I really like Dennis Pitta and was high on Dickson when he entered the draft, but how in the world did the Ravens miss out on an elite tight end in the draft?
Rob Gronkowski was selected in the second round by the Patriots after they traded to the pick directly in front of ours (42) to nab him.
Dickson was selected by the Ravens with the 70th overall pick.
The Saints took Jimmy Graham with the 95th overall pick.
The Pats then selected Aaron Hernandez with the 113th overall pick, which also happened to be one spot in front of the Ravens who in turn selected Dennis Pitta with the 114th overall pick.
There wasn't many TE's selected in between either. Tony Moecki was the only other tight end select between Gronkowski and Pitta. I like Pitta and think that he will be better than Hernandez (Injury Risk), but Gronkowski is a monster and Graham may be the best TE in the game right now based on what that guy is able to do. The Ravens landed Dickson and Pitta, but could have easily have had two of Gronkowski, Graham, Hernandez and Pitta.
The Ravens may be lucky, but some of the guys they have passed up have seem to me to be superstars in the making. The 2010 draft is killing me and that is why I brought this TE class up. Not only did we pass on some really good players, we ended up with Kindle, Cody, Dickson, Pitta, Reed, Art Jones and Harewood. In the end I think that Cody will be about average and Pitta will be slghtly above average. It seems like the Ravens drafted based on need in 2010 and part of me wishes that we would have went with best player available.
I'm pretty sure we wanted Gronkowski but Belichick effed us. Hernandez, I don't know, but we probably were in on him too.
Regarding Jimmy Graham, I don't know that I would have necessarily taken a risk on a player who only played 1 year of collegiate ball and was a year older than most 4 year players. It doesn't seem to have turned up favorably, but a lot of that is probably due to the offenses that the players involved are in. Ray Rice takes a lot of offensive touches away from other players (and rightfully so - he's by far our best player on that side of the ball.) So it's difficult to say whether any of these players would have had the impact on the Ravens that they do for their respective teams.
PITTA has great hands and will be a elite TE IMO. he's been behind Dickson until late in the season when he really started to get regular time.
As far as I know the Ravens have never confirmed they were going to take Gronkowski in the 2nd round but there was a lot of speculation that we would've done so and that is why the Pats jumped in front of us. Just like there is speculation that we would've drafted Bryant in the 1st had the Cowboys not jumped in front of us there, although after the draft Ozzie maintained that the draft picks the Broncos were offering were too good to pass up even if Bryant was still on the board. Anyway,. I never get that upset over a team jumping in front of us for a player. That happens to everyone. Now, we did take Dickson over both Graham and Hernandez so if you want to argue that one be my guest but the Ravens more often than not get their rankings of position players right. Obviously, everyone misses at times but I would take our scouting over anybody else in the league. Heck, some teams don't even do their own scouting.
Dan Kolko has written many times that the Ravens were never going to draft Gronk because they were scared of his back injury.
http://www.masnsports.com/dan_kolko/...-sequence.html
He makes the point that that certainly looks like a mistake now, but who knows when that potentially career threatening injury could present itself again. Hernandez failed a drug test and I don't know if Jimmy Graham would have become what he has in this offense. I would speculate if you switched Dickson and Graham as draft choices, you would be pining for Dickson instead. That said, Dickson's hands are a major problem and he needs to spend hours every day just catching footballs. Still, he is an incredible athlete.
Originally Posted by winudi
Good pull. I mean there is always stuff put out after you draft or don't draft a particular player that isn't true but I tend to believe this.The Ravens also said they had Kindle in the top 20 (also possibly not true) on their draft board so it seems likely he would still have been the pick.
Pitta is an elite TE waiting to happen. He just needs some plays drawn up where the ball is directed his way.
Would Gronkowski look good as a Raven? Absolutely. But, do we really know he'd fit into the current offensive system any better than Pitta or Dickson do? He'd be without Brady, in a more run oriented offense, a lesser OL, and absent a lot of other things that he has with the Patriots. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have him, but I don't fully subscribe to the notion that he'd be performing just as well with us had we drafted him.
There's no guarantee that any of those TE's develop into what they are now if they were in the Ravens system, so this is a moot point.
Besides, Pitta is a very good TE and Dickson can be at times also.
I suppose it depends on the definition of elite. For me the top 5% could be elite or there could be 8 guys if the numbers show that the guys can not separate from one another IMO.
If I am listing elite TE's than my list is:
Graham 99 receptions/1310 yds/11 TD's/13.2 Avg.
Gronkowski 90 receptions/1327 TD's/17 TD's/14.7 Avg.
Those two guys were the 6th and 7th leading pass catcher in the game, which says a lot.
From there the next five TE's in ranking (by yards) were Jason Witten, Aaron Hernandez, Tony Gonzalez, Dustin Keller and Brent Celek.
Based on watching the tight ends listed above, I would include Hernandez as elite because he went for 79 receptions/910 yds/7 TD's/11.5 Avg. without being in an offense where he was the sole TE option. Witten is also an elite option IMO. Gonzalez is past his prime, but he was clearly an elite TE and his numbers and ability still put him in the class of quality TE.
Although the numbers for Vernon Davis are right there with guys like Keller and Celek, Davis is a guy that I would consider elite based on his ability to be a primary focus in the 49'ers passing game and still produce at a high level.
Elite:
Gronkowski
Graham
Witten
Davis
Finely
Gates (Only age)
Gonzalez (Only age)
Gates (Age concerns)
Gonzalez (Age concerns)
Clark (Hurt by a lack of QB)
I do think that Greg Olsen and Dustin Keller are on the cusp of very, very good, but I would not call them elite.
I have Pitta, Cook, Pettigrew and Gresham in the next class. I hope that Pitta turns into a Jason Witten clone and I think that he has that ability if he can stay healthy.
There is no guarantee about anyting, but the ability to run fast and catch the football is not based on the organization. The point is moot because the Ravens missing out on the guys I mentioned does not change the fact that Pitta and Dickson are our TE's. Dickson does too many things wrong (Can't catch and doesn't always run good routes) for me to think that he will be anything more than an average TE in the NFL. Pitta could be Jason Witten or he could be Heath Miller. I think that he will be in the middle of those two players, but he is not in the same category as Gronkowski, Graham or Hernandez IMO.
The Patriots drafted in front of us in both spots. Unless we traded up with the team in front of NE, what else would you have liked us to do other than draft Jimmy Graham?
I am not sure how he would perform with us, but I think he is a better TE than Pitta. I think that Hernandez and Graham are better too. I we could make an argument that Gronkowski and Hernadez hurt one anothers season and did not help it. My long term ranking for the four TE's Graham, Pitta, Hernandez and Gronkowski. I think that Gronkowski and Hernadez struggle to stay on the field over the next 3-5 years. Based on ability alone? Graham, Gronkowski, Hernandez and Pitta.
I think Pitta would put up huge numbers in NE. Maybe not as huge as Gronkowski this year but 1,000 yards and 10 TD's.
Anyone think that MAYBE the reason these TEs (Gronk, Hernandez, Graham) are so good is because of the offenses they play in? I think Dennis Pitta would be an absolute animal on New England or New Orleans.
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