so if most of witten's catches are 3-5 yards (your perception) how is he averaging 9.4 YPC?...and he is accordingly to you he is slumbering in mud...
He probably caught a few longer ones, and a lot of 3- to 5-yarders. Don't care about his YPC, my eyes tell me he's not breaking away into space. Yes, he's slumbering in mud most times to me, that's how it looks, to me and DCs too (so he's no real threat). He's slow(er) now, and he was never really a fast TE in the first place. So he looks painfully slow now on 3rd and long when they need a TE who can get open fairly quickly. As well, he looks painfully slow too on play action passes that only gain 4 yards because the defender is on his back immediately, even though he was just
wide open a second ago.
and for Jarwin to be targeted and have opportunity to make tough catches he has to get open...has he? was he targtted? why not? you can't tell me its on the coaches. TE plays are for all TEs and not just Witten.
OK, I'll admit, I don't know if Jar's getting open, maybe he runs the worst routes and is never open. I'll contend that. But if so, dump him and try someone else. If Witt's the best TE on the roster, that's not good, not when you need chunks of yardage. Yes, he's serviceable, and he's reliable, but why not trade for one of those Philly TEs who ALWAYS seem to have the ability to stretch the field?
and Dak has shown he will throw to Jarwin when he is open and so far he has been a one trick pony pretty much...why force target a player? why force the ball to a player? makes ZERO sense.
He throws to a covered Witt, just hoping Witt has boxed out his man. Dak forces it into Witt a lot. Witt doesn't have to be open, but Jarwin does...which I get has something to do with Dak's comfort.
again, you are saying witten catches in the flat and can't run after the catch and Jarwin can...why isn't jarwin getting open on those catches? its not about Athleticism, its about being a good FOOTBALL PLAYER....
I contend that Jarwin's not getting those opportunities. Witt's on the field, so he gets them. Jury's out whether Jarwin is a good football player, but I do believe that he can catch that same PA TE flat pass and has the ability to turn that into more yards than Witt. Again, if Jarwin sucks, find someone else. But counting on Witt as a TE #1, in all situations, I think it limits the offense. Witt should be a situational TE#1, not in all sets.
and no one denies he stretches the field better...but he is not a good TE and as much as you wish/want/think he is the next coming of Kelce, Ertz, Engram...he is not. he is got ways to go yet, but he is improving and he is getting better.
Don't know if he's the second coming of even Witt, but I'd like to find out. I do know this...a 37-year-old Witt is past his peak, and is a welcome sight to most DCs, because even their slowest LB can cover Witt. No matchup problem there for most defenses. And the 5-yard PA flat pass is not even worth worrying about, so they can just key the run every first down, and "sacrifice" the occasional 5 yards to Witt. For me, that's not a good use of plays or personnel.
again, as the first option he may struggle.....but as a 3rd, 4th or 5th option he can take advantage since he will be matched up against lesser players, while the defense is focused on everybody else....
you are playing stat sheet, spreadsheet football extrapolating Jarwin to be a viable TE and he is not.....not yet, he may yet become one, but right now he is not.
right now Witten is ranked 10th in the league amongst TEs in yards and 8th in catches.....not bad for a guy as you said catching 3 yard passes.....and he is obviously the 3rd or 4th option on the team.
Some pass plays, Witt's the first option, you can see Dak looking for him. And it takes Witt time to get open these days, so I wish he wasn't the first option, but he is. Dak's just comfortable with him. I get it.
But Moore and Dak need to truly move away from all this dinking and dunking early in the game and instead look downfield more. They play it too close to the vest early. The comfort of throwing 3- or 4-yard gains to Witt contributes to this. So of course then they start slow, trying for 14-play drives when every single 4-yard play must be well-executed, instead of using the talent on the outside, and a faster TE that can crease the seam, and more screens...more plays with the potential for big chunks, so then it's only a 7- or 8-play drive.
Ultimately, I don't know if Jarwin is a solid #1 TE, but we can sure put him in on more single TE sets and test him out. We know what we have in Witt, and that's good...but also bad if you're going to think that 4-yard flat pass is real progress that the defense should be concerned about. If I'm the DC, you can have that all day, I'm still keying Zeke on every run set. But if I see 15-yard plus chunk plays on PA, then that'll make me consider keeping a safety back to help.