my concern with Jarwin is his ability to run shorter routes and getting separation. we are all enamoured by the big plays he made, two of the three coming against the giants (and he had that huge game against the giants in 2018 that started the lore of Jarwin). Last year he was green, started green and got better as the year went on. he showed more confidence, more understanding of the game and better play by the end of the season......but the key for him this year will be making those 5-15 yard catches, getting separation in that zone and being the play the left, middle and right side. also, lets not forget, as the back up TE, he was the 5th target on the plays, and often matched up against lesser players and wasn't focus of the defense. as the starter, expected to do a lot of blocking and play a lot more and be the primary TE, he is not going to benefit from that...so it wouldnt' surprise me for him to underwhelm us a bit, as he is still raw....say what you want about witten, but he was middle of the pack TE in the NFL last year....he made a lot of crucial catches, but obviously he didn't have any deep speed (which he never really did to begin with).
I don't see the improvement in the TE position and in fact I list TE and RDE as two critical positions we are gambling with and throwing people at the problem hoping one of them steps up....
it would be great for us to swing a trade for OJ Howard of Tampa to solidify the position. Its a possibility given they just gave Brate a big contract and have Gronk signed......perhaps one of our DEs, 6th round pick would do the trick....having Howard would make me feel a lot more comfortable at the TE position. with Jarwin as the starter we would be in the bottom 3rd of the league at the position.
