BTB: TE Schultz is starting to show his potential

[OmerV]

No, you said that greater usage isn't random. Swaim getting hurt is random. If Schultz is used more because Swaim is gone, it's because they thought they could get the same value out of the less expensive player. That's because Swaim is the same player he was as a rookie, and 3 years from now, they'll be able to have another rookie come in and do the same thing.

TEs in the NFL today, regardless of history, do not develop into more impactful players, unless they have the talent to be Kelce, Gronk, etc. The only thing that changes is opportunity. Schultz has the talent right now to do exactly the same thing he would do in 2028, even though he will develop.

You just have no comprehension of the fact that player development and players becoming more impactful aren't the same thing. That's not true for every position, but it certainly is for TEs in this era. They are what they are. 1 or 2 develop into elite players. TE is a dying position, same as fullback and SAM. Those players could all develop, but sans the 1%, they're all the same in terms of how they impact games.

Of course injury forces backups to get more time, but that's not what the conversation was about, and you are stretching to pretend that it is. I guess you are willing to do whatever you can to fabricate a point. Obviously you can (and do) make up whatever you want, but the context of the conversation was not about this season only, it was about Schultz doing more and being capable of more beyond his rookie season.

 

[Future]

Of course injury forces backups to get more time, but that's not what the conversation was about, and you are stretching to pretend that it is. I guess you are willing to do whatever you can to fabricate a point. Obviously you can (and do) make up whatever you want, but the context of the conversation was not about this season only, it was about Schultz doing more and being capable of more beyond his rookie season.

That's what you made it about, when you said opportunity wasn't random.

I have said all along that he's capable of doing more than he is now. It's just not dependent on development, it's dependent on opportunity. I don't think he has the athleticism to develop much more. You disagree, but absolutely refuse to say anything tangible about what that means. You won't give player comps, stat guesses...anything. Just wax about TE development like its 1985

 

[OmerV]

That's what you made it about, when you said opportunity wasn't random.

I have said all along that he's capable of doing more than he is now. It's just not dependent on development, it's dependent on opportunity. I don't think he has the athleticism to develop much more. You disagree, but absolutely refuse to say anything tangible about what that means. You won't give player comps, stat guesses...anything. Just wax about TE development like its 1985

Okay - there is the "random" case of injury, but that is not, nor has it ever been the context or direction of the discussion. You just latched onto that out of desperation because your continuing argument that a sparsely used rookie has already reached the peak of what he is capable of cannot be supported by facts, logic or history.

 

[Future]

Okay - there is the "random" case of injury, but that is not, nor has it ever been the context or direction of the discussion. You just latched onto that out of desperation because your continuing argument that a sparsely used rookie has already reached the peak of what he is capable of cannot be supported by facts, logic or history.

You made it the context of the discussion when you said that more opportunity is the product of development and isn't random. That's unequivocally false. Injury is random, but opportunity is also the product of the salary cap and system changes. For a TE, it's almost exclusively those 3 things. I can't think of a single contemporary TE who fits the mold of what you're talking about - and neither can you, evidently, because it just doesn't happen.