Dinkins is a Saint

[heckofajobbrownie]

Mike Triplett of the New Orelans Times-Picayune reports the Saints have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent tight end Darnell Dinkins, according to a league source. Terms were not disclosed.

 

Dinkins, 32, is a veteran role player who stands out more as a blocker and special teams player than as a receiver. He has 25 receptions for 228 yards and three touchdowns in his six-year career with the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants.

 

 

[heckofajobbrownie]

So Heiden is old and coming off major surgery. Dinkins in gone. Winslow is gone.

 

Left are Rucker and Royal.

 

Luckily, this is a draft where a solid tight end can be found in rounds 2-5.

[VaporTrail]

Do we really need to draft a number 2/3 tight end this year? I think we have more pressing needs.

[OconRecon]

I wish Quinn's John Carlson were in this year's draft instead of last years. 6-5, 250, 4.65.

 

Anywho, I agree tight end only on day 2, depending on how day 1 goes.

[JewDago]

glad to see him leave. now the refs clan flag someone else for holding on special teams.

[Guest AdaM]

Are you as hairy as your name indicates?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have nothing to add other than, good luck DD.

[DTBH]

Dinkins, 32, is a veteran role player who stands out more as a blocker and special teams player than as a receiver.

 

He certainly does stand-out like a sore thumb on special teams, every time he brought back a return with a holding penalty.

[JewDago]

Are you as hairy as your name indicates?

oddly enough, no. some of the hair genes seem to have cancelled each other out.

 

i'm not bigfoot, though i guess i wouldn't be, anyway, since my family tree is full of short people on both sides.

[YtownBrownsBacker]

So Heiden is old and coming off major surgery. Dinkins in gone. Winslow is gone.

 

Left are Rucker and Royal.

 

Luckily, this is a draft where a solid tight end can be found in rounds 2-5.

 

We have 5 TEs on the roster. Heiden is healthy and showed you what he is about, when he gets playing time, against the Giants. Royal is a solid backup and great for two TE sets. Rucker is a question marks like any TE we would draft would be. They also have two more guys on the roster. I believe Madison is one.

 

How many TEs do we want? Chud had a offense that featured TEs, maybe this scheme won't. Maybe it will feature a H-Back over using a two TE set. In any case 5 should mean we don't have to waste a draft pick IMO. UDFA would be an avenue to find a blocking TE that can be put on the practice squad.

[Guest Aloysius]

How many TEs do we want? Chud had a offense that featured TEs, maybe this scheme won't. Maybe it will feature a H-Back over using a two TE set. In any case 5 should mean we don't have to waste a draft pick IMO. UDFA would be an avenue to find a blocking TE that can be put on the practice squad.

Well, all indications are that we'll be running a version of the New England offense. And the Pats have devoted a ton of resources towards finding the right TE's for their system:

 

2000:

• Round 5: Dave Stachelski, TE, Boise State

2001:

• Round 4: Jabari Holloway, TE, Notre Dame
• Round 6: Arthur Love, TE, South Carolina State

2002:

• Round 1: Daniel Graham, TE, Colorado

2003:

• Round 7: Spencer Nead, TE, BYU

2004:

• Round 1: Ben Watson, TE, Georgia

2005:

• Round 7: Andy Stokes, TE, William Penn

2006:

• Round 3: David Thomas, TE, Texas
• Round 4: Garrett Millls, FB-TE, Tulsa

So I wouldn't be surprised if we used a Day 2 pick on a TE.

 

[Gips]

Dinkins will do a good job keeping the bench warm for their starters...

[Mr. T]

Dinkins Sucks! Glad he is gone. We wont be tempted to bring him back.

[ballpeen]

Do we really need to draft a number 2/3 tight end this year? I think we have more pressing needs.

 

I agree, and I am not a needs guy.

 

I say it from the angle that I don't think TE is a primary offensive weapon in this O...probably why Winslow was traded...he wouldn't be happy having 4-5 balls throw his way every couple of game.

 

I think it is going to become more of a blocking position and a throw to position of last resort way more often than not....lot's of block and late release plays.....5 yard curl routes...that sort of thing.

 

I think it would be pretty easy to find some light on his feet FA college OT who shows some decent enough hands to handle what our TE is going to be asked to do.....mostly block and find a soft spot in a zone.

[YtownBrownsBacker]

I agree, and I am not a needs guy.

 

I say it from the angle that I don't think TE is a primary offensive weapon in this O...probably why Winslow was traded...he wouldn't be happy having 4-5 balls throw his way every couple of game.

 

I think it is going to become more of a blocking position and a throw to position of last resort way more often than not....lot's of block and late release plays.....5 yard curl routes...that sort of thing.

 

I think it would be pretty easy to find some light on his feet FA college OT who shows some decent enough hands to handle what our TE is going to be asked to do.....mostly block and find a soft spot in a zone.

 

I agree, way more pressing needs then TE, especially when you are short of picks. I might take a guy like John Phillips in the 6th or 7 round but that would be it.

[Fooleeze]

Interesting to me that the day that Dinkins signs with the Saints, this article shows up on clevelandbrowns.com:

 

http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/article.php?id=9470

 

TE draft class has depth, athleticism

Zac Jackson, Staff Writer

03.18.2009

Nineteen NFL tight ends had at least 40 receptions last season; eleven more had at least 30.

 

That's a good sign for the tight ends in this year's draft, a deep and talented group that lacks one big-name star but offers NFL teams plenty of tall, athletic targets who seem ready to provide an instant upgrade to a passing offense.

 

Therein lies the catch, pun intended. The explosion of the spread offense at the college level has produced a bunch of tight ends who are good route runners and are used to being targeted 10 times a game with passes, but rarely (and in some cases never) have been asked to play with a hand on the ground and block.

 

The consensus top tight end in this draft played in a spread offense in college, but Brandon Pettigrew also did his share of blocking at Oklahoma State. He's not a speed burner or a player who will instantly command double coverage in the NFL, but he does just about everything well.

 

At 6-foot-5, 263, he's big and strong enough to mix it up with NFL linebackers and too big for safeties to cover in the middle of the field. Exactly where he falls in the draft remains to be seen, but various projections have him coming off the board between picks 15 and 30.

 

If another player is going to end a two-year run of seeing just one tight end drafted in the first round, it's likely to be South Carolina early entry Jared Cook. He's a top-level athlete at 6-foot-5, 246, who's hoping to ride the momentum of a strong combine workout (he was the fastest tight end and had easily the best vertical jump at 41 inches) into the bottom of the first round.

 

Last year's run on tight ends started at the bottom of the first round when the Jets took Dustin Keller -- an ultra-productive college player in a spread offense -- at number 30. Three tight ends were selected in the second round and three more were selected in the third before the Browns picked Martin Rucker -- another ultra-productive college player in a spread offense -- in the fourth round, 111 overall.

 

In 2007 the first tight end selected was Greg Olsen at 31 overall. Zach Miller at 38 was the only second-round tight end, and Matt Spaeth was the only tight end taken in the third.

 

In previous years, though, there was a run on higher first-rounders including Jeremy Shockey, Kellen Winslow, Vernon Davis and Todd Heap. This year's crop isn't likely to produce a top-15 pick, but it should place more players in the top half of the draft than the last two years.

 

Shawn Nelson of Southern Miss is another tall (6-foot-5, 240), talented player who was steady in his first three years and had a huge senior season. He showed some blocking skills after being coached by ex-NFL tight end Kris Magnum and had a solid Senior Bowl week. He's among the "next" group of tight ends on most projections, a group that includes James Casey of Rice, Chase Coffman of Missouri, Travis Beckum of Wisconsin and Cornelius Ingram of Florida.

 

Casey's 111 catches last fall were the second most of any receiver in the country. Coffman was only four spots behind with 90. Coffman's injury history and lack of straight-line speed may cost him on draft day, but when he's healthy he's shown to be a phenomenal receiving target.

 

Ingram missed his whole senior season after tearing his ACL but was healthy enough to fully participate at the Combine.

 

Anthony Hill of NC State, Richard Quinn of North Carolina (who played his last two seasons of high school football at Maple Heights High School just outside of Cleveland), Ryan Purvis of Boston College and Travis McCall of Alabama are among the group of bigger tight ends who have significant experience blocking and playing in a pro-style offense.

 

[KardiacKid26]

My Spanish Teacher's son goes to the same preschool as Dinkin's kid.