him a match up nightmare. David can get deep into a defense's kitchen quickly. That almost mandates you commit a safety to cover him - further freeing up outside receivers.

Lastly, he has become a very effective run blocker. That asset is critical to the success of a team that counts on a power run gam so heavily.

Unfortunately, David does have an injury history that has caused him to lose several chunks of games at times. As good as David is, this is what scares me if he has to miss time.

TE2 - Jordan Akins - Jordan was brought in as a pass catching TE2 that had history with Deshaun. His totals when he played with Watson are 73 catches for 821 yards. Not horrible, but serviceable. With the best of intentions in 2023, duplicating their time in Houston simply never materialized here. Last year, his season total was just 15 catches for 132 yards.

So, can Jordan be counted on to reignite his career to previous levels? This is a very important summer camp for Jordan. I would not bet on him returning to previous form. The business side of his contract is he is 32 years old and carries a $2.315M cap hit. Not a huge amount of money by NFL standards, but releasing him saves $1.75M in cap space. And we are currently OVER the cap for 2025.

TE3 - Zaire Paden-Mitchell - Not much to say here other than the only play I remember him making were in preseason games. It wouldn't be prudent to count on him for anything more than a practice squad player.

TE4 - Treyton Welch UDFA - This weekend will be a big weekend for Treyton to see if he makes it to the 90 man summer camp roster. He has the size and skills you desire. He is 6'3" and 240 lbs. He had 31 catches for 308 yards last season. Underwhelming numbers, but the rumor was he was badly misused in Wyoming's offense. Level of competition was probably a factor of why he went undrafted. I saw a podcast last night that mentioned the Browns stayed in contact with him throughout the draft. That tells me that TE coach Tommy Rees sees something in Treyton.

So, to conclude, my feeling is Njoku and Welch make the final 53. Paden-Mitchell ends on PS. Akins, I think gets released. That means we need at least one more tight end, especially how much Stefanski likes to employ multiple tight end sets. I think we add one when rosters get cut down, as well as a possible late round draft pick trade for one.

Edited May 9 by brooks1957

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

Think we keep Njoku and Akins and look for what’s available after final roster cuts.

Wouldn’t surprise me at all if we only keep 2 with someone on the PS going into the season.  I think we’re going to look to spread things out more and a 7th WR or 4th RB may be more important than a 3rd or 4th TE.

[brooks1957]

You're probably right, LGB.

Once you get to that level of depth on the roster - the actual players become less important than the numbers at a certain position.

As far as TEs specifically - in the past, I would have been shocked for us not to carry 3 on the 53 - given Stefanski's desire to use multiple TE sets. But this will be a new offensive philosophy this year. We will just have to wait and see how different groups are acclimated into the game plans.

[#32]

With Dorsey, we will run 3 and 4 receiver sets with one or none TE’s.  My take is that we might pick up TE per LGB if a solid TE/receiver is available or David gets hurt along the way.

[Armbar]

On 5/13/2024 at 9:29 AM, brooks1957 said:

But this will be a new offensive philosophy this year.

This scares me. I don’t know if I trust Stefanski trying to reinvent himself. He’s great at what he’s great at…and it hasn’t been a fit with Deshaun thus far. I know he has to adapt it to that jackarse, but I feel like in years past when Stefanski tried to go spread, it was ugly. It turned into throwing hitches to Njoku and Bryant in 2 TE empty sets. Gross. 

[Armbar]

Also, not opposed to bringing back Steve Heiden. Maybe even Evan Moore. Ben Watson anyone? Barnidge would probably cost us an arm & a leg, but he’s also available. 

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

40 minutes ago, Armbar said:

This scares me. I don’t know if I trust Stefanski trying to reinvent himself. He’s great at what he’s great at…and it hasn’t been a fit with Deshaun thus far. I know he has to adapt it to that jackarse, but I feel like in years past when Stefanski tried to go spread, it was ugly. It turned into throwing hitches to Njoku and Bryant in 2 TE empty sets. Gross. 

I don’t think you’re wrong if we’re relying on Stefanski to create this offense, but we’re not.

Dorsey has spent his whole career working with dual threat QBs and WR heavy schemes.  Staley is apparently known for his ability to build a run game from pistol and shotgun formations.  Chad O’Shea spent like a decade in NE when they ran a ton of spread stuff with Brady and McDaniels. Dickerson worked for McVay who runs 11 personnel more than anyone else in the league. Tommy Rees has been working in college for the last half decade and spread/WR heavy stuff is almost all they do in college anymore.

They overhauled the entire staff to transition to this offense and put people in place who know what they’re doing tbh. Stefanski is the outlier, but if he’s not designing the offense, does it matter?  He may (or may not) be the guy calling the plays, but I’m fine with that as he’s shown to be a pretty decent play caller.

If we were just running it back with the same staff as last year I’d be more skeptical of what it may look like, but this group has me much more optimistic.