Jason Witten The Underappreciated YAC Monster?

[Roadtrip635]

Can we just agree that Witten has never been the type of tight end with excellent speed and elusiveness? Those are the Jordan Reeds of the NFL, and they are completely different types of players.

And Jason has a higher YAC than Jordan Reed!

 

[Scotman]

amazing considering he is avg 9.8 a catch.

Well, he's just about that tall.

 

[Garrettop]

Wonder what his YAC is minus that romp against the Bengals?

 

[T-RO]

Can we just agree that Witten has never been the type of tight end with excellent speed and elusiveness?

No. I don't agree and neither do the facts.

How many guys are 6 foot 6 inches, big boned...and can run a 4.65 forty. Go look at Witten's combine results.

The fastest tight end in this past years's draft? 4.64.

Witten ran a 4.65.

Witten has enjoyed elite athleticism--yes ELITE(!) but that's faded as he's been battered and gotten old. But even now go watch linebackers try to stay with him. As for elusive? For his size he sure gets surprising separation running routes and not all of that is his savvy.

http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=2083&draftyear=2003&genpos=TE

 

[T-RO]

Want to be reminded of Witten when he had young wheels?





He's not the fastest on the field...but he's the fastest big man on the field.

 

[T-RO]

John Madden said of a young Witten:
"I don't think you can cover Witten with a linebacker"

In the day Jason could outrun 90% of linebackers in the league.

 

[mattjames2010]

Want to be reminded of Witten when he had young wheels?





He's not the fastest on the field...but he's the fastest big man on the field.

If only it was 2004-2007 again.

He runs nowhere near a 4.6 these days.

 

[T-RO]

If only it was 2004-2007 again.

He runs nowhere near a 4.6 these days.

Probably can't run 4.6 or 4.7 after 14 years (!!!!) of mashing. Agreed. But I bet he's faster than you think even now.

Go back and look at him run in those clips from a decade ago. He doesn't look like he's going that fast...but he was outrunning a lot of guys on the field. He could even out-run some safeties.

 

[mattjames2010]

Probably can't run 4.6 or 4.7 after 10+ years of mashing. Agreed. But I bet he's faster than you think even now.

Go back and look at him run in those clips from a decade ago. He doesn't look like he's going that fast...but he was outrunning a lot of guys on the field. He could even out-run some safeties.

Straight from that 2004 clip, you can clearly see he had more speed and agility. More burst on his first step. I'd be really surprised if Witten can run even a 4.9 in pads.

Like I said in my original post, Witten will most likely always be a route running perfectionist and a guy who finds softs spots in zone. But outside of that, Witten doesn't have much to offer athletically as a receiver even more. He even discussed his athleticism not long ago, and kind echoed what I'm saying here.

 

[T-RO]

Straight from that 2004 clip, you can clearly see he had more speed and agility. More burst on his first step. I'd be really surprised if Witten can run even a 4.9 in pads.

Like I said in my original post, Witten will most likely always be a route running perfectionist and a guy who finds softs spots in zone. But outside of that, Witten doesn't have much to offer athletically as a receiver even more. He even discussed his athleticism not long ago, and kind echoed what I'm saying here.

14 seasons. All good things come to an end. He's still above average overall right now, but how much longer can it last?

 

[conner01]

Speed and ability to get open are two different things
We have Beasley who is not that fast but he is sudden, runs great routes and is open all day. Witten has never been all that fast but he is quick for his size, runs good routes and uses his body well. Lots of guys are really fast in the NFL who never get open

 

[Maxmadden]

And the first down pass. He has a 100% completion pct and averages 40 yards per pass. One amazing stat is he has only fumbled 6 times in his career and lost 4

Yeah, his fumble percentage lost is pretty poor.

No HOF for you JW..


Good find. I never heard that stat before.

 

[Maxmadden]

14 seasons. All good things come to an end. He's still above average overall right now, but how much longer can it last?

Same question that has been asked for the last half decade.

 

[mattjames2010]

14 seasons. All good things come to an end. He's still above average overall right now, but how much longer can it last?

Until he decides to hang it up or when we bring in a viable replacement. There is a point in time we have to sign or draft a TE that can challenge Witten's playing time and coaches need to put their foot down and tell Witten to deal with his lower reps.

 

[Redball Express]

Well Witten always gains at least 3 yards after every catch when he falls forward

Listen..

When you absolutely must get a first down..

nobody draws more attention than Jason.

That stiff arm he made earlier this season was a thing of beauty.

Like a Mac truck hitting a bug on a windshield.

The boy still has game and his day will come this year.

 

[Clove]

A lot of people forget how big Witten is. He's a huge TE at 6'6, so if he gets a step on you, he'll catch it. Now if you don't have good tackling technique, he'll put you down at 6'6. He's just a tough hombre' out there, slow, but tough. Seems like his cuts are fast, everything else is slow.

 

[DandyDon52]

witten has actually had more yac with dak this year.
I know he is used to being hit as he catches it, and there was one play he caught it and turned, and no one there!
He was stunned but took off, on about a 20 yard run.
When romo was qb the defenses stuck to witten cause tony and him had a rep, so he always was tightly covered.

 

[NickZepp]

Witten doesn't need to be a YAC master. Just being open at about 10 yards and moving the chains is all he needs. And he's done it well for about 15 years.

 

[mattjames2010]

witten has actually had more yac with dak this year.
I know he is used to being hit as he catches it, and there was one play he caught it and turned, and no one there!
He was stunned but took off, on about a 20 yard run.
When romo was qb the defenses stuck to witten cause tony and him had a rep, so he always was tightly covered.

That is not true. Witten, without Romo last year, wasn't exactly getting much YAC. The guy simply has no wiggle and doesn't shrug off tackles. He's done a few times this year, but I expect as the year goes on his YAC will decline and be back to his usual numbers.

He's just not a 100 yards every other game, 1,000 yards a season guy anymore.

 

[NickZepp]

That is not true. Witten, without Romo last year, wasn't exactly getting much YAC. The guy simply has no wiggle and doesn't shrug off tackles. He's done a few times this year, but I expect as the year goes on his YAC will decline and be back to his usual numbers.

He's just not a 100 yards every other game, 1,000 yards a season guy anymore.

Witten was never a YAC guy like say Billy Joe Dupree was in the 70s. He was always stay in a zone and beat coverage and get 8-12 yards guy. I believe the most ypc season for Witten was maybe 11.9.