Watching Kansas City’s Travis Kelce and San Francisco’s George Kittle prepare for Super Bowl LIV makes you wonder how much quarterback Deshaun Watson would benefit with a big-time weapon at tight end.
Kelce and Kittle are the best tight ends in the NFL, perennial Pro Bowl selections who’ve become playmakers for quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Jimmy Garoppolo. Kelce and Kittle are good examples of how a team doesn’t need to use a first- or second-round draft choice to find an outstanding tight end.
Earlier this month in Canton, Ohio, former general manager Bill Polian, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, was praising Watson during an interview. Polian pointed out something interesting.
“If they had a great tight end, I think he’d be even more spectacular than he is now,” Polian said.
Last season, coach Bill O’Brien used three tight ends — Darren Fells, Jordan Akins and Jordan Thomas. Fells and Akins combined for 70 catches for 759 yards and nine touchdowns. Fells set a team record for tight ends with seven touchdown receptions.
It’s going to be interesting to watch the development of Kahale Warring, a third-round pick last year who suffered a concussion in preseason and spent his rookie year on injured reserve. Could Warring develop into a big-time weapon for Watson?
Before analyzing Warring, let’s examine how Kelce and Kittle reached this point in their careers.
Kelce, 30, is a seven-year veteran who was drafted in the third round out of Cincinnati in 2013. Kelce (6-5, 260) appeared in one game as a rookie before suffering a season-ending knee injury. In his second season, Kelce started 11 games and caught 67 passes for 862 yards and five touchdowns. He has a streak going of at least 1,000 yards in five consecutive seasons.
Kittle, 26, is a three-year veteran who was drafted in the fifth round out of Iowa in 2017. Kittle (6-4, 250) started seven games as a rookie and caught 43 passes for 515 yards and two touchdowns. Kittle has reached 1,000 yards in each of his second and third seasons.
The Chiefs and 49ers don’t have a dominant wide receiver like DeAndre Hopkins. If Will Fuller could stay healthy, imagine how effective Watson and the offense could be with a tight end who produces like Kelce and Kittle.
Could that tight end be Warring? Warring, 22, is 6-5, 252. At his combine, he ran the 40 in 4.61, benched 225 pounds 19 times and had a 36 ½-inch vertical.
Kelce ran 4.61, benched 22 times and had a 35-inch vertical. Kittle ran 4.52, benched 18 times and had a 35-inch vertical.
Like Kittle at Iowa, Warring didn’t get many chances to catch the ball at San Diego State, but the Texans thought so highly of him they took him in the third round. Even though he didn’t play as a rookie, he went to meetings and watched practice, so he won’t be behind mentally when the players report for the offseason program in April.
With four tight ends — assuming they sign Fells to a new contract — it won’t make sense for O’Brien to pursue another player at that position. The Texans have too many needs. So it’s going to be intriguing to watch Warring’s development and see how much progress he’s made when he gets opportunities to show the coaches what he can do.
"how" - Google News
January 28, 2020 at 09:15PM
https://ift.tt/2O7tkoh
McClain: How Kahale Warring could enhance Texans' offensive potential - Houston Chronicle
"how" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2MfXd3I
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "McClain: How Kahale Warring could enhance Texans' offensive potential - Houston Chronicle"
Post a Comment