Tribal Warfare
09-25-2010, 12:48 AM
Tony Moeaki making impact at Chiefs tight end (http://www.kansascity.com/2010/09/24/2248074/tony-moeaki-is-making-an-impact.html)
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
To improve last year’s sluggish passing game, the Chiefs went to work on their ragged group of receivers. They re-signed Chris Chambers, planned on improvement from Dwayne Bowe, signed Jerheme Urban and drafted Dexter McCluster.
But when Matt Cassel needed a go-to receiver in this year’s first two games, he went to none of those players but to another more unlikely source. Rookie tight end Tony Moeaki has delivered the Chiefs’ only receiving touchdown this season, a 2-yard catch in the opener in San Diego, and had two key third-down catches that extended second-half scoring drives in last week’s win in Cleveland. Moeaki leads the Chiefs with eight receptions, three more than Bowe, their second-leading receiver. While there’s plenty of time for Bowe, Chambers and others to pass Moeaki, it seems clear that a year after trading Tony Gonzalez, tight end is again a receiving threat for the Chiefs.
“Sometimes the defense just dictates who the ball goes to,” Cassel said. “Last week, Tony got a lot of great looks and was able to get open on a lot of those coverages they were giving us.
“Tony has done a great job. He has come in since day one and done what the coaching staff has asked him to do. He works tremendously hard, and he had a great game last week. We just hope that continues on throughout the rest of the year.”
Heading into Sunday’s game against San Francisco at Arrowhead Stadium, Moeaki’s numbers are humble on a leaguewide scale. With eight receptions, he’s not in the top 40, and the two third-down catches also put him well down the list.
But the Chiefs’ passing game is floundering, and there’s no telling where this team might be without Moeaki.
“I just happened to come open,” said Moeaki, a third-round draft pick. “Matt threw some really good passes. Those plays could have gone to anyone. That’s just the way the plays have been working out.”
It was difficult to imagine just a few weeks ago that Moeaki might be the Chiefs’ top receiver. He didn’t play much in the preseason, and coach Todd Haley suggested it was because Moeaki struggled with the grind of training camp and not because the Chiefs were keeping him under wraps until the start of the regular season.
“Tight ends in training camp are lumped in with offensive linemen,” Haley said. “Generally they’re not going to feel very good (physically). That’s just the way that it is. That mentality is critical to the success of tight ends, and Tony is developing that and he’s got a ways to go, but I would say there are some encouraging signs about him.
“I would never keep somebody (out) that could be a part of this team. You’ve got to get ready, you’ve got to get ready to go, and you’ve got to utilize every bit of time you have because that’s a difficult position. You’re learning run and pass routes, steps, adjustments, all those things, which is a big job.”
The start to Moeaki’s career is also notable because tight ends usually don’t make much of an impact as rookies. Gonzalez caught only 33 passes in his first season in 1997.
San Francisco’s Vernon Davis, now one of the league’s top pass-receiving tight ends, caught just 20 passes as a rookie in 2006.
“You have to be a guy that’s familiar with the protections,” San Francisco coach Mike Singletary said.
“You have to be a little bit of a blocker. You have to be a little bit of a guy that can catch the football. There’s a lot of information that a tight end has to know. A lot of times that really slows down the process of learning it all.
“(Moeaki) does a good job blocking. He shows up in the passing game in the intermediate routes. He’s overall a solid tight end.”
49ERS AT CHIEFS
Noon Sunday at Arrowhead (Channel 4)
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
To improve last year’s sluggish passing game, the Chiefs went to work on their ragged group of receivers. They re-signed Chris Chambers, planned on improvement from Dwayne Bowe, signed Jerheme Urban and drafted Dexter McCluster.
But when Matt Cassel needed a go-to receiver in this year’s first two games, he went to none of those players but to another more unlikely source. Rookie tight end Tony Moeaki has delivered the Chiefs’ only receiving touchdown this season, a 2-yard catch in the opener in San Diego, and had two key third-down catches that extended second-half scoring drives in last week’s win in Cleveland. Moeaki leads the Chiefs with eight receptions, three more than Bowe, their second-leading receiver. While there’s plenty of time for Bowe, Chambers and others to pass Moeaki, it seems clear that a year after trading Tony Gonzalez, tight end is again a receiving threat for the Chiefs.
“Sometimes the defense just dictates who the ball goes to,” Cassel said. “Last week, Tony got a lot of great looks and was able to get open on a lot of those coverages they were giving us.
“Tony has done a great job. He has come in since day one and done what the coaching staff has asked him to do. He works tremendously hard, and he had a great game last week. We just hope that continues on throughout the rest of the year.”
Heading into Sunday’s game against San Francisco at Arrowhead Stadium, Moeaki’s numbers are humble on a leaguewide scale. With eight receptions, he’s not in the top 40, and the two third-down catches also put him well down the list.
But the Chiefs’ passing game is floundering, and there’s no telling where this team might be without Moeaki.
“I just happened to come open,” said Moeaki, a third-round draft pick. “Matt threw some really good passes. Those plays could have gone to anyone. That’s just the way the plays have been working out.”
It was difficult to imagine just a few weeks ago that Moeaki might be the Chiefs’ top receiver. He didn’t play much in the preseason, and coach Todd Haley suggested it was because Moeaki struggled with the grind of training camp and not because the Chiefs were keeping him under wraps until the start of the regular season.
“Tight ends in training camp are lumped in with offensive linemen,” Haley said. “Generally they’re not going to feel very good (physically). That’s just the way that it is. That mentality is critical to the success of tight ends, and Tony is developing that and he’s got a ways to go, but I would say there are some encouraging signs about him.
“I would never keep somebody (out) that could be a part of this team. You’ve got to get ready, you’ve got to get ready to go, and you’ve got to utilize every bit of time you have because that’s a difficult position. You’re learning run and pass routes, steps, adjustments, all those things, which is a big job.”
The start to Moeaki’s career is also notable because tight ends usually don’t make much of an impact as rookies. Gonzalez caught only 33 passes in his first season in 1997.
San Francisco’s Vernon Davis, now one of the league’s top pass-receiving tight ends, caught just 20 passes as a rookie in 2006.
“You have to be a guy that’s familiar with the protections,” San Francisco coach Mike Singletary said.
“You have to be a little bit of a blocker. You have to be a little bit of a guy that can catch the football. There’s a lot of information that a tight end has to know. A lot of times that really slows down the process of learning it all.
“(Moeaki) does a good job blocking. He shows up in the passing game in the intermediate routes. He’s overall a solid tight end.”
49ERS AT CHIEFS
Noon Sunday at Arrowhead (Channel 4)