OK, so while everyone is wrapped up in QB talk, DE, RT, FS, TE drafting I want to stop and figure something out. Do we have 1 decent TE and 2 decent FBs or do we have 2 decent TEs and 1 FB? Some of you may already know were I am going with this....Charles Clay. The way I see it if we put and KEEP him at TE we take care of two birds with one stone. We'll leave Hillard at FB, have Slaton (backup FB), Thomas, Bush at RB. By putting Clay at TE we don't need to draft a TE in the draft and are free to use our 1st pick as necessary. [trade up, trade down, take DE] I really believe this is something we need to look into, unless Clay can't play TE then why did we take him? He did make some great catches last year and when healthy looked like a great pick, however under this new Offense TEs will be a premium relief valve so we need someone good and if it isn't Clay what do we do with him?
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0 recs | 48 comments
Since I saw his highlights when we drafted him
I have wanted us to start him over Fasano as a pass-catching TE, and run the 2 TE set more often
I think we have an underrated group of TEs because we have versatile D=Fasano and explosive-ish Clay
finzrule - February 9, 2012
FS
texascowpunk - February 9, 2012
fist pump!
wild zion beaver - February 9, 2012
Sort of but mostly no.
texascowpunk - February 9, 2012
He is The ClayMaker after all
Phinsphana - February 9, 2012
Um nice "Skip Shot" there sir. I knew you were really Skip Bayless!
texascowpunk - February 9, 2012
I hate skip bayless
Yelling, and interupting people does not make you right
Phinsphana - February 9, 2012
LOL You know who hates him more then you?
texascowpunk - February 9, 2012
Lebron James?
Phinsphana - February 9, 2012
No. Besides the rest of the Dallas area media, Troy Aikman.
texascowpunk - February 9, 2012
I thought Cowboy fans liked him
He has such a man boner for Romo
Phinsphana - February 9, 2012
No one in this area likes him. He like Craig James were run out of Dallas. Of course ESPN, the joke
that they have become, hired both of them.
texascowpunk - February 10, 2012
Start Clay!
I think its a good idea. I never understood why sparano didn’t use Clay at TE more. I am hoping Sherman and Philbin will see his potential. He’d also be good at playing WR. My only question is how good is his blocking?
tpl - February 10, 2012
According to ProFootballFocus
Charles Clay grades out as the #30 run-blocking TE and Fasano as the #7. This is out of 63 TE’s who played at least 25% of their teams’ snaps. Clay was also ranked as the #25 pass-blocking TE and Fasano was #13.
Clay seems to be about ‘middle of the pack’ when it comes to run-blocking. He’s not as good as the blocking-type TE’s but he graded better than most of the receiving-type TE’s.
Other TE’s whose run-blocking graded lower than Charles Clay: Antonio Gates, Jimmy Graham, Brandon Pettigrew, Jermaine Gresham, Brent Celek, Kellen Winslow, Dustin Keller, Vernon Davis, Greg Olson and Jermichael Finley.
Urthling - February 10, 2012
that where he is best
hes a recieving tight end, hes only like 230-240 and 6-3 so he can get blown up, but hes hybrid, they use him at FB and TE so they move him around to create a mismatch, so no matter what he will be lined up with a LB, so if they have him in FB and 1-2 good blocking TE’s than we should be nice
dolfan702 - February 11, 2012
I would like to see
his run blocking improve enough to where they can make a decision about Lex Hilliard. Then we could bring in another pass catching TE and traditional TE and really mix things up… maybe we could be the first team to come out in a 3 or 4 TE set… lol With Marshall at WR ….
Jason Scott_90 - February 11, 2012
i do agree that we will see clay at TE a lot more
but he was always a beter receiver out of the backfield
AnishB15 - February 10, 2012 via mobile
I concur^^
I like everything Clay has to brings to the table. I like to see him remain FB-H/back. We have 2 spots at TE that can be upgraded. Replace either Yeatman or Mastrud with an upgrade and leave the other spot for another position.We need as many weapons as possible.
NawlinsPhinFan - February 10, 2012
And to think we got him in the 6th round
Petty good value for a guy with his versatility.
Urthling - February 11, 2012
So we aren't drafting a TE...
I sounds like we won’t be drafting a TE then. So it’s QB or DE with our 1st pick. I really hope we get Manning [trade up for RGIII]. Then focus on RT in FA and draft on Def. With two TEs, this really helps our roster.
rebelranger - February 10, 2012
No one knows.
texascowpunk - February 10, 2012
My source, Ms. Cleo, tells me Miami will draft a TE, but it'll be in the 3rd round or later.
Finhead83 - February 10, 2012
Ms.Cleo picked the Wizards to get Lebron James
So yeah trade down to get Dwane Allen in the first round
Phinsphana - February 10, 2012
She did not!
How dare you accuse Ms. Cleo of such false prophecies!
Finhead83 - February 10, 2012
She did on sportsnation on Espn 2
Phinsphana - February 10, 2012
Well Ms. Cleo was proved a fraud anyways...
I just shaved the monkey’s head and rubbed it for good luck. He told me the Dolphins will not draft Dwayne Allen.
He also said to open your closet door at approximately 8:37pm tonight and look down and to the left…
Finhead83 - February 10, 2012
Was proven a fraud
The fact we need proof to know a psychic isn’t fraud, disappoints me to no end
Phinsphana - February 10, 2012
There are no psyhics out there...
Only fortune telling monkeys who has sources high in the Dolphins front office. The White Monkey is the only one we can trust here when it comes to future predictions
Finhead83 - February 10, 2012
No duh
You really think I am that naive. I know no one knows
rebelranger - February 10, 2012
Wow touchy!
texascowpunk - February 10, 2012
It's not so much that Clay can't play TE.
It’s more that the Dolphins have a need at what is arguably a brand new position:
The guys playing tight end now are virtually impossible to cover at this point. Until defenses catch up and start fielding guys with the size, strength and speed to match up with Gronkowski and Graham and Finley, there’s going to be a huge advantage to the teams that have a weapon like one of them.
We don’t necessarily have to draft a guy in the first two rounds, but I really hope the Dolphins find an athlete (maybe with basketball experience) who can start attacking the middle of the field. We should be taking a good look at two prospects for the middle rounds at this point: Michael Egnew (6"6, 251) from Missouri and Ladarius Green (6"5, 237) from Louisiana Lafayette. I am really looking forward to seeing some of these guys at the Combine.
DolfanVince86 - February 10, 2012
you forgot deangelo peterson
Carl Johnson a.k.a CJ - February 10, 2012
Egnew
Egnew is a beast I have watched a lot of his games since i am from Missouri and a big fan of Mizzou, he is athletic and can take the hits in the middle of the field and we should get him in the 3rd to 4th round range due to a drop in production this due to change at QB, if you look at his production the year before he was one of the top TE’s in the country
hollywood_89 - February 11, 2012
If the goal is to acquire a tight end that can become a Red Zone nightmare
Egnew is a good place to start. Unless we plan on spending a #1 pick on either Dwayne Allen or Coby Fleener, we can get Egnew in the third. Personally, I think we need a pass rusher, a tackle and a cornerback more than we need a new tight end.
However, we still NEED one of these guys. Egnew fits the mold of Gronkowski. For anyone that has ESPN Insider, open these two links and compare Michael Egnew with Rob Gronkowski.
For those of you that don’t have Insider, basically they are similar in size/speed/athleticism with Egnew having “room for bulk”. Scouts rave about both of their abilities in terms of ball skill, body control and separation. However, while Gronkowski was an injured mess in college, Egnew has made it through with only an injured ankle.
While Gronkowski was a more polished blocker at the college level, Egnew seems to be the better run-after-catch guy (at least when comparing them at the same point in their careers).
The point is, when using Gronkowski as a template for what we’re looking for (big bad tight end), Egnew could be the answer at a VALUE.
DolfanVince86 - February 13, 2012
I think the previous coaching staff really wanted Clay to be
the seam threat TE we’ve been missing, however, after the season I think the book on him was he is better suited as a FB/H-back with really good hands. With that being said, this years staff may be able to develop him to be a much better TE than last year. From an outside point of view, Many of the football “experts” feel that Clay is too undersized to be a true threat at the TE position by today’s NFL standards.
The GOOD NEWS is this will DEFINATELY be the year thet Dolphins draft a TE in the draft. I really do think Ireland learned his lesson a few years back when he struck out on the Jimmy Graham non-pick. If I was a betting man I would say that as of now Egnew and Fleener may both be this years targets in the draft. I wouldn’t even be surprised if they chose to pull a Belchick and double up, a lot of teams have seen the sucess NE has had with that model and will be looking to do the same, afterall it is a copy-cat league.
kermit the frogger29 - February 10, 2012
^^^^Please understand I am NOT suggesting that they will pick both Egnew and Fleener
kermit the frogger29 - February 10, 2012
Well we've already done that.
Sean Smith/Vontae Davis.
I doubt we pick Fleener though. I see tight end as the number 5 need (QB, DE, RT, CB, TE, in that order). Hopefully we address a few of those needs in free agency, allowing us to spend high picks on the missing pieces. However, best case scenario is us picking up Flynn, Cliff Avril and maybe a corner like Finnegan. Then we could pick up Riley Reiff in the first and maybe Fleener or Allen falls to us?
More likely scenario is we pick up a quarterback and pass rusher, then it’s between cornerback and tight end for the high picks.
DolfanVince86 - February 13, 2012
Slaton can't play FB
He is way too small in my opinion
James Bullen - February 11, 2012
Was going to say the same thing
I think Hilliard is suited fine as a power full back, but Slaton isn’t a fullback in any stretch of the imagination.
I was thinking about a FB/big HB that we could aquire that would allow Clay to move to TE, and was thinking Greg Jones from Jacksonville. I remember a few years ago MJD or Taylor, one of the two, went down for a few games and Jones stepped in and produced big numbers. He’s a Brandon Jacobs type back that I think actually is a FB. Wonder how cheap he’d come? We should have never let Polite go IMO.
Jared Maier - February 11, 2012
Yeah what is this?
Our backup undersized scat back is going to be a fullback now?
DolfanVince86 - February 13, 2012
Miami to sign Jerome Messam
And will this signing affect the TE position? Messam is reportedly 6’3" 245 and runs a 4.4 40.
tpl - February 13, 2012
I think Clay is our newest TE...
Based on us signing that big RB, Messam, I believe Clay is going to be our TE for the season. With Thomas, Messam, Bush, and Hillard in our backfield. I really like this setup.
rebelranger - February 13, 2012
For now Messam is only a camp body...
Realism - February 14, 2012
Yeah, just like Cameron Wake was....
Actually, I think Messam means more of a death toll for Slaton & Hillard.
But for now EVERYONE is only a camp body, which is a good thing. Everybody is going to have to prove themselves to the new coaching staff.
say_it_aint_so_JT - February 14, 2012
My guess is that if the new kid is equal or very close to Hillard then Hillard is gone as he is not the cheaper option at that point.
texascowpunk - February 14, 2012
Yep.
say_it_aint_so_JT - February 14, 2012
How did everyone else miss this...
Slaton as back up FB? Um… I don’t think so!
Also Hillard, he seemed to be decent in short yard situation. And I love the big back type, but FB needs to be able to block as well… Hillard struggled… and Slaton is too small as a lead blocker.
k2oconnor - February 16, 2012
People didn't miss it. Someone did mention it.
But we don’t need to railroad the posted because of the gaffe. We now have Messam that may be used to help push Hilliard and replace Slaton, now a free agent, as a #3 RB since he can fill both the RB and FB roles.
Finhead83 - February 16, 2012
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