our TE need ???

I see so many people mock drafting us a TE at #34 Eifert or Ertz I don't understand why this is when we have Davis a very high pay TE/star ..I know we lost walker but unlike most I didn't think he was that good ... so why use ahigh pick on a TE unless your thinking Davis N his high cost will be gone in a yr of two ????

Originally posted by tatdwolf49:
I see so many people mock drafting us a TE at #34 Eifert or Ertz I don't understand why this is when we have Davis a very high pay TE/star ..I know we lost walker but unlike most I didn't think he was that good ... so why use ahigh pick on a TE unless your thinking Davis N his high cost will be gone in a yr of two ????

Because Harbaugh and Roman's offense if heavily dependent on having two (and preferably three) high quality TEs.

Originally posted by PopeyeJonesing:

Originally posted by tatdwolf49:
I see so many people mock drafting us a TE at #34 Eifert or Ertz I don't understand why this is when we have Davis a very high pay TE/star ..I know we lost walker but unlike most I didn't think he was that good ... so why use ahigh pick on a TE unless your thinking Davis N his high cost will be gone in a yr of two ????

Because Harbaugh and Roman's offense if heavily dependent on having two (and preferably three) high quality TEs.

+1

Having two dangerous weapons at TE can be very effective for our scheme. Aside from that and Jeebus forbid... what happens if Vernon misses games with an injury???? Do we then come out with Celek +/or a later rd TE rookie to "scare" defenses?

Pair either Ertz or Eifert with Vernon & you will see why!!!

Originally posted by tatdwolf49:
I see so many people mock drafting us a TE at #34 Eifert or Ertz I don't understand why this is when we have Davis a very high pay TE/star ..I know we lost walker but unlike most I didn't think he was that good ... so why use ahigh pick on a TE unless your thinking Davis N his high cost will be gone in a yr of two ????

Because pick 34's salary is cheap over 4 years. Because the #2 TE saw over 50% of the plays on offense last year. Because the #2 TE, if they can be as good of blocker as VD, defensive coordinators will not know which one is staying into block and which one is going out for a ball.

Because if VD gets injured, Celek is a hug step towards mediocrity.

Originally posted by NYCNINER:
Pair either Ertz or Eifert with Vernon & you will see why!!!

True, an Ertz & VD TE tandem would be dynamic and difficult to defend. However, it is a luxury.... and one that would probably lead to salary cap problems down the road. VD makes about $8M a year. We cannot afford to have two elite pass-catching TE's. It's too expensive and would prevent us from being able to afford good WRs.

We also have more pressing needs to address with picks 31 and 34. DE, NT, WR, and FS are all bigger needs than a 2nd TE.

Travis Kelce in round 3 would be a better way to address the loss of Walker.

Originally posted by blm7754:

Originally posted by NYCNINER:
Pair either Ertz or Eifert with Vernon & you will see why!!!

True, an Ertz & VD TE tandem would be dynamic and difficult to defend. However, it is a luxury.... and one that would probably lead to salary cap problems down the road. VD makes about $8M a year. We cannot afford to have two elite pass-catching TE's. It's too expensive and would prevent us from being able to afford good WRs.

We also have more pressing needs to address with picks 31 and 34. DE, NT, WR, and FS are all bigger needs than a 2nd TE.

Travis Kelce in round 3 would be a better way to address the loss of Walker.

But this is actually a reason why they should draft an elite TE now. If the Niners drafted an elite TE now, by the time Davis's current contract expires, the Niners could let him walk and give the money to a younger player. This rookie will be on a rookie deal, so they just transfer the money to the younger player.

What some people don't realize is that this offense is evolving. It's different than what Alex used to run. We'll be implementing a lot more of the pistol and Boldin is strong enough to play the role that Walker did in the past.

With that being said, I do feel that another TE would benefit this team. However, I wouldn't draft one in the 1st or 2nd. I like Vance McDonald and Dion Sims. Both are physically strong and have soft hands. They should be available in the 4th. Someone like Chris Gragg could play like Aaron Hernandez does in NE.

I mocked us taken kelce in tha 3rd round just not sure about him with some of what I've read N I think we need to load up on defense with how this draft class is so defense stacked ...trying to find a later round Guy but nothing yet they all seem to be able to catch but really ifie on blocking ....

Ertz will be a beast in our system

Originally posted by ForeverYoung8:

Ertz will be a beast in our system

Wow u turned my thinking with that comment lets trade up #1 for him then lmao

yea i see us taking eifert or ertz, one of them will fall to us, if i were to choose i'd take eifert though.

Originally posted by Butter:

Originally posted by blm7754:

Originally posted by NYCNINER:
Pair either Ertz or Eifert with Vernon & you will see why!!!

True, an Ertz & VD TE tandem would be dynamic and difficult to defend. However, it is a luxury.... and one that would probably lead to salary cap problems down the road. VD makes about $8M a year. We cannot afford to have two elite pass-catching TE's. It's too expensive and would prevent us from being able to afford good WRs.

We also have more pressing needs to address with picks 31 and 34. DE, NT, WR, and FS are all bigger needs than a 2nd TE.

Travis Kelce in round 3 would be a better way to address the loss of Walker.

But this is actually a reason why they should draft an elite TE now. If the Niners drafted an elite TE now, by the time Davis's current contract expires, the Niners could let him walk and give the money to a younger player. This rookie will be on a rookie deal, so they just transfer the money to the younger player.

I think it's early to be thinking about replacing Davis. He is signed through 2015. He is 29 and been extremely durable. TEs tend to have a long shelf life. He could play at a high level for 5 more years. I wouldn't be surprised if we restructure his deal at some point to reduce the cap hit and keep him around for an extra year or two.

There will be other great TE prospects. Neither Ertz or Eifert are "once in a generation" types of prospects. I think we should wait at least a year or two before investing a high draft pick on VD's replacement.

I believe we'll draft a TE if he can beat out Celek for the #2 spot this year and next. Like SF69ers said, the offense is evolving, and they can run the same stuff they did with Walker in other ways to effectuate the same result. For all Walker brought to the table, I think Boldin gives you more dynamic play making. He can also block really well.

We're going to have so many weapons at skill positions with Manningham and Hunter eventually returning. If we can add a high-end, well-rounded TE to that stable, I'm all for it and I think we will. He just wont have Walker's impact because we'll have so many formation options with Boldin's addition. Bruce Miller and Dobbs could actually be primed for slightly bigger roles in the offense next year.

Stanford TE in the first is SOOO 2012...lol Seriously though, if the 9ers wanted a pass catching TE, they would have selected Fleener in the 1st last year. I was ridding shotgun on the Fleener bandwagon 12 months ago and it didn't happen. The thing is, Harbaugh knows more about Fleener and Ertz than anyone. If he passes on them, ( Fleener was outplayed by the other Indy rookie TE Dwayne Allen last year ), there is good reason. I just don't see us drafting a TE this year in the 1st. The new 9ers FO always seem to be playing chess, couple moves ahead. Its the reason they kept Ian Williams around, even though he never suited up. They knew Soap and/or RJF were gonna get deals elsewhere this season. If they wanted a pass catching TE, they would have held onto another Stanford TE, Conrad Reuland ( called Novacek in camp because he caught everything ) instead of no hands Celek ( 14 CAREER receptions in 3 years at MSU ). I think for the #2 TE, they want a BIG blocker 1st, a tall Red Zone target 2nd and a high volume pass catcher 3rd. With Boldin, Crabb and Vern, ( hopefully AJ, Manningham and KW ) the #2 TE isn't going to see a high volume of targets in '13' or maybe even '14'. What we do need is a blocker with a nice Red Zone look during the jumbo packages. Instead of picking fat WR's who put their hand in the dirt, ( Eifert, Ertz, Reed ) can see the 9ers picking a S and DE/DT with the first two picks, and still have picks to target someone later. My personal pick! =



Travis Kelce, TE, Cincinnati Height: 6-5. Weight: 255. Arm: 33.68. Hand: 9.58. Projected 40 Time: 4.73.
Projected Round (2013): 3-4.


Strengths Kelce has an ideal tight end frame. Athletic for his size, with great strength, and the ability to stretch the field vertically. Very physical run blocker, generates power from the lower half, and will move defenders off the ball. Plays with leverage. Wide catching radius, can adjust and make the difficult catch. Tough to bring down after the catch. Light feet, and has lined up in numerous different positions.

Weaknesses Suspended for an entire season for violating team rules. Only one season of production. Doesn't have blazing speed. Not a tremendously explosive athlete. Doesn't come out of his breaks all that well.

NFL Comparison Rob Gronkowski

Bottom Line Kelce has been a tremendous run blocker throughout his career for the Bearcats, but really elevated his game as a receiver in his senior season. The senior caught 45 passes for 722 yards with eight touchdowns in 2012. He isn't a tremendous athlete, but he does a lot of things very well. It's a deep tight end class, but Kelce's play suggests that he should be highly sought after.


We shall see!