Wednesday, February 27, 2013
A TE idea for Cleveland
By Tim Kavanagh
Many teams around the NFL have increased the importance of the TE position within their offense in recent seasons, and some even use a receiving TE as their primary receiving target in a significant number of game situations; not just in the red-zone, as in previous eras. For the Cleveland Browns -- whose new HC and OC like to get the TE involved extensively -- doing this will require a bit of investment at the position.
Jordan Cameron will be back for Cleveland, while Ben Watson and Alex Smith are pending UFAs, and unlikely to be re-signed. One idea raised by Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland is to leverage their recent hire of former Colorado HC Jon Embree as their new TE coach, and target CU product Nick Kasa.
Kasa is a converted D-lineman who caught 25 catches for 391 yards in his first season as a TE, and ran a 4.71 40-yard dash -- fifth amongst TEs -- at the scouting combine while measuring in at 6-foot-6, 269 pounds.
"I had no idea this was coming," Kasa indicated. "A year ago when I was playing on defense still I was almost planning to finish up my college career and be done with football. The switch to tight end really opened the doors to me and it brought back the love of the game to me. It was kind of a revelation. My size and that ability in the run game really helps me with the things I can do. And the speed I can maintain at that size. The league is changing. The tight end is becoming more important in offenses."
The Browns don't have a second-round pick, but Kasa should be available for them in Round 3 or later (he'd been projected as a fourth- or fifth-rounder prior to the combine).
