10-18-2017, 02:47 PM
(10-18-2017, 02:25 PM)ochocincos Wrote: A lot of people also care more about pass catching TEs over blocking TEs because of fantasy football. For a long time, this went against the grain for what the Bengals prioritized in TE. As fantasy football grew in popularity, more and more people were clamoring for the Bengals to get a TE that could be a receiving threat. They tried with Chase Coffman, but he couldn't block worth a damn so he never saw the field. They then tried with Gresham but he was criticized for timely turnovers and mental mistakes and wasn't a truly elite receiver. Now Eifert who had the elite receiving ability but has been injured often. The Bengals just haven't been able to find that TE that can do everything well and stay healthy.
This is kind of a smug and inaccurate way of looking at it, IMO. It has nothing to do with fantasy and more to do with the fact that blocking-only TE's are archaic. It's a passing league now, and guys like Reggie Kelly starting and getting most of the snaps just doesn't happen much anymore. Guys need to be able to catch. There's a reason pass catching TE's get paid the big bucks while the best blocking TE's bounce around the league like ping pong balls on minimum contracts.
That's not to say it's ok to be a walking turnstile as long as you can catch, but an average blocking TE that can put up 800 yards is always going to be more valuable than a great blocker that brings little to nothing as a receiver.
The training, nutrition, medicine, fitness, playbooks and rules evolve. The athlete does not.
