Is It Time to Draft Kittle's Replacement or get a TE in Free Agency

this should go in the draft forum right?

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:
this should go in the draft forum right?

I moved it. Then thought I was being over the top because it talked about FA too. But you're probably right. So…

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Originally posted by genus49:

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:
this should go in the draft forum right?

I moved it. Then thought I was being over the top because it talked about FA too. But you're probably right. So…

Good point. Pitts and njoku probably wont see the market so the discussion should devolve to draft picks. Its a topic non gratis so probably live elsewhere than niner talk.

Yes it's time to draft his eventual replacement. Kittle might not even play next season as he recovers but he is a bit of an athletic freak of nature. That said he's still getting old for football and injuries over the years have hurt this team by his lack of availability. I'd personally spend a 4th on a developmental project that can catch and resign Tonges to let them compete. Not sure how this team handles Farell but he could still be in the mix because he's already under contract.

I also wouldnt even look at it as a replacement getting a great TE is extremelly valuable in this offense

It's not our biggest need by far. We have DE, LG, C, S, LB, WR needs. But if we got an elite one who is the eventual replacement to Kittle it's fine. He is older and more injured. Will probably come back healthy and fill your gap for 2 more years or so. It's not more pressing than a lot of other things. If you pick this my preference is not too early. If it is early it needs to be elite. Don't miss on the draft. Hit on the pick big time.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
It's not our biggest need by far. We have DE, LG, C, S, LB, WR needs. But if we got an elite one who is the eventual replacement to Kittle it's fine. He is older and more injured. Will probably come back healthy and fill your gap for 2 more years or so. It's not more pressing than a lot of other things. If you pick this my preference is not too early. If it is early it needs to be elite. Don't miss on the draft. Hit on the pick big time.

Kyle Pitts would be a great get in FA but not sure if we're going to want to pay him as much money as he may command after last season, especially with him not being a great blocker.

Looking around at some of the best TEs in the NFL recently you've got
Gronk - 2nd round
Kelce - 3rd round(so glad we took Vance McDonald 8 picks earlier)
Kittle - 5th round
McBride - 2nd round
Kraft - 3rd round
Andrews - 3rd round
Laporta - 2nd round
Goedert - 2nd round

Obviously we have some outliers but the bulk of the top guys seems to be round 2-3.

Every draft is different of course and getting our future Kittle should be critical but it has to fit the flow of the draft. If it's not there, don't force it. That's how we've gotten ourselves in trouble before.

Originally posted by genus49:
Kyle Pitts would be a great get in FA but not sure if we're going to want to pay him as much money as he may command after last season, especially with him not being a great blocker.

If you are looking at an inexpensive WR room (Pearsall, Robinson, Watkins, Cowing, draft picks) with all free agents departing (Jennings, Bourne, Moore), then you can arguably carry a higher TE budget until Kittle departs.

Originally posted by genus49:
Kyle Pitts would be a great get in FA but not sure if we're going to want to pay him as much money as he may command after last season, especially with him not being a great blocker.

Looking around at some of the best TEs in the NFL recently you've got
Gronk - 2nd round
Kelce - 3rd round(so glad we took Vance McDonald 8 picks earlier)
Kittle - 5th round
McBride - 2nd round
Kraft - 3rd round
Andrews - 3rd round
Laporta - 2nd round
Goedert - 2nd round

Obviously we have some outliers but the bulk of the top guys seems to be round 2-3.

Every draft is different of course and getting our future Kittle should be critical but it has to fit the flow of the draft. If it's not there, don't force it. That's how we've gotten ourselves in trouble before.

Signing Pitts would be a weird move. It would be them again trying to force a square peg into a round hole. He's just not a very good or even motivated blocker. He's a nice receiving weapon but he'd be a significant departure from Kittle and a limiting factor on the offense.

Yes it is time to draft his future replacement and current running mate. But you don't need to do that in round 1 and honestly round 2. Plenty of good TEs like Klare, Royer, Roush that can likely be had round 3.

Originally posted by Brucey72:
Yes it is time to draft his future replacement and current running mate. But you don't need to do that in round 1 and honestly round 2. Plenty of good TEs like Klare, Royer, Roush that can likely be had round 3.

Yup, we found Kittle in the 5th. He is that natural 6'4" 250, aka not gym inflated etc. Try to find that type of athlete again.

Originally posted by Cisco0623:

Originally posted by Brucey72:
Yes it is time to draft his future replacement and current running mate. But you don't need to do that in round 1 and honestly round 2. Plenty of good TEs like Klare, Royer, Roush that can likely be had round 3.

Yup, we found Kittle in the 5th. He is that natural 6'4" 250, aka not gym inflated etc. Try to find that type of athlete again.

We got lucky with Kittle. He was also a 4.5 guy for a TE who fell because he was constantly hurt in college.

I think it's Likely that we'll scoop up Isiah Likely and then it's Likely we'll pick up a few other scrubs in FA and that's about it. I'd consider this a medium haul of talent which is about all I'm expecting.

Draft Tanner Koziol out of Houston, he's going to be the TE steal of the class.