Quote:
Originally Posted by O.city
He relies so much on speed now, but his route running has gotten a lot better. I dunno how he'll age.
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I just worry about some of the early injuries.
His route running is the best among TEs in the league and it's not particularly close. His blocking has emerged as a true strength. He's learned to use his body extremely well to block guys out.
He's as technically proficient a player as there is in the league. If he stays relatively healthy and simply loses burst slowly as he gets older, I absolutely expect that he'll age similar to TG because how smart and sound he is.
But the concern is the serious injury or series of lingering/nagging injuries that send him down the Antonio Gates path. Gates started getting those injuries to his lower half in 2010 and spent the latter half of his career as a plodding shell of what he was at his peak. Nobody could've predicted that but they happened. He was still a fine player, but nothing like his peak self.
So will he slowly decline physically but remain a premier weapon like TG or will he fall off faster and become more of a red zone threat like Gates? No way to know...