The Breakdown: Vol. 2

Hey everyone and welcome to Volume 2 of "The Breakdown". In Vol. 1, I went through and covered the players we have at QB and RB. In this edition, Ill be looking at the rest of the offense weapons: the tight ends and the recievers. Ill be looking at each player we have individually, assesing what we have and then offering up some names we could get in either the draft or free agency to fill any holes we have. And remember, just like in Volume 1, Im not going to include players who spent most of the season on the practice squad. They will be looked at like free agents and draft picks; guys who may or may not have the potential to upgrade a position on the roster. So there you have it and I hope yall enjoy it reading it.

Tight Ends

Who we have: Anthony Fasano, Joey Haynos, Kory Sperry, John Nalbone

What we know: Fasano and Haynos are the favorites to start with Sperry and Nalbone fighting for backup duties.

Analysis: Lets start with Anthony Fasano

-"Roller Coaster" is the word that comes to mind when thinking back to Fasano's 2009 season. He had high expectations coming off a great year in '08 but then took a nose dive followed by some highs and lows before finishing out with a solid last couple of games. Nothing comes to mind quicker though than that initial drop in the first game against Atlanta where Fasano coughed up two fumbles, including one that more or less killed the hopes of winning the game. However Fasano still had some great games, having four games with 4 receptions or more with more than 35 yards of receiving. He also had great back to back games in weeks 12 and 13 where he caught 5 balls in both games and averaged 14.3 yards a catch. All in all he finished with 31 receptions for 339 yrds, good for 10.9 yards a catch. Thats puts him at 25th among tight ends in receptions, and 39th in yards per reception. Yuck. On a positive note he was 17th in among tight ends in first down receptions. Now before we all jump on the "why the hell is Fasano our starting tight end bandwagon", lets not forget that he had a grat year in 2008 which saw him end at 14th in yards per catch. However even that is a bit misleading. He only had 3 more receptions in '08 and was 18th in in the league in yards with 454. His teammate at the time, David Martin, was right behind him in every category. So is Fasano actually fit to be our starting tight end? Now lets not forget that this a tight end we are talking about and they do more than just catch. We all know Fasano is a good blocker and has been instumental in the run game. So that gives him more value. Before I throw a thought out there about the TE position, lets look at the others.

Joey Haynos

-The big ol' sasquatch it just that: A MONSTER. At 6-8 and 280 the guy is an absolute freak. He was able to reel in 19 catches which put him at 40th among tight ends for 162 yards and ypr of 8.5. Its a little too early to say what he may or may or not be honestly (and for anyone who watched him play, his hands could use some work) but he is a freak and is young (25). He did some good things last year, and enough for me to personally be excited to see how he improves from now till August.

Kory Sperry and John Nalbone

-Sperry won all of our hearts in week ten against the Bucs when he posted 3 great catches for 31 yards. However he didnt catch a single ball after that, which was concerning. Obviously he didnt play much because Fasano came back and Haynos was in at number 2, but still. John Nalbone, who was a fifth round selection for us last year didnt do much as he was cut mid season and then put back on the practice squad. Both are very young and so the jury is obviously still out on these two. Sperry was able to show that he might be worth something because of that one game, but who knows.

Conclusion: I dont really know what to say about this position. Sperry and Nalbone are young and could either pan out or not. Haynos needs work but he has the size to at least warrant being a solid number two tight end for at least another season or two. Fasano is the curious one imo. He has the ability as weve all seen. But can he take the next step and be a top ten tight end for us? He's still young (Only 25) and hopefully will only get better. Ill go out on a limb here a bit and say that we'll go into next season with Fasano and Haynos starting and Sperry and Nalbone fighting for the backup spot on the roster. We might spend a lower pick on a tight end but I doubt it. All four of the guys we have are young (25 our younger) and most likely will only get better.

Wide Receivers

Who we have: Ted Ginn Jr., Greg Camarillo, Davone Bess, Brian Hartline, Patrick Turner

What we know: Im already dreading talking about Ted Ginn, Cammy has ass hands, Bess is the best draft surprise this team has seen in a long time, Hartline is going to be really good, and Turner? Well who the hell knows.

Analysis: Greg Camarillo

-Mr. Ass hands. Mr. Reliable. Mr. Remember that time I saved the team from being the Miami Lions? Whatever you call him you have to love the former Charger. The guy is player and is truly a fan favorite. Cammy finished the season with 50 receptions (good for 45th in the league among WR) for 552 yards (61st in the league). His average ypr was just over 11 yards which was very, very low in the league (I feel bad even putting it one here). Still Cam is a reliable receiver who still has a place in that locker room.

Davone Bess

-The undrafted wonder out of Hawaii. Seriously, how did this guy not get drafted? It blows my freakin' mind. Bess finished with a team high 76 catches (15th in the league) for 758 yards (36th). The most telling sign for Bess though was his 48 first downs. That shows how reliable he was to a young guy like Henne when 63% of his passes are for first downs. Davone has the makings to be one of the best slot receivers in this league and showed it all year long. He had his downs sure, but hes only a 2nd year player and will only improve.

Brian Hartline

-In researching stats for Hartline (who seems to love beating the shit out of people on st, which is fine by me) I think I was the most surprised (pleasantly of course). Let me show you. He only had 31 receptions but thats expected (he was a rookie playing behind bess, cam, and ginn for most of the year). Now for those 31 receptions he had 506 yards. Now 506 yards isnt alot, but he did it on 31 receptions, which gave him a ypr of 16.3, good for 22nd in the league. He also had a team high 7 catches of 20 yards or more. This guy is a playmaker and seems to be destined to be a great number 2 or 3 on this team. (Bess doesnt factor in to that because he lines up in the slot).

Ted Ginn Jr.

Oh boy. Here we go. Ok, Ill say it right now, I am in complete favor of keeping Ginn around. He has value to this team and heres why (Im putting in excerpts of my comments on the "Ginn Trade" post):

First off, Ginn isnt a true number one. He’s a number 2 and will be treated as such when we have someone who can over the middle on every play like a true number 1. So whether you like Ginn or not he is going to stay because he’s a potentially “explosive” player and has shown a lot of skill in the return game. Most likely Cam will be the odd man out and be traded. Second, no one here who actually watches football says that we need to build our offense around him. Thats stupid and if anyone actually says that then ignore them and move on. Third it doesnt really matter what we think. Ireland himself came out and specifically talked about how much he likes Ted Ginn.. Translation? He’s not going anywhere.

How many kicks did he return? 2. How many yards did he average on returns? About 25. How many times did we see him get behind defenses in a race downfield? Alot. He made one catch, got overthrown a few other times and even had one called back. Because of these two facts, HE IS VALUABLE TO US AND OBVIOUSLY THE FO KNOWS IT.

I said he was potentially “explosive”. Hes shown glimpses. Enough to show that in the right system, and the right role he can be an explosive player. But he hasnt done it consistently enough to warrant anyone sending a 3rd round or better for him. Because of that he is definitely worth keeping because none of us know how high his ceiling is. I do know that Ireland and Sparano both like him and are smart enough to realize how to use him properly. And we need to settle down and give it time

Also…when a guy catches 38 balls for just under 500 yards on the season…it doesnt mean hes garbage

So there's that. Also incase you missed, Dan Marino recently said that we should indeed keep Ginn.

Patrick Turner

-Whats there to say? Not much honestly because no one knows. He never could get on the field as a receiver but to be fair he was behind four other people. Will he get on next year? Can he be the number one we need? Who knows.

Conclusion: We have some good talent. but its 2, 3 and 4 talent. Not 1. Can Turner be that number 1? Again who knows. He has the size and the hands but does he have anything else? Only time will tell. In the meantime here's a list of some viable options we could get to  fill that hole. A big hat tip to Nick here because Im shoveling yall to his post to check out potential prospects for our receiving corps. 

Well that concludes Volume 2 of the "Breakdown". Hope yall enjoyed the insight (not much I know) I have to offer and can use this post and the ones to follow (and Ill be sure to link them all together) to help in your evaluations of the players we have and some of the prospects that we might end up with. Let me know what yall like and dont like and Ill work in improvements for the Vol.3 (the lines).