Grading the 2011 Tennessee Titans: Tight Ends

by Jimmy on Jan 19, 2012 9:17 AM CST in Tennessee Titans News

Jared Cook finally came on at the end of the year. All year long we wondered what was going on with him. Was he not getting the ball because he wasn't open or because Matt Hasselbeck wasn't looking in his direction often enough? We still don't really know the answer to that question, but it got better at the end of the year.

The challenge for Cook going forward is finding a way to consistently produce. He has had an excellent month of December in the last two seasons. Now it is time for him to be a steady presence in this offense.

Craig Stevens had a solid year. He played most of the season with a bad rib, but he was still able to do the things they needed him to do. You can see how much they like him by the fact that he is the only guy that was facing free agency to have already signed a new deal.

I would like to see them feature him a little bit more in the passing game going forward. People that want the Titans to use the tight ends like the Patriots do are getting a little bit ahead of themselves, but Stevens can make some plays down the field.

Daniel Graham did a nice job in his role. He is not going to be a star receiving tight end, but that was not what they brought him in for anyway.

The grade here would be an "A" if it were not for the inconsistency we saw from Cook. This group has the highest ceiling of any group on the roster.

Grade: B

Poll

What grade would you give the tight ends?

A

44 votes

B

200 votes

C

85 votes

D

2 votes

F

1 votes

332 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

B seems fair, the TE's (especially Cook) didn't really come together till the very end of the season

Hopefully it rolls over to next season!

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by StPrattrick on Jan 19, 2012 9:25 AM CST reply actions

I voted C

I don’t know the exact figures, but I remember some of the snap count stats during the year say, when Cook was on the field it was 80%+ pass. Thats a pretty good tip off to the defense. The tight ends are a big part of sealing the edge on run blocking and we didn’t see that happen too often this year.

Why can’t we make Cook a wide out? Is this the only way Britt and he can be on the field together?

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by CrazyTitan on Jan 19, 2012 9:47 AM CST reply actions

I remember reading somewhere, Thor was saying Cook's blocking has gotten a lot better towards then end of the season

maybe it’s finally turned on for him? Hopefully.

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by StPrattrick on Jan 19, 2012 9:53 AM CST up reply actions

in the second texans game cook effectively blocked to texans defenders

on the cj toss that almost went for a td.

which is very good

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by Ice0ne (CAJ) on Jan 19, 2012 10:00 AM CST up reply actions

the were on the field together

but you keep him there and stregnthen his blocking a bit more to keep his matchup advantage over LBs

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by Ice0ne (CAJ) on Jan 19, 2012 10:01 AM CST up reply actions

I remember Graham giving away a ton of penalties

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by alijeal on Jan 19, 2012 10:36 AM CST reply actions

B is a good grade.

Also, Graham was mediocre. He was good for a holding penalty once a game when he came in later in the year. Bugged the hell out of me.

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by BonzosMontreaux on Jan 19, 2012 10:36 AM CST reply actions

who voted F

by jv1222 on Jan 19, 2012 12:10 PM CST reply actions

If I didn’t know better I’d say it was a Steeler fan who voted “F”…

… maybe (just MAYBE) someone might (MIGHT) have an excuse to vote “D”.

But “F”? Come on now… Stevens was pretty consistent in his role all year, despite injuries. Heck, he showed (to me, anyways) that the team needs to throw to him a little bit more. If he didn’t have a pretty good year as a blocking TE, why did the team rush to resign him when they seem to NEVER rush to resign anyone?

And that’s not even including what Cookie did this year. He’s finally coming around. The Graham excuse doesn’t really hold water. The man is the 3rd string TE. He is easily replaced if he can’t do a decent job…

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by steeler-hater on Jan 20, 2012 3:43 AM CST up reply actions