re: So Fleener..........should we be concerned?

See this link. In 2012, Jimmy Graham led the league in dropped passes with 14. He drastically improved from that. I do seem to remember him struggling with an injury which could explain the high number.

Fleener, on the other hand, has had a career high 5 drops in 2014 for a drop rate of 5.4% and only 3 drops in 2015 for a drop rate of 3.6%. I think that he will be fine and that he and Brees just need reps.

I actually like the fact that maybe Brees won't use Fleener as his security blanket like he did with Graham. I want to see Cooks, Snead, Thomas and Fleener all be productive and cause mismatch issues for the teams that we face.

LINK

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This is the very definition of a strawman argument. Who said anything about elite top 5 producer? If you're paying a guy what he's being paid, you're not doing so to ease him in as the #2 TE until year #2. With a QB like Brees throwing you passes, you should immediately be able to come in and make an impact.

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In MANY other threads, people are expecting 900+ yards...that is the definition of top 5.

By that defintion, Watson, Shockey, and Graham should have busted out their first year here. Shockey's best season was in 2009, year#2. Graham's best season was in year #2. Watson's best season was in year#3.

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Well, no one said that in this thread, so this point is irrelevant.

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Not in this thread, I'm referring to the majority in other threads.

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Yes. We could put a shopping cart with a mannequin head at TE and he'd catch for 500-600 yards so it would be a waste of money when you consider what we paid Benjamin Watson, and he put up 800 yards receiving.

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If we're saying that than why did Hill not 'take the next step' or Hooman? Watson was also in year 3 of a very cheap 3/4.95mil from a different cap as well as he was never supposed to be more than a #2 TE. Ontop of that, he just signed 2/7mil at 35. He's not a game changer, not a good blocker anymore, and isn't a long term plan. you risk Fleener being average, but he still has the potential to grow and he's still young.

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They produce mostly because of how great Brees is.

So if you can get solid production out of a cheap player like Benjamin Watson, then you upgrade by, what, probably 4-5 times the value in signing Fleener, you should expect his production to outdo Watson by a wide margin or else what was the point?

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Watson has always been a 'solid' receiver and had his best year as a team's 3rd best option after being the 6-7th option the previous two years.

Fleener goes into this year as the team's 3rd-4th option with no rapport with Brees, so it'd be fair to say he and Michael Thomas should take half a year before they start to blossom before people need to panic.

Also, Watson posted 274 of his 825 yards against two of the worst LB corps in the league (ATL and NYG) in two games.

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They produce mostly because of how great Brees is.

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Don't disagree.

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if you can get solid production out of a cheap player like Benjamin Watson

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Watson has been underrated for years. He has been solid across the board going all the way back to his days at UGA. He does nothing flashy but is solid at everything.

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then you upgrade by, what, probably 4-5 times the value in signing Fleener

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I would call Fleener a marginal upgrade in natural ability and that has more to do with age difference than overall skill set.

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you should expect his production to outdo Watson by a wide margin or else what was the point?

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Watson had a career year and again was vastly underrated. The reason for the change was because Watson is now 35.

To expect a player in year 1 to come in and do what he did(have a TE7 year or better) would be asking for damn near the impossible. We did not sign Jordan Reed, Gronk, or Old Jimmy. Fleener has the potential to have a major breakthrough...but I do not think it will happen this year. Saints signed him based on potential and age.

Saints run one of the more complicated offenses in the NFL. Drew makes changes at the line of scrimmage and asks a lot from his receivers. Literally they have to think just like Drew or the ball is getting intercepted.

Not worried about it. I think he isn't comfortable in our offense yet which causes lack of confidence. Once he gets the system down he'll be fine.

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Exactly

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bonethug is seeking excuses in the hardest of ways.

We can all agree we would have preferred Alex Boone or Matt Slauson vs Coby Fleener.

The issue is how freaked out everyone is about a 'lack of rapport'. Every qb and receiver takes time.

Drew Brees can turn Ben Watson into an elite TE, so why did we need to throw millions at a middle of the road tight end?

I've questioned that signing since its inception.

Because watson was always an excellent athlete, he wasn't elite last year. But that argument would say hill is good enough yet he wasn't...

If you want a question mark signing, look how much we pay hill