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I agree, it's now or never for him. With britt out, 3 w/r sets for him, it's time!
Wow where'd you hear this? That's strange b/c Cook is definitely getting pulled in run blocking situations. Cook's snaps have steadily decreased from Week 1 thru Week 3 and Stevens's and Graham's have increased. I'm sure this was b/c they wanted to get CJ going, but Cook played less than 50% of the offensive snaps on Sunday and even with Britt out for 2 and a half quarters, Cook only got 2 targets.Maybe Hasselbeck needs to get comfortable throwing to him when he's covered. I'll rewatch last week's game, see if there was any hidden stats.
Many places around the time he was drafted and several times that summer including when I chatted with Jim Wyatt. Surely you can find it googling.It was years ago, the coaches have changed, but it still all rings true. I can't imagine Munchak (a blocker by trade) suddenly changed his mind when he became coach. What you wrote above meshes up as well. Even before that, the Titans were quite ordinary and lacked play makers. Britt was drafted for big plays and Fisher and GM(unsure which then) said how they were fortunate to have builta good base and now needed the big plays...something like that. It was the same thoughts with CJ and (seriously) Chris Henry who were very fast runners. They had pile movers or sled dog RBs and that wasn't really a concern. They didn't have any game changers though and even their deep threat at WR (Roydell Williams) was injured with a career ending injury. They almost literally couldn't make a big play because they didn't have players that could.CJ was more than anyone imagined and he changed things for them dramatically. The drives when there were 3 or 4 plays and he was off to the races, were oh so welcome in Tennessee by those linemen and many others. Even before that, long before, they had awesome linemen but slow Eddie George, efficient Derrick Mason+Wychek, but only Dyson to break anything deep. (Chris Sanders briefly) Fisher and Co had created this efficient plodding attack that proved to everyone that efficient can be the hard way of doing things too.
'Bri said:
LINK?
I wouldn't bank on the bolded part just yet.....TEN is 2-1 and playing pretty well....I also think it is a little early to just hand this division over to the Texans.....I could very easily see TEN hanging around for awhile and making things interesting.....let's face it, this team hasn't got their bread and butter rolling yet and they are still doing okay.....they could/should almost be 3-0 at this point.....I think heading into the season everybody thought this was still going to be the CJ show, but this passing game is pretty good, and even with Britt out I still think the passing game can generate some offense....those writing off Hasselbeck might be sorry.....once they figure out some things with the running game and CJ gets going, this offense could be tough....I'm a big Cook fan, not sure whats going on, but I think there is a chance he starts getting more involved....I think he is a hold and a decent start if you have him'Football Jones said:
Numbers don't support this. Hassellbeck threw to Carlson as much as you would any other average TE (which is what Carlson is). He caught 55 passes in 2009, most of them thrown by Hassellbeck. In 2008 he also had 55 catches, Hassellbeck was hurt a lot of games that season but in the games he played Carlson was active in the passing game'rickyg said:
Every NFL TE must block. Rookie RBs get franchise QBs "killed" because they can't pickup blocks and...it's a necessary evil to us FF folks.No one said Cook could never catch the ball or would never. He "got it" last year and it all seemed to come together for him. The guy is closer than it may seem. Some of his blocking this year is sheer laziness and undisciplined. Munchak just can't reward that. All he can do is "ride" Cook until he blocks well again.For what it's worth, Fisher was "dead on." Go to youtube and look who is freeing up CJ on many of his long runs.
Cook is fast and athletic as much so as the best of em'. He's really blessed. There's been some real good TEs to come into the league the last few years and he doesn't seem as special anymore. I think he will again, just gotta give him time. If anyone in the NFL can teach a player to block, it's Munchak.
when you're done searching let me know. Then I'll look for a link. He was drafted years ago.We've discussed this several times on these very boards and I know you can find it at titansonline.com as well.
I have him in the exact same type of league (Graham is my TE1) and my approach is the same. If it's going to happen for Cook now's the time. He has a 2-3 week window for me primarily because the WW has been picked clean and there's not much else out there at TE that really jumps out at me right now. If he can't get it done in the next few games I'll move on. But if you've held onto Cook for this long you might as well see if all the preseason hype will finally pay off.
Someone else has to find a link to prove your assertion? (That I have only seen made by you and only in this thread).when you're done searching let me know. Then I'll look for a link. He was drafted years ago.We've discussed this several times on these very boards and I know you can find it at titansonline.com as well.
Pretty incredible.Someone else has to find a link to prove your assertion? (That I have only seen made by you and only in this thread).when you're done searching let me know. Then I'll look for a link. He was drafted years ago.We've discussed this several times on these very boards and I know you can find it at titansonline.com as well.
Like I wrote, it's come up many times and I have often linked to it.Believe me or don't believe me.Someone else has to find a link to prove your assertion? (That I have only seen made by you and only in this thread).when you're done searching let me know. Then I'll look for a link. He was drafted years ago.We've discussed this several times on these very boards and I know you can find it at titansonline.com as well.
I don't believe you and contrary to what you think, the burden is on you, not others to prove your assertion that Cook was drafted to be a blocking TE (I have not seen that in other threads regarding Cook).Like I wrote, it's come up many times and I have often linked to it.Believe me or don't believe me. Cook was a more of WR in college and a horrible blocker, Fisher said a number of times that he rarely blocked, barely blocked, wasn't asked to block etc about Cook in collegeSomeone else has to find a link to prove your assertion? (That I have only seen made by you and only in this thread).when you're done searching let me know. Then I'll look for a link. He was drafted years ago.We've discussed this several times on these very boards and I know you can find it at titansonline.com as well.
He could potentially help CJ as a downfield blocker, but that was not the primary reason the Titans traded for him.I don't believe you and contrary to what you think, the burden is on you, not others to prove your assertion that Cook was drafted to be a blocking TE (I have not seen that in other threads regarding Cook).Like I wrote, it's come up many times and I have often linked to it.Believe me or don't believe me. Cook was a more of WR in college and a horrible blocker, Fisher said a number of times that he rarely blocked, barely blocked, wasn't asked to block etc about Cook in collegeSomeone else has to find a link to prove your assertion? (That I have only seen made by you and only in this thread).when you're done searching let me know. Then I'll look for a link. He was drafted years ago.We've discussed this several times on these very boards and I know you can find it at titansonline.com as well.
Agree 100%.He could potentially help CJ as a downfield blocker, but that was not the primary reason the Titans traded for him. drafted him.I don't believe you and contrary to what you think, the burden is on you, not others to prove your assertion that Cook was drafted to be a blocking TE (I have not seen that in other threads regarding Cook).Like I wrote, it's come up many times and I have often linked to it.Believe me or don't believe me. Cook was a more of WR in college and a horrible blocker, Fisher said a number of times that he rarely blocked, barely blocked, wasn't asked to block etc about Cook in collegeSomeone else has to find a link to prove your assertion? (That I have only seen made by you and only in this thread).when you're done searching let me know. Then I'll look for a link. He was drafted years ago.We've discussed this several times on these very boards and I know you can find it at titansonline.com as well.
He was drafted to be an additional asset in the passing game.
Well, despite what he may or may not have been drafted to be hopefully we're about to find out what he will be.
They had franchised Scaife around the same time. Like a RB has to learn to pickup the blitz, Cook had to learn to block. They had excellent young tackles and drafted Stevens. They had blockers inline, but no one could get out and help CJ to give him that one pivotal last block that would send him off to the races. Cook flat out stunk at blocking.There is no doubt that from quotes alone you can tell Fisher and Munchak were extremely frustrated with his blocking as a rook and into his second year. It surely is possible Fisher told him and the press that they drafted him to block to get his eye on the prize. You can also find quotes after the draft where of course they are discussing his athleticism and speed. They weren't ignorant of it at all. He still can not block. He sooo "got it" late last year and had a few huge blocks and was almost instantly a big part of the O. Munchak has to be frustrated now.During his second year, second camp, when a reporter asked him a Q about Cook playing WR Fisher explained that they had WRs. He and Munchak had discussed it with Dinger and they were going to resist that temptation. I got the impression he may be a good WR but he'd be a dominant game breaker at TE and they didn't want to mess up his development. I think this week Munchak said to himself enough's enough and decided Cook will at least be a WR this week. They signed Avery and maybe Cook gets back to TE next week but this is what he needs now.Some people on these boards have a real selective memory. Cook dropped a ton of passes. He has frustrated them since day one with those. If you go to Wyatt's blog at the tennessean and search "cook drops" their memory will be refreshed. They are often in the same blog post where he mentioned a circus catch in practice or how Young didn't hit Cook deep. Cook's development has been a nightmare. Dinger's almost entire value as an OC was to create mismatches. He had to be drooling at the idea of using Cook. There simply is no way a coach can ignore that a guy can't block at TE. DCs will have their best DE lined up right there in a matter of milliseconds. It's too easy for them.Search these boards for how many people discuss Britt's Eagles game, throw the stats in, and call it four quarters. His development has been stalled in so many ways including being benched that very week for the first quarter. This board had several threads and discussions that same week where Fisher was either right or wrong to bench Britt and people had him being fired etc. The day after the game it was as if that never happened. His drops were suddenly forgotten too and that guy couldn't have dropped more easy passes in his career at that point and....sometimes it's frustrating how quickly fans forget sometimes it's curiously nice that they can forgive n forget. Mouton? I forget. There was a CB the same year as Britt or the year after that Fisher was so sure he'd locked up all his Qs at CB. He would carry on in his pressers discussing his value as a return guy too as if the coverage was so already taken care of and obvious, let's discuss what else he'll do. Fish was dead wrong as was the GM. That DB stunk. Young's antics began somewhere in here too and Fisher seemed to have a real difficult job and was very frustrated often. I noticed him trying to steer the conversation to vets he adored and being short about these players that irked him. The press wanted to dig and we all know that's how it works. Today though you'd think Britt was in trouble once, got himself together, and instantly the best WR in the game.
Traded up for him.Agree 100%.He could potentially help CJ as a downfield blocker, but that was not the primary reason the Titans traded for him. drafted him.I don't believe you and contrary to what you think, the burden is on you, not others to prove your assertion that Cook was drafted to be a blocking TE (I have not seen that in other threads regarding Cook).Like I wrote, it's come up many times and I have often linked to it.Believe me or don't believe me. Cook was a more of WR in college and a horrible blocker, Fisher said a number of times that he rarely blocked, barely blocked, wasn't asked to block etc about Cook in collegeSomeone else has to find a link to prove your assertion? (That I have only seen made by you and only in this thread).when you're done searching let me know. Then I'll look for a link. He was drafted years ago.We've discussed this several times on these very boards and I know you can find it at titansonline.com as well.
He was drafted to be an additional asset in the passing game.
Bad blocking and drops. The drops couldn't be more frustrating. Britt was about the same til recently. They could both make a jaw dropping catch then on the next play they'd drop a super simple pass right to them. Cook very much looked like he wasn't focusing on gameday. He'd be in a bad position to make a block, give it a poor effort, and make a drop too. You can find a zillion quotes about him improving in practice, but that LB or S isn't going to stay still in the game. If an OL flattens someone, they go hunting for more people to hit. That has to be the mindset of a TE with speed like Cook. It wasn't just coaches, they even had Cook spend time with Mawae one on one and at best he gets in the way like a WR occasionally does. Everyone and their brother wanted the Titans to at least put him in on 3rd and long plays and they did. He dropped em' or he had dropped enough that the QB was pathetically ignoring him. Scaife being in Cincy is important here. Scaife was just good, not great, but he had very good hands and made some very tough catches in traffic. Each of their OCs would put Scaife in on key plays and there was zero experience for Cook to gain. It was always that Scaife would do it. Now...last week as a matter of fact...it was ancient Daniel Graham making a play that Cook should have made. Stevens has always gone out for the occasional bomb and it works because no one expects their grunt TE will do that. I remember watching the pressers when he was a rook and Fisher had to hold back smiling. Stevens was a good blocker. He'd get into so many fights or scrums as a rook and then when he was angry, he'd flatten defenders with his blocks. Fish put a big effort into saying fights are wrong but they do happen and we don't encourage it etc. You could tell he and Munchak were falling in love with Stevens mindset and his blocking then. The Titans don't have a receiving TE other than Cook. It is his job to take.Watch their running plays from previous weeks. The WR is not going diagonally to nail a defender, or holding his ground, he is running forward and down field to block. Cook takes off diagonally toward the sideline to get someone downfield too. Hall is an excellent FB that plays like the former military guy he is. He can take care of that initial DB, the WR normally would, no problem. You can see they flat out plan for CJ to get a big gain. When he runs outside in 2011, these dopes at WR (and TE) are missing their blocks and there's a curiously large number of defenders there waiting for CJ. Stevens and Graham just can't get out there fast enough. CJ is too fast for them to block that far from their inline positions. The only time I've seen that looks like CJ has a good shot to break a long run is if they run him like Curtis Martin around the corner of the OL. Those slow TEs are there to make their blocks and everything seems in order. It's instinct for him though and he bounces outside and gets nailed. It's what he does and no one is there to block or they flat out whiffed on theirs.I tried to find something last night to show you guys and I can't get this to work. Mariani laid two huge blocks and each time ran back to try to find someone else to hit. WRs don't do that, maybe Hines Ward. Mariani probably isn't even 200 pounds wet. If Cook messes up or Williams' hammy tightens, I'd bet Mariani earned more time with his blocks. That little bugger has so much heart he's making it hard for Munchak to sit him.
Last summer when Britt was so deep in Fisher's doghouse, there were articles naming Williams the starter. Yes we all laughed at june or july articles naming someone a starter, but they were there. The Titans have loved Williams since day one. He's just been a little wet behind the ears or injured. They absolutely have plans for Williams.Nate Washington's career stats clearly show that he struggles as the number one and is solely a nice complimentary player. The Titans have room for Williams and Cook to both succeed at WR and still have Nate scoot quickly across the field to make a handful of catches. We FFers sometimes incorrectly look at depth charts as a virtual pecking order where if one guy goes down, the other is moved up. Nate can play the "number two" role well and move into the slot and do that well too. I don't think they change Nate's role at all. Cook and Williams can be the other WRs in 3WR sets and either can play opposite him when they line up two. Last year I remember a few Titans fans and I debating the drops listed for Williams as being unfair. He seemed to catch everything. How could the number be so high etc. He had a hamstring injury earlier this calendar year that put him in a bed it was so bad. (IDK why that stuck with me, just not normal to read about a guy injured lying in a bed I guess) He missed the first two games with it being tight and painful for him. He is supposedly OK now, but I'm not feeling reassured for FF til I see him doing everything on the field that he needs to do. The bandwagon is loading up now. I have Williams in FF because I have to at this point since he won't be available next week. I probably won't start him til I see it, but I expect he will be a very efficient NFL WR during his career and quite valuable in PPR leagues.
Ugh.BTW, Carlson was a top-10 TE in 2 out of the 3 years he played with Hasselbeck.
A top 10 te until last year when te became a deep position meant nothing. Erratic production at best. And that's what Carlson gave. Up until a few years ago it was gates/Witten/Gonzalez/Davis/Clark. After that it was a total crapshoot for solid week to week production from tesThat said, cook produced today bc britt is done and they are shorthanded. Thus he gets more snaps sir out as a wr and that's good for him bc hassy likes to throw to his wrs. I like the production today. The 2 catches scare me. Let's see how consistent cook can be. See Jimmy Graham or gronk. That's the talent level of cook. Let's see if it translates to the same consistent play like them. If cook produces a solid stat line next week I'll trust him again in my lineup.
ETA: 
