Anyone else worried about eric lairs role in the new offense i was just looking at the stats from last year for North Ill. and the top two TE combined for 16 catchs for 168 yds and 0 TDS i think hes one of our better playmakers on O but it doesnt seem like kill goes to the TE is that just because NI didnt have the talent at TE or was it ignored?
TE in the New O?
- Thread starter njblom4
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Maybe Eric can play a little WR in his last year? I think Kill generally has beefier TE's and they do more blocking. I don't think blocking is necessarily Eric's strong suit, but he seems to move around in space pretty well.
NIU's 4th leading receiver, Landon Cox, was 6'3" 220, while Lair is 6'3", 238.
NIU's TE's are listed as:
6'3" 265
6'6" 229 (skinnier dude)
6'5" 248
This is totally my speculation. It just seems he might fit better being split out than a Tiree Eure (6'7" 255) or Curtis Hughes (too bad he is gone, would have probably been a good fit).
NIU's 4th leading receiver, Landon Cox, was 6'3" 220, while Lair is 6'3", 238.
NIU's TE's are listed as:
6'3" 265
6'6" 229 (skinnier dude)
6'5" 248
This is totally my speculation. It just seems he might fit better being split out than a Tiree Eure (6'7" 255) or Curtis Hughes (too bad he is gone, would have probably been a good fit).
GopherinPhilly
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I wouldn't be surprised to see him line up at H back, TE, slot receiver or wide out on any given play. We will be very thin at WR and Lair has size, hands, route running and enough speed to create serious match up problems. Think Crumpler early in his pro career.
Imagine a 3 tight, one back set which I think we will run a lot where Lair is set to motion...serious problem for a linebacker to cover or a safety/corner to match his size. From what Ive seen, Kills offensive philosophy is to identify and exploit matchups...more than overpower or run over defenses. MG, Lair, McKnight and Eiree can all do this in the right offensive set. IF one of our young RBs can have a break out season...we could become very dangerous if MG makes good decisions and reads.
Imagine a 3 tight, one back set which I think we will run a lot where Lair is set to motion...serious problem for a linebacker to cover or a safety/corner to match his size. From what Ive seen, Kills offensive philosophy is to identify and exploit matchups...more than overpower or run over defenses. MG, Lair, McKnight and Eiree can all do this in the right offensive set. IF one of our young RBs can have a break out season...we could become very dangerous if MG makes good decisions and reads.
GopherFan75
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Holy hell, take an english class or something.
highwayman
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Worried? A strange choice of words. Lair will play plenty. He's a talent, and will fit in fine. CK will not leave that talent on the bench.
Looks like moving Hageman back to TE might be a reasonable possibilty if the TE does alot of blocking.
He would be a large TE, but that would be an asset for blocking. 6'6 295 sounds pretty nice to push the pile. Plus that was his natural position in high school.
He would be a large TE, but that would be an asset for blocking. 6'6 295 sounds pretty nice to push the pile. Plus that was his natural position in high school.
grunkiejr
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Good coaches adjust their offense to their talent. They may not have relied on their TE a lot at NIU but that could also be because they didn't have talented players at the position.
Just look at Mike Martz at Chicago. I never remember his TE's doing much in the past but now that he has Greg Olsen they are finding ways to get him the ball.
Just look at Mike Martz at Chicago. I never remember his TE's doing much in the past but now that he has Greg Olsen they are finding ways to get him the ball.
GopherFan75
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Good point, but Olsen's numbers this year were down from the past 2 years.
Bob_Loblaw
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I don't really think this is the perfect fit of an offense for Lair (or vice versa), but he is a talented kid and Coach Kill has shown that he is pretty good at tweaking his offense to fit his team.
His first season at Northern Illinois, the Huskies 2nd leading receiver was their TE (led the team in TDs). We also will be running a system where Lair can line up at H-Back and TE, and I really expect his numbers to be pretty solid. I think this is especially the case because we will be so thin at WR that we will be forced to be creative offensively with our personel. That could include lining Lair, Bennett, and Stoudermire out at WR on certain plays, runnning plays with Lair at H-Back, etc.
Another thing to keep in mind is that in a system like Kill's, the better things are working out, the less you will probably be seeing their TE's catch a ton of passes. I think that, ideally, he'd like to power run the ball and pass deep on running downs (2nd and 3 type of downs). Usually, in that kind of offense (which he was able to do last season at Northern Illinois), you will see a lot of running and then a play action pass to the WR (stroke the post
). They run a creative offense, but when things are going as well as they were going for Northern Illinois last season, it's pretty simple. I think that contributed to the fact that they didn't have gaudy TE numbers.
His first season at Northern Illinois, the Huskies 2nd leading receiver was their TE (led the team in TDs). We also will be running a system where Lair can line up at H-Back and TE, and I really expect his numbers to be pretty solid. I think this is especially the case because we will be so thin at WR that we will be forced to be creative offensively with our personel. That could include lining Lair, Bennett, and Stoudermire out at WR on certain plays, runnning plays with Lair at H-Back, etc.
Another thing to keep in mind is that in a system like Kill's, the better things are working out, the less you will probably be seeing their TE's catch a ton of passes. I think that, ideally, he'd like to power run the ball and pass deep on running downs (2nd and 3 type of downs). Usually, in that kind of offense (which he was able to do last season at Northern Illinois), you will see a lot of running and then a play action pass to the WR (stroke the post
). They run a creative offense, but when things are going as well as they were going for Northern Illinois last season, it's pretty simple. I think that contributed to the fact that they didn't have gaudy TE numbers.
Bob_Loblaw
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I don't think anyone really thinks he will be "moved" as much as used in a variety of ways. The H-Back in this offense is essentially a TE lined up in the backfield. This wouldn't be much of a transition at all. As far as being spread out on some occasions next season, I don't think that is really a product of him being "moved" as much as it is to take advantage of possible mismatches. You see a lot of TE's spread wide for this purpose.
Notice Goodger is a big TE in the 6'5", 240-pound range. I see Goodger turning into more of a pass blocking first TE, but skilled enough to catch some passes as well. Probably play much of his career around 260-pounds plus.