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If he is TE #1 what does he do this week

David Thomas

I have no expectations.

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Dave's not here, man.

I think hes a sneaky good play if you dont have a top TE this week. I dont think hes going to explode, but it wouldnt surprise me if he has a solid day. 4-6 grabs 40-60 yds and a possible touchdown would not shock me.

Im thinking value wise similar to what Brandon Myers has been doing but with slightly more risk.

I would like grilled chicken club meal(no mayo), but go ahead and biggie size it. Yeah, I don't want that extra bredding on the chicken, but potatos boiled in oil sound good however. Ah, yeah, Coke in that.


Oh, yeah. Can yo make sure to add a few extra honeymustards.

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If you are expecting anything close to Graham's production, I'm afraid you will be disappointed.

Expect something like 3, maybe 4 for 35 yds.

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16 Team $ LG:

QB: Rodgers, Locker
RB: Ridley, Stewart, Hunter, Ballard, Reece
WR: Nelson, L. Moore, Hartline, Shorts
TE: Hernandez, Chandler
K: Bailey
D: GB

I wouldn't even expect that much. The Saints simply have too many legitimate weapons in their attack to spare more than a passing glance at a backup TE with 5 whole targets on the year. Thomas would be no better than the 6th best passing option in that offense behind Colston, Sproles, Moore, Henderson, and Pierre Thomas. Even around the endzone with no running game, the Saints have attactive matchups like Colston vs smaller DBs and Sproles vs linebackers in space that they'll turn to well before targeting a backup TE.

There has to be a better TE option out there on the waiver wire. I play in a 10 team dyno that starts 2 TEs and goes 22 roster slots deep, and even in that league there are better TEs out there than David Thomas. Heck, a bottom of the barrel option like Fasano is a reliable bet for 4ish catches, 30ish yards, and at least 1 endzone target every game.

Im not sure why you keep referring to him as a backup TE. He wont be a backup TE. He will be the starting TE on a high powered offense that loves to utilize the TE position. They were throwing the ball to their TEs a great deal in this offense long before they had a superstar TE. The offense hasnt changed.

Thomas>Fasano

New Orleans features Graham because of the matchup problems that he poses, not simply because he's the first TE in line and they're bound and determined to throw to whatever TE is out there.

Thomas is a backup TE by talent level, and general profession. This week is an exception to that second part, but that doesn't make him a matchup problem in any way for TB. The last time he had more than 10 yards receiving in a game was in 2010 (i.e. before Sproles was a Saint). Adding Sproles changed the offense quite a bit.

Thomas has topped 6 targets once in his life (back in 2009). He has 4 career touchdowns. Fasano is averaging more than 5 targets a game, has averaged more than 4 TDs a year for the last 4 years (2 already this year), and has been routinely given looks in the endzone this year by Tannehill. Unfortunately, Fasano's on bye this week so he's not really an option, but there's almost certainly an equivalent player on the WW somewhere.

If you think Thomas is a great play this week, by all means...throw him out there. Personally, I think will be a handful of teams that have their second most productive TE outperform him this week (NE, IND, CLE, DET...). Are Keller, Myers, Lewis, Davis, and Allen taken in that guy's league? I would start them all before Thomas. I would consider guys like Sheffler and Cameron as well.

YMMV.

You are wrong. This offense is built around the TEs playing an integral role. The tight ends were catching 80-90 balls in this offense before Graham was even on the team. Lets look back over the last few years before Graham exploded on the scene as the dominant TE he was in 2011 to illustrate this point.


Billy Miller and Eric Johnson caught 75 balls and were targeted 104 times combined in this offense in 2007.

Billy Miller, Jeremy Shockey, and Mark Campbell caught 107 passes with a whopping 155 targets in 2008.

Shockey, David Thomas, and And Darnell Dinkins snagged 88 catches on 124 targets in 2009.

Shockey, Thomas, and Graham caught 102 passes on 148 targets in 2010.


As you can clearly see, throwing to the TE is a main feature of their offense. Having a special TE like Graham makes them much more effective in this regard, but it is not, as you claim, the only reason they choose to do this.

Whether they had a great TE like Graham, a good TE like Shockey, or mediocre TEs like Miller, Johnson, and Thomas, they remained committed to throwing the ball to their TEs in this offense.


Back to the original point, no one stated Thomas was going to be Graham. The comment you jumped on was "Expect something like 3, maybe 4 for 35 yds".

I dont think it is unreasonable to think he could catch a few balls this weekend. And given the offense he is in I like his chances to score way more than someone like Fasano which is why I personally said Thomas > Fasano. Thats all.

Oh yeah, I forgot to touch on this, but adding Sproles did nothing to change their desire to involve the TE as you implied. Graham and Thomas had 104 catches on 158 targets with Sproles on the team last year which was very much in line with the TE numbers over the last few years, although Graham did dominate those catches last year at the position catching 99 of them.

If I was looking for a TE this week, I'd take a chance on Thomas ahead of all of those guys. Those guys can all guarantee mediocrity on a regular basis.
I'd rather gamble on a guy who will be on the field all day with a great offense.

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"If you can't spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker."
-Mike McD, Rounders

Blocks a lot so Sproles can run routes.

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Graham, Shockey, and even Miller were all far superior receiving targets who produced 50+ catches on other teams. Not much of a surprise that New Orleans would be finding ways to get them the ball on a regular basis. We're not exactly comparing apples to apples here.

I guess we'll see soon enough. Even with Graham hobbled their last game, they chose to leave him in and use him as a decoy (only 2 targets on the game) rather than attempt to throw passes to any other TE.

Granted, they had a bye to work Thomas with some first team reps to try and shake the rust off and game-plan him in if that's their desire, but I would personally rather field the guy that I know will give me something with some upside rather than the guy I hope will give me something with some upside.

Good call.