Greg Olsen

Discussion in 'Tennessee Titans and NFL Talk' started by PitBull, May 2, 2007.

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  1. DJB

    DJB Starter

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    Isn't that how the Lions draft? They have obvious needs but every year they take the stud WR because he's just to good to pass up. They must be planning for the future also
     
  2. Smart***Titan

    Smart***Titan Camp Fodder

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    RT, I understand, but don't neccessarily agree with your points on drafting Olsen. Olsen may very well be a good or even great player. I have watched him while he was at Miami and I think that while he is a solid TE, I don't see the separation that one would think he would have if he's running low 4.5's as a TE. Until the combine he was neck and neck with Zack Miller (who I think will be a good TE as well with Oakland) over who was going to go first. And for all the hubub over Olsen he still only went 7 picks over Miller. However, that's not really the point I was trying to make... I agree that Troupe has to pick it up this year, especially if you only look at last year. But, if you look at the year before, he had 55 catches for 530 yards and 4 touchdowns. (in comparison your example of Bubba Franks best year ever was in 2002. He had 54 catches and 442 yards, 3 tds) Last year Troupe was hurt for the majority of the season and was playing with a rookie QB. Scaife played in 4 more games than troupe last year and still only had 16 more catches. I love Vince, but I think that he had more to do with our TE numbers than people realize. We had the same OC, different QB last year; in 2005 with Steve our TE's had about 150 receptions, last year with Vince they had about 50 receptions. I remember reading an article last year where Chow was talking about how he was trying to teach Vince that in the NFL, those check downs to the TE for 5-7 yards are important, and that so often Vince was trying to make big plays down the field instead of hitting an open check down. This year will be a test for Troupe and all of our TE's, we will start to see what we have on offense, as in all reality, this group of guys on offense will be the guys for the next couple of seasons.
     
  3. RollTide

    RollTide All-Pro

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    Sorry gunny...

    Franks is also from miami and has made 3 pro bowls. Simple facts. No franks isn't a top receiving TE. Never said that..
     
  4. RollTide

    RollTide All-Pro

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    Djb...

    My take on the lions is that millen drafted joey harrington and basically mortgaged the whole team's future by going too far in trying to give him receivers so he would be successful. Look at charles rogers' raw numbers and tell me he was the second best athlete in that whole draft. If millen used by principle i'm describing he would have at least taken andre johnson who had the same 40 time but was 30 lbs bigger and a better all around athlete.

    http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/profile.php?pyid=28482

    He is almost identical to paul williams and scored poorly on the wonderlic. Millen didn't fail because he always drafted the best athlete he failed because of the opposite of that.
     
  5. RollTide

    RollTide All-Pro

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    Examples of the roll tide way..

    From the 2003 draft..

    Pittsburgh traded up to get troy palamalu a big incredibly fast and smart safety even though their most urgent need was at CB. Without palamalu the steelers maybe don't win the super bowl in 05.

    Kansas city made the trade with the steelers and used the later pick for a RB, larry johnson when they already had the best back in the league in priest holmes who would make the pro bowl while johnson was a rookie.

    Colts needed help on the defense but drafted a TE instead. Why they already had marcus pollard in his prime? Dallas clark had 2 100+ yard games in the playoffs and was the colts MVP in their afc champ win over the pats.
     
  6. Soxcat

    Soxcat Pro Bowler

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    Passing on Olsen for all those 30 NFL teams wasn't as much of an indictment against Olsen as a player but basically a demonstration that TE is not viewed as important as other positions like CB, WR, QB, DE, DT and LT or even S.

    If the best RB in the draft had been sitting there when the Titans had drafted I will be the Titans would have taken him.

    Teams like the Bears who don't have as many holes to fill have the luxury of taking a guy like Olsen.

    Normally I agree 100% with your strategy of drafting the BPA and possibly Olsen could have been in that category (when compared to other TEs especially) but most teams with other needs are going to consider other positions more important. If the Titans had not taken a S my bet is they would have gone WR or some other position before going TE. After all, they considered Griffin the second best S in the draft and a guy who could also play CB, two important positions of need.
     
  7. Titans2008

    Titans2008 Camp Fodder

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    Well, Vernon Davis almost cracked the top 5 last year. Many times in the past few drafts, TE's have went in the top 20 picks. I wouldn't say that teams aren't willing to spend high picks at the position at all.

    Also of note is that the Bears need was at TE so it's not necessarily true that drafting Olson was a case of taking the best athlete. When the best athlete available also happens to be an area of need on your team, it's a no brainer, not a drafting strategy.
     
  8. Titans2008

    Titans2008 Camp Fodder

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    Why judge a tight end by his yardage? It's that kind of logic that allows great tight ends to be had in the last rounds of the draft. The most important things that a tight end can do are block well and catch. How many plays have a tight end running deep down the field? Not many. Why the fascination with speed at the TE spot? Sure, it helps a little and you would always rather have a good athlete than a bad one, but it is far from the top of the list for TE traits. For every Jeremy Shockey there is xxx tight end playing for some team that gets 300 yards and a couple TDs a year that makes just as much of an impact on the game, costing his team a fraction of the $$$ and not costing a top round draft pick.
     
  9. RollTide

    RollTide All-Pro

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    TEs not valued?

    We have obvious proof that a team can have a good offense without great Wrs. San diego, seattle and kansas city have proven that and all had exceptional pass receiving TEs. A good running game and an exceptional TE can win you as lot of games. As titan fans we should know that.
     
  10. Titans2008

    Titans2008 Camp Fodder

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    There is also solid proof that solid run blocking TE's (Pitt, Dallas dynasty) have won many teams many games over the years. And they were almost always drafted in the later rounds and not paid as much money.
     
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