Thanks for the interesting report!
I'll add some comments about the TE position from B'gal beat reporter Geoff Hobson:
..."Q: Being a Bengals fan in Chicago, I hear a lot of talk about the Bears possibly trading TE Greg Olsen. What are the chances of trading a second-round pick for Olsen and benefiting from his receiving ability? At the very least, Olsen can learn some blocking techniques from Reggie Kelly and demand some attention from opposing pass coverages. --Patrick, Chicago, IL
PATRICK: Good idea. But did you catch what Lewis said at the scouting combine last month?
He went on for a pretty lengthy riff about how you need your tight ends to block in the AFC North and how some of these receiving type tight ends that recently came into the division (read Kellen Winslow Jr.) didn’t work out. I’m not comparing Olsen to Winslow but the fact that the first thing new Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz did in free agency is sign a massive blocking tight end in Brandon Manumaleuna gives you some idea of the kind of blocker that Olsen isn’t.
Look, the Bengals’ tight end situation is a mess. The first priority, in my mind, should be re-signing Reggie Kelly. 1-A should be re-signing J.P. Foschi because you don’t know about Kelly’s Achilles. We know Kelly can block and Foschi can, too.
The second priority should be figuring out what to draft, but don’t draft a Chase Coffman clone coming out of a spread offense that can only catch. I’d hate to spend a second-round pick on Olsen and then find out that he can’t get in Terrell Suggs’ way. Unless, of course, you get rid of Coffman and you decide Olsen is your receiving tight end because you know what you got in the veteran. But what are you giving up in Coffman?
Whatever, you just have to make up your mind. And we talked about this with offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski before the scouting combine. Nowadays, you’ve got to find a tight end that can catch and another one that can block. The college spread has killed the tight end that can do both.
If you find yourself saying, “They can teach him to block,” you’re in trouble. Just make him the receiving tight end."...
http://www.bengals.com/news/hobson-online/...93-0e047449a817