Pretzel-Free Dustin
The Fifth Down writes a nice piece on the no longer rookie, Dustin Keller who has bulked up, learned some blocking skills and no longer needs those pretzels for cramps. Keller coming in last year as a rookie out of Purdue desperately needed to improve his blocking but made waves for his catching abilities. Rex Ryan changed that in a heartbeat noting that if Keller was going to start he would learn to be “an every down tight end”. After getting a confidence boost from Bart Scott and making some nice moves in the preseason, Keller looks set to become “the tight end Coach [Rex] Ryan needs.”
After reading this, it made me all the more excited to have Dustin on the team and now we are going to see a much more improved version, a Keller 2.0. Although he has a long road to travel its quite possible that Scott’s prediction of Keller becoming an elite tight end isn’t too far fetched…
7 Responses to Pretzel-Free Dustin
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greene says:
I know everyone is high on dustin being a every down TE, i just can’t see it for this year for a run heavy team. I definitely see it 3-4 years from now when he put on what i like to call, AGE WEIGHT, but he’s just not a big enough guy. I mean the guy is huge, but he just doesn’t seem bottom heavy enough. I believe he can be a every down back in a pass happy system. But every down back in a run happy system, I’m skeptical.
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ramble914 says:
Keller doesn’t have to drive defenders off the line, he just has to prevent the man lined up in front of him from getting to the RB or QB long enough so they can get the play off.
I don’t see why Keller can’t do that whether we’re run heavy or pass heavy, and judging from what’s been observed and written, Keller seems able to do that.
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if dustin can do as much as they say, then no doubt he should be an every down back, but the Ryan always puts the “if” in front of dustin’s name, so its definitely not apparent that dustin can do it. he’s originally a WR turned TE, so its hard to be convinced he can do it in his 2nd year in the NFL, especially at his stature.
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lol, oops, every down TE, not back… got use to say every down back with the whole leon situation.
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I wrote a story for JI last season about his obsession with pretzel rods…funny how it still sparks today.
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JetOrange says:
It is difficult to think of Keller as an everydown TE, because he is not. Dustin Keller is a WingBack, he rarely line up as an inline TE, because the Jets are better served with Dustin lining up on the outside of the box, being able to be put in motion, giving strength to the formation but blocking safeties rather than LB’s, or Defensive Ends.
Got my fingers crossed!