No, I don't think upset over Receivers, the top 3 were gone by the time the Ravens picked. Also, 3 Quarterbacks were taken and OJ Howard fell to us. A great TE (Sharpe, Heap) and Running Game is also what the Ravens were known for besides a Great Defense.
I mean that's great, but you also have a bunch of young TEs on the roster already, so do we just throw them away? There's what we WERE known for, and there's what we are NOW known for. They don't have to be the same thing. We didn't used to be a team that invested heavily in the QB position. Now we are, and so are all the consistent good teams in this league. Times change. Teams change.
We have a bunch of Tight Ends that were on Injured Reserve last year, Ben Watson 37 in December, Williams and Gilmore. One who is more of a blocking tight end who has been suspended 2 times and one more will be out of the league. Pitta who is one of my favorites but he gets no YAC. Tight End is still very important in the NFL and its not one of the Ravens Strengths as so many people beleive.
If Pitta stays healthy, he is good. He might not get the YAC but he makes contested catches and moves the chains. I like Boyle, he has a chance to be great if he stays out of trouble. I think Williams will end up being a bust and Watson is definitely questionable after an achillies injury, but we shall see. But the one nobody is talking about is Darren Waller. Im pretty high on him. Hes big, hes got decent speed and he can catch. Also if Gillmore stays healthy, he is good too. I think a combination of Pitta, Gillmore, Waller and Boyle is a good group. Pitta and Waller will be consistent. Gillmore may get hurt and if that trend continues, we may have to cut ties. But I don't see a problem with Pitta, Waller and Boyle (proided he doesn't get suspended)
I will caution you... last year Pitta wasn't moving the chains at all. Not only was he not getting YAC, he also wasn't moving the chains. He had one of the lower percentages of receptions for first downs among the primary pass catchers last season.
Pitta had 86 catches last year and 37 first downs which is 43%. Steve Smith Last year had 70 catches for 39 first downs which is 55% roughly. There isn't much difference between the numbers. Compared to other starting TE's, Charles Clay was 38%, Ryan griffin was 38%, Will Tye 33%, Larry Donnel 20%, Jason Witten 47%, Julious Thomas 50%, Vernon Davis 50%, Jermaine Gresham 51%, Delanie Walker and Zach Ertz 53%. All of these Tight ends did slightly better or worse than Pitta. And in perspective to receivers, Larry Fitzgerald 55%, Edelman 56%, Golden Tate 50%, Jamison Crowder 50%, Tavon Austin 40%. All of these receivers caught at least 50 passes and their percentages aren't much better than Pitta. plus if you watched the games last year, very rarely were the passes to Pitta on target. Many times he had to reach up over his head or make a shoestring catch which hinders your ability tomove after catching the pass. Pitta did have 37 first downs, which IMO is pretty good for a tight end. There were only 6 tight ends that had more first downs: Greg Olson (54), Jimmy Graham (45), Zach Ertz (42), Kyle Rudolph (50), Jordan Reed (41) and Travis Kelce (55). And you may notice that there really wasn't mch of a receiving threat other than these tight ends for their respective team, except for Jimmy Graham (Doug Baldwin), Travis Kelce (Jeremy Maclin) and Jordan Reed (Jackson and Garcon). The others were the primary receivers for their teams, especially Rudolph with Bradford just dumping it to running backs and tight ends.
Thanks for the stats, kind of tired of complaints for a TE when it's not that big of a need with all the depth that's there, yes they have been injured before but I'd bet money it don't happen like that again. Doesn't make sense to me to draft a TE in the 1st rd when we have other concerns
