I love football

[luv]

The more I learn about it, the more I love it. I never knew how complex it was. This is the first year that I've gotten into the draft, and it's made it that much more exciting. I so can't wait for the season to start!

Oh, and thanks to those I have driven crazy with questions. You know who you are. I appreciate it.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by luv

Okay, that question just sounded wrong.

Damn it. I hate it when I'm too tired to spot opportunities.

[luv]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Tight ends were invented high atop a mountain in a Himalayan Buddhist shrine.

A group of monks gathered to discuss what would happen if an offensive lineman could be fast enough to play wide receiver, or if wide receivers could be big enough to play on the offensive line.

The idea proved impossible. No way somebody could be both that big and that fast. All the monks died in a fire of their own brainstorming.

Football minds started to gather, though, and decided that if you couldn't find someone who was both big enough to play offensive line, and fast enough to play wide receiver, that maybe you could create somebody in the middle who could do a little of both.

And the tight end was born.

He typically lines up next to the RT, but can stand up on the wings just like a WR, or line up next to the LT. Physically, he is usually right between what an OL is (300 pounds, 5.0+ 40 time) and a WR is (210 pounds, 4.5- 40 time). Usually they'll be 260 lbs, 4.7ish 40 time.

In the NFL recently, TEs have gotten more and more specialized. Many teams now have a receiving TE and a blocking TE that share playing time. The blocking TE primarily plays on the OL, and the receiving TE will be more likely to run a route for a pass.

I was wondering if they acted more as a wide receiver. And if so, why they usually lined up at the end of the o-line. Using a man-on-man style of defense, who would mainly be responsible for blocking a TE? A linebacker?

[cdcox]

Originally Posted by luv

The function of a tight end exactly?

Back in the old days, most offensive plays were running plays. Teams used formations that looked like this:

ETGCGTE
..... Q .... W

...H.. F



So in the old days, there were no wide recievers or tight ends, just plain old ends. They were mainly blockers, but could be used for a rare pass as well. Then the idea came to split one of the WR out wide, hence the name, wide reciever. That is when the end that stayed near the tackle became known as the tight end.

Just as in the old days, the TE has to play two roles: blocking on running plays and catching passes. So you want someone in the 240-260 lb range (much smaller and faster than your average tackle, but larger and slower than your average WR). Some guys are better blockers than recievers (Jason Dunn), while others are better receivers than blockers (Gonzo, although he has become a better than decent blocker over the years).

Because TEs are slower than WR, they do not usually run extremely deep routes. Routes in the range of 5 to 15 yards are most common. They are typically guarded by a LB or S. They need to be able to make a catch in traffic, becuase many of the passes they catch are in the middle of the field.

[luv]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Damn it. I hate it when I'm too tired to spot opportunities.

I tricked you by placing it in a football thread after you previously posted a thread about a TE. I'm sneaky like that.

[Smed1065]

Originally Posted by luv

Okay, that question just sounded wrong.

I know I could look shit like this up, but I like getting it in layman's terms.

Well you are getting deeper because a tight end should always be used by a layman.

See you do not to have to even try.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by luv

I was wondering if they acted more as a wide receiver. And if so, why they usually lined up at the end of the o-line. Using a man-on-man style of defense, who would mainly be responsible for blocking a TE? A linebacker?

It would vary on the defense. But LBs usually are responsible for TEs.

In special cases though, you run across a TE who's too fast or too good for a LB to cover -- so you need to gear up and put a defensive back on him.

Tony Gonzales is the perfect example. He's got ideal size and he's incredibly hard for 90% of the LBs in the league to cover. Many teams place a CB directly on him. I know when we played Denver a few times, they'd actually put Champ Bailey on him.

[luv]

Trying to find good sites/books to refer to instead of having to interrupt threads with my stupid questions. Here's a site I found. What do you all think? Good?

http://football.calsci.com/


Some of it is still really basic stuff, which I feel I'm doing pretty good on. Any suggestions on sites that may take it up a notch?

[Direckshun]

Bump this thread for football season.