In Day 3 of the 2010 NFL Draft, the Baltimore Ravens added BYU TE Dennis Pitta with their 4th round pick.
After having previously selected Oregon’s Ed Dickson in the 3rd round, it was interesting to see the Ravens make the selection of another TE.
When Dickson was selected last-night, I talked about how the Ravens may now have the ability to run the 2 TE sets they envisioned being able to run last-year with the addition of LJ Smith. My first thought with the addition of Pitta, is that the Ravens are envisioning running a 2 TE set of Dickson, and Pitta in 2011 after the departure of Todd Heap.
I think Heap gets the 2010 season to go for a ring, cement his place in the Ravens Ring of Honor, and to mentor these two young TE’s.
As ESPN’s Ron Jaworski articulated, the need for TE’s is extremely important with the opposing blitz packages like those of the New York Jets. Further confirmation of that line of thinking, was seeing that the New England Patriots had also selected 2 pass-catching TE’s in the draft.
National Football Post rated Pitta as the 7th best TE in the Draft:
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/front-office-total-access-stats.html&position=te
“Pitta is a tall, rangy tight end prospect who exhibits impressive body control in the pass game and does a great job adjusting to the throw and coming down with the tough catch. He lacks ideal explosion off of the line and kind of strides into routes downfield. But he possesses the body control to cleanly break down, get his head around and find the ball. He looks natural using his big frame to gain a step on a defender initially vs. man coverage and extends his long arms well to pluck the ball. He showcases average speed downfield once he gets going, but he’s very crafty, sells his routes well and can go up and high point the ball down the seam when needed. He isn’t a physical blocker as an inline guy. Pitta consistently allows his lower half to uncoil on contact and struggles to keep his base down through the play.
Yet he’s athletic enough to get his feet around off the snap and displays above-average hand placement on contact. He will work hard to stay on blocks and can be tough to disengage from on runs off his frame. Overall, he isn’t an overly gifted speed/strength athlete, but he’s savvy and knows how to uncover and pluck the ball vs. man coverage. He looks like a team’s No. 2 tight end who can create mismatches in the pass game.”
Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga1ln7L3qUw
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