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David Ausberry (1 Viewer)

http://justblogbaby.com/2014/06/04/jermichael-finley-likely-compromise-tight-end-raiders/

OTA’s are often a time of positivity, where coaches and players act like salesman and promoters, all hyping the talent of their team as well as their chances going into the season.

Raiders head coach Dennis Allen forgot that memo on Monday when he didn’t exactly have praise for his tight end group that includes three unproven talents in David Ausberry, Mychal Rivera and Nick Kasa. Only one of those players, Rivera, had a 2013 that could be considered a productive one and Allen didn’t seem to have much of a problem admitting he would have wished to see more depth at the position.

Allen even made a metaphor to Santa Claus when talking about the Raiders not bringing in a tight end this season, hinting that after addressing other pressing needs this offseason the position fell through the cracks.

“Yeah. First of all, I’ll address this. When you go into the offseason, you have some things that you want to address and some certain needs that you have on your team. You try to address those needs as best you can. I don’t know that you ever get everything that you want. It’s kind of like when you go and sit on Santa Claus’ lap. You ask for a bunch of stuff, and you get about half of it,” said Allen when asked about the tight end’s after Monday’s OTA’s.

Despite saying the team may not have addressed their needs, Allen said he feels good about the youthful mix of Ausberry/Rivera/Kasa who are all still easily considered as prospects for the Raiders.

“That’s kind of where we’re at. I feel good about having some young guys at the tight end position and we’re going to need those guys to step up. Somebody in that room has to step up and say that they’re the guy. I think we’ll all know when that time comes.”

Those comments were made on Monday, making it unsurprising when NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that the team may kick the tires on Jermichael Finley after the veteran tight end was medically cleared by a Pittsburgh doctor to return to football activities last week.

It appears that Finley is the likely logical compromise for the Raiders who seem to be interested in bringing in a tight end but opted to pass on trying to lure Owen Daniels to Oakland to reunite with Matt Schaub, but a cold tight end market in free agency made the lack of additions at the position more than understandable.

Enter Finley, whose former production and likely low price tag could make up for his serious injury red flag for general manager Reggie McKenzie as well as Allen as the team looks for a veteran to add into their blend of young players at the position. With over 600 yards receiving at tight end three times in his career, there is little doubt that Finley would be the experienced target that the team would want for their new quarterback in Schaub to satisfy his love of using his tight end’s in the aerial attack.

There is the question of Finley being able to be medically cleared to play which clouds any premature excitement over the prospect of bringing Finley in to bolster the Raiders depth at tight end, but should he continue to pass the medical hurdles to get back to his football playing life there seems to be little doubt that Oakland will be one of his potential suitors. Desperate for tight end help and a mentor for their promising young tight ends, especially the surprising rookie Rivera, the Raiders may just be the perfect fit for Finley to make his comeback to the NFL with.

 
I don't know of any reports this offseason that point to Ausberry being a "much improved blocker". And definitely need to slow the roll on comparisons to Julius Thomas. He's had 9 career catches in 3 years over 28 games. I'd be thrilled to see him develop, but my hope is he can contribute 30 catches this year as a TE2 to Rivera. He's got the talent for more, but I need to see it to believe it.
And Thomas had 1 catch for 5 yards over 2 years and 9 games before last year. It's not a huge stretch to make that comparison.
It's as much a stretch as comparing Matt Schaub to Peyton Manning.

 
I don't know of any reports this offseason that point to Ausberry being a "much improved blocker". And definitely need to slow the roll on comparisons to Julius Thomas. He's had 9 career catches in 3 years over 28 games. I'd be thrilled to see him develop, but my hope is he can contribute 30 catches this year as a TE2 to Rivera. He's got the talent for more, but I need to see it to believe it.
And Thomas had 1 catch for 5 yards over 2 years and 9 games before last year. It's not a huge stretch to make that comparison.
It's as much a stretch as comparing Matt Schaub to Peyton Manning.
If you're saying Manning makes JT the top 5 TE he was last year, I agree. If you're saying Ausberry would not have a chance at a similar year with Manning as his QB, I disagree.

 
I don't know of any reports this offseason that point to Ausberry being a "much improved blocker". And definitely need to slow the roll on comparisons to Julius Thomas. He's had 9 career catches in 3 years over 28 games. I'd be thrilled to see him develop, but my hope is he can contribute 30 catches this year as a TE2 to Rivera. He's got the talent for more, but I need to see it to believe it.
And Thomas had 1 catch for 5 yards over 2 years and 9 games before last year. It's not a huge stretch to make that comparison.
It's as much a stretch as comparing Matt Schaub to Peyton Manning.
If you're saying Manning makes JT the top 5 TE he was last year, I agree. If you're saying Ausberry would not have a chance at a similar year with Manning as his QB, I disagree.
Even in the hypothetical world of fantasy football we are still limited by the boundaries of reality. Unless Ausberry is traded to Denver, he's a long shot speculative grab that interests a few people on fantasy football boards looking for deep deep roster stashes, but not really interesting anyplace else.

 
In three NFL seasons, he has done as close to zero as possible. That is after 5 years in college--redshirt year and 4 seasons. He's two years older than Julius Thomas, who played at a rinky dink college.
He was all set to start last year, but got hurt. It's a year of "zero" production, but more on a technicality than anything.

I would say that two years of nothing before that is not an alarming development period for a raw TE. Thomas and Cameron being obvious examples.

Ausberry's cost is zero in most leagues. Literally just sitting out there on waivers. If you want to nitpick him, go ahead. I would say relative to his cost, he's an excellent gamble to take. If they sign Finley or he loses the job to Rivera, what has it cost you? Three months of an open roster spot? Yea, I will pay that price for a TE with 4.4 speed who has shown flashes and may be in line to start. Easy decision.

 
Faust said:
Rotoworld:

Second-year TE Mychal Rivera is working behind David Ausberry at Raiders OTAs.

Rivera posted a 38-407-4 receiving line as a rookie, although it was mostly because the Raiders had no one else at tight end. (Ausberry was injured.) The Raiders appear to be projecting Ausberry as a possible every-down tight end, with Rivera only being used situationally due to deficient blocking. Rivera goes 6'3/242 with 4.81 speed. We're not big on Rivera's long-term outlook.

Source: CSN Bay Area

Jun 4 - 8:39 PM
Completely disagree with rotoworld's take on Rivera's long-term outlook. He's coming off a productive rookie season and plenty to build off of. Way to early to project Ausberry as anything approaching an every down TE into his third year as a psuedo rookie and he will be 27 years old this September. Rotoworld picks on Rivera's poor blocking but Ausberry is no better in that regard. Whole lot of ill-informed speculation in the blue font.
Rivera has shown more as a TE in his rookie year than Ausberry has in 4 college and 3 pro seasons.
Why do you think Rivera is being relegated to backup?
Rivera is a move TE, that was the book on him coming out of college, and has held true. He's a Tony Scheffler-type, passing game guy with (apparently) little in the way of traditional TE blocking skills. If he's on the field, it's probably a passing play.

Ausberry a better blocker, tho he's not Bear Pascoe or anything. He is entering his 4th year, so I am not surprised the Raiders are running him out there with the 1's. Rivera, being an H-back type, might never 'start' and still produce more fantasy stats.

Ausberry IS still interesting. He ran a 4.48 at the combine, played WR in college, and has nice size. But he hasn't shown anything as a pass catcher, and he was a WR in college. One would think that would be the easier stuff.
I get that he's completely unproven but he entered the league as a project, and wasn't supposed to start for at least a year. Last season, even with blocking and pass protection concerns, he was named the starter entering the preseason then got hurt and was lost for the year. Early reports this year indicate he's a much improved blocker and still the receiving weapon he was drafted to be. I'm not super in tune with Oakland but to me he clearly seems like the TE to own. Still a longshot to produce TE1 numbers but his speculative value is trending up.

He sorta reminds me of Julius Thomas from a developmental timeline perspective.
In three NFL seasons, he has done as close to zero as possible. That is after 5 years in college--redshirt year and 4 seasons. He's two years older than Julius Thomas, who played at a rinky dink college.

This is not to suggest that I don't have hopes for Ausberry. But Ausberry played on teams that were throwing 100 passes to Brandon Myers, and he couldn't get any looks.

Rivera came in as late rookie pick, and immediately looked like the game wasn't too big for him. He caught 40+ balls and 4 TDs with McGloin and Pryor. Frankly, I think he's dramatically underrated. Couple comments from OTA's isn't changing my position. When there are games being played, and the cameras are on, Ausberry has shown nothing. Rivera has shown he can play.
Ausberry has very little NFL production because he has rarely been on the field, not because he has been on the field and performing badly. Considering that he was a late-round project TE, only seeing 142 snaps during his first 2 seasons is not much of an additional warning sign about his NFL ability. Missing his third season with a shoulder injury also doesn't tell us much about what he'll do going forward. And having 9 career catches for 104 yards is not bad production for the amount of playing time that he's had (Ausberry's 1.18 career yards per route run is basically the same as Rivera's 1.20, though it's obviously a tiny sample size).

 
On the other hand... he missed about a third of USC's games his last two years as well and was never heavily involved in the offense. Got great measurables, but I think something is missing. Would rather own Rivera long-term.

 
On the other hand... he missed about a third of USC's games his last two years as well and was never heavily involved in the offense. Got great measurables, but I think something is missing. Would rather own Rivera long-term.
So would I. What's concerning to me is that Dennis Allen recently commented on the TE situation and acted as if Santa dropped a piece of coal in his Christmas stocking when he wished for a TE. He's not happy with the current situation, and he looks like he's actively looking for upgrades. Given Schaub's career history of leaning on his TE's, the status quo isn't cutting it.

 
Jordan Cameron had 12 catches at USC. I would say that at this point, the fact that he is still on an NFL roster four years into his career and that he was in line to start last season is more meaningful than his lack of college production at a different position.

 
Jordan Cameron had 12 catches at USC. I would say that at this point, the fact that he is still on an NFL roster four years into his career and that he was in line to start last season is more meaningful than his lack of college production at a different position.
As much as at it pains me to say this, consider the talent deprived roster he's on when you gauge his career longetivity.

 
On the other hand... he missed about a third of USC's games his last two years as well and was never heavily involved in the offense. Got great measurables, but I think something is missing. Would rather own Rivera long-term.
If you have the roster space (which I generally don't LOL), it's certainly not cost prohibitive to hedge and get both. My issue is the glut of high upside flyers on the WW in most of my non-TE premium leagues, and the viability of rostering more than a few of them when teams only start one. In order to pay off at all in terms of trade value, TEs need to hit really big relative to WRs and RBs. Long term average (NFL-wise) starting TEs are pretty worthless.

 
He was in line to start last year. Like every vet that is competing with two late round rookies.

He still, has never done anything on the field. Pro or college.

Does that mean he can't blow up? No, not at all. This is more about Rotoworld dismissing Rivera, who showed more his first 4 games than Ausberry has in three years.

 
He was in line to start last year. Like every vet that is competing with two late round rookies.

He still, has never done anything on the field. Pro or college.

Does that mean he can't blow up? No, not at all. This is more about Rotoworld dismissing Rivera, who showed more his first 4 games than Ausberry has in three years.
sounds like a Rivera owner...I own both in one league and Ausberry in another where I don't need a TE. Most places have Ausberry ahead, not just Rotoworld.
 
On the other hand... he missed about a third of USC's games his last two years as well and was never heavily involved in the offense. Got great measurables, but I think something is missing. Would rather own Rivera long-term.
you know who else didn't play many games at USC and was never heavily involved in their offense?

http://stats.washingtonpost.com/cfb/players.asp?id=155552
The problem is that this is the 2nd or 3rd year we've heard these same rumblings about Ausberry. As soon as he puts the pads on, reality sets in. He's a shorts guy. The same can't be said for Cameron. The buzz built last year (first time) and he hit.

My money is on Rivera, as well. At least he produced on the field as a rookie. There's more than fluff there.

 
On the other hand... he missed about a third of USC's games his last two years as well and was never heavily involved in the offense. Got great measurables, but I think something is missing. Would rather own Rivera long-term.
you know who else didn't play many games at USC and was never heavily involved in their offense?http://stats.washingtonpost.com/cfb/players.asp?id=155552
The problem is that this is the 2nd or 3rd year we've heard these same rumblings about Ausberry. As soon as he puts the pads on, reality sets in. He's a shorts guy. The same can't be said for Cameron. The buzz built last year (first time) and he hit.

My money is on Rivera, as well. At least he produced on the field as a rookie. There's more than fluff there.
My money is on taking a flyer on Ausberry... He is intriguing as an athlete and while I don't think he is Julius Thomas in production there's no reason not to think that he COULD be that type of weapon if he stays healthy and puts it all together... Could he fail of course but if he hits he can be a really nice value at his current cost of FREE

 
He was in line to start last year. Like every vet that is competing with two late round rookies.

He still, has never done anything on the field. Pro or college.

Does that mean he can't blow up? No, not at all. This is more about Rotoworld dismissing Rivera, who showed more his first 4 games than Ausberry has in three years.
sounds like a Rivera owner...
Why, because of my unfair and irrational critique?

He hasn't done anything.

Ever. Pro or college.

Like I said, it's possible.

 
On the other hand... he missed about a third of USC's games his last two years as well and was never heavily involved in the offense. Got great measurables, but I think something is missing. Would rather own Rivera long-term.
you know who else didn't play many games at USC and was never heavily involved in their offense?http://stats.washingtonpost.com/cfb/players.asp?id=155552
The problem is that this is the 2nd or 3rd year we've heard these same rumblings about Ausberry. As soon as he puts the pads on, reality sets in. He's a shorts guy. The same can't be said for Cameron. The buzz built last year (first time) and he hit.

My money is on Rivera, as well. At least he produced on the field as a rookie. There's more than fluff there.
this is the 2nd year. To expect a WR convert to be ready to play TE at an NFL level after 1 year was/is short sighted. TE is one of the toughest positions especially if you've never played it. I believe he was ready to breakout last year, but the shoulder injury stopped him.Now we have a QB who has been TE dependent his whole career and a hot mess of WR's. This could mean very good things if he's healthy. Now could Ausberry be Teyo Johnson? It's possible, but at a current price of waiver claim or late round rookie pick, I'd buy if I needed wildcard at TE. There is plenty of upside and we should know soon whether or not he's worth it so it won't kill anyone to wait & see...

 
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The problem is that this is the 2nd or 3rd year we've heard these same rumblings about Ausberry. As soon as he puts the pads on, reality sets in. He's a shorts guy. The same can't be said for Cameron. The buzz built last year (first time) and he hit.
Eh. He was productive last year in the preseason until he got injured.

Last year can be completely written off, which weakens the "2nd or 3rd year" argument. Can't produce if you aren't on the field.

 
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He's a great lottery ticket. Who's their Quarterback again? Oh yeah, Matt Schaub.




(Matt Schaub loves to throw to his TE.)

:banned:

 
I have a dilemma right now in ne of my leagues. I own Rivera, and Ausberry is available as a FA. Can't decide whether to drop Rivera for him or hold on Rivera. Can't really keep both, as very limited rosters.

I have a feeling one of the two will break out this year and at least be decent (best ball league). It is frustrating to say the least...

 
gandalas said:
I have a dilemma right now in ne of my leagues. I own Rivera, and Ausberry is available as a FA. Can't decide whether to drop Rivera for him or hold on Rivera. Can't really keep both, as very limited rosters.

I have a feeling one of the two will break out this year and at least be decent (best ball league). It is frustrating to say the least...
tough one, I'd probably go with Ausberry since he's #1 on depth chart
 
Bump Rivera. I'm not a bit surprised to hear Ausberry is hurt again. It's his calling card. I'd not be surprised if he never plays a down for the Raiders again.

 
@VicTafur: #Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson said TE David Ausberry (knee) had a good week of practice, “no limitations”

Hoping Ausberry makes me eat my words.

 

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