Can someone explain the Tyler Kroft love to me?

[r00tabaga]

He’s trash but probably a good guy.

 

 Honestly, the TE position is the least of my worries. I like the 4-5 we have going to camp but won’t be sad if they let Kroft go.

[Mickey]

6 hours ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Why not? All 3 of our young TES have shown promise, don't forget Croom. There is no reason to spend a lot at TE. Develop your own. 

 

Knox had a very good year by rookie TE standards. He reminds me a lot of young George Kittle. 

 

 

 

 

Those TE's, apart from Croom, were a big part of why we were second in the league in dropped passes. I would have no problem adding a guy like Cole Kmet in the draft rather than hoping, like we did with Zay Jones, that experience will cure our butter-fingered TE's. I think Knox might be the only one of them that might develop into a good pass catcher as he had some great catches to offset his drops.

 

 

[BringBackOrton]

I have not heard of a single person loving Tyler Kroft.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

14 minutes ago, Mickey said:

 

Those TE's, apart from Croom, were a big part of why we were second in the league in dropped passes. I would have no problem adding a guy like Cole Kmet in the draft rather than hoping, like we did with Zay Jones, that experience will cure our butter-fingered TE's. I think Knox might be the only one of them that might develop into a good pass catcher as he had some great catches to offset his drops.

 

 

I don't hate the idea of drafting a TE. I hate the idea of spending big money on a TE in free agency.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

7 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

I see people assuming we’ll keep him and that we’re kind of set at TE.

 

I’d like to understand the Tyler Kroft love - what do people see in him that’s promising?

 

He kind of had an uninspiring college career at Rutgers.  He backed up Tyler Eifert with the Bengals, did some good stuff in 2017 after Eifert got hurt, then broke his own foot in 2018 and again in 2019 off-season.

 

So he kind of had one good year in 2017.  When given a chance to “show out” this season, he’s seeemd decidedly “meh” to me.

 

What am I missing?  Explain the Kroft love to me.

 

It must be those bottles of Josh wine you keep drinking 

[mjt328]

I haven't seen much Tyler Kroft love on this board.  Most consider him very replaceable.

People seem to be more excited about our younger guys with Dawson Knox and Tommy Sweeney.

 

The problem with Tight End this year, is that replacement options look pretty weak.  The highest ranked draft options are considered late Day 2 picks.  The position is not strong or deep this year.  Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper are the best Free Agent options on the market.  Henry has been very good at times, but has even more injury questions than Kroft.  The more I think about it, Hooper would be nice to pair with Knox.  But there is a good chance Atlanta doesn't let him even hit the market.

 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

Last season we didn't have any tight ends other than croom as we approached free agency.. so they signed him here.  Added some more in draft. He broke his foot and was largely a miss here. 

 

However when healthy he's probably either the best or 2nd best TE on the roster.  Don't cut him and replace with smith/Sweeney, that's just creating cap space to create cap space.

[BarleyNY]

There’s little love for him now, but some were excited when he signed here (benefit of doubt to org, I get that).  I was not a fan.  It was baffling why the Bills (or anyone else) would overpay him that much.  He’s done so little in his career.  I know we were in a tight spot at TE, but WOW.  We massively overpaid for a backup level TE.  Here’s hoping we move on by the time his roster bonus is due in March. 

[Don Otreply]

Knox, Sweeney, Croom, and who, do we need four TEs? I would think the coach and GM see these three as the TE room. With Kroft and Smith we have Five total to choose from, minimum two gotta find a new home. 

 

Go Bills!!!

[Coach Tuesday]

By the time he got on the field this season he looked - how do I say it - fat.  I don’t think he was ever in shape this year, likely because of the injury.  That’s not an excuse by the way.  I’d certainly cut bait this offseason.

[Dopey]

Listening to Sal Capaccio this morning, he says the staff is still high on Kroft and the TE group as a whole. Chalking this up to the injury and not having a training camp to get accustomed to Allen. I agree with Beane and staff. Kroft played in 11 games and seems to be over the foot issue. Having him come in and have a complete training camp will help him and Allen get on the same page. The year before his foot injury, he had a pretty decent year. Of his 42 receptions, he had 7 td's. More important and why I think he was signed is that 23 of those receptions resulted in 1st downs. We actually have a solid group of TE's. Lee had a 2-3 game streak of penalties, but straightened that out. I really like Knox if he concentrates more on catching the ball before trying to run with it. Knox will be really improved next year. Sweeney is going to be Lee's replacement after next season. He lacks any kind of speed(he's turtle slow), but runs pretty good routes, and has really good hands. He's a pretty good blocker too. Back to Kroft. I think he can be a really solid player and target for Allen. Kroft and Knox on the field together is really intriguing to me. We've seen Knox make some great catches, but drop some easy one's. He'll clean that up. Kroft just needs a healthy off season and training camp and he'll work out really well with Allen. The fact that he played in those 11 games without any setbacks shows he is healthy now. Maybe he came back too soon after the 1st foot injury. Think AJ Green on foot injuries and coming back too soon. I did like the signing, a lot. Still do. If I had to make the decision, Kroft gets 1 more year. Beane is handling the cap really well, so the $ argument doesn't fly with me. Give me 1 or 2 wr's, 2 rbs and an o-line man and I think we'll see a better offense.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

8 hours ago, QB Bills said:

Has anyone said they love Tyler Kroft? From anything I've read about him, people think he's a waste of money. Where are you getting this from?

 

“Love” is probably too strong a word.  People seem to assume we’re set at TE and talk about how Daboll should use him next season.

 

It seems to me that we could badly use a TE who could fill the role of Kittle, Kelce, Andrews, Hurst etc.  Since Sweeney looked kind of lost when he played earlier in the season, looked better in the Jets game but still not “all that”, and since Knox led the league in drops and his blocking has resulted in QB pulverization at key points (he may improve, I hope he does, he may not), it seems to me if we don’t love Kroft we had best be looking for That Guy.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

11 minutes ago, Dopey said:

Listening to Sal Capaccio this morning, he says the staff is still high on Kroft and the TE group as a whole. Chalking this up to the injury and not having a training camp to get accustomed to Allen. I agree with Beane and staff. Kroft played in 11 games and seems to be over the foot issue. Having him come in and have a complete training camp will help him and Allen get on the same page. The year before his foot injury, he had a pretty decent year. Of his 42 receptions, he had 7 td's. More important and why I think he was signed is that 23 of those receptions resulted in 1st downs. We actually have a solid group of TE's. Lee had a 2-3 game streak of penalties, but straightened that out. I really like Knox if he concentrates more on catching the ball before trying to run with it. Knox will be really improved next year. Sweeney is going to be Lee's replacement after next season. He lacks any kind of speed(he's turtle slow), but runs pretty good routes, and has really good hands. He's a pretty good blocker too. Back to Kroft. I think he can be a really solid player and target for Allen. Kroft and Knox on the field together is really intriguing to me. We've seen Knox make some great catches, but drop some easy one's. He'll clean that up. Kroft just needs a healthy off season and training camp and he'll work out really well with Allen. The fact that he played in those 11 games without any setbacks shows he is healthy now. Maybe he came back too soon after the 1st foot injury. Think AJ Green on foot injuries and coming back too soon. I did like the signing, a lot. Still do. If I had to make the decision, Kroft gets 1 more year. Beane is handling the cap really well, so the $ argument doesn't fly with me. Give me 1 or 2 wr's, 2 rbs and an o-line man and I think we'll see a better offense.

 

This is what I mean by “love”.  OK, Kroft played 11 games.  What did he do in those games that leads you to believe he’ll be a factor next season? 

 

It may be true that he came back too soon from his injuries.

[MAJBobby]

8 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

I see people assuming we’ll keep him and that we’re kind of set at TE.

 

I’d like to understand the Tyler Kroft love - what do people see in him that’s promising?

 

He kind of had an uninspiring college career at Rutgers.  He backed up Tyler Eifert with the Bengals, did some good stuff in 2017 after Eifert got hurt, then broke his own foot in 2018 and again in 2019 off-season.

 

So he kind of had one good year in 2017.  When given a chance to “show out” this season, he’s seeemd decidedly “meh” to me.

 

What am I missing?  Explain the Kroft love to me.

I want an upgrade at the position so bad. Go get Hunter Henry or Austin Hooper. 

[ALLEN1QB]

Probably one of the biggest free agent busts we have ever signed can anybody think of someone worse

[Process]

Where's Chandler? I think he's the only guy on here who loves Kroft.

[atlbillsfan1975]

9 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

I see people assuming we’ll keep him and that we’re kind of set at TE.

 

I’d like to understand the Tyler Kroft love - what do people see in him that’s promising?

 

He kind of had an uninspiring college career at Rutgers.  He backed up Tyler Eifert with the Bengals, did some good stuff in 2017 after Eifert got hurt, then broke his own foot in 2018 and again in 2019 off-season.

 

So he kind of had one good year in 2017.  When given a chance to “show out” this season, he’s seeemd decidedly “meh” to me.

 

What am I missing?  Explain the Kroft love to me.

I think a lot of people are discounting the injury time Kroft was out. Kroft doesn’t have the ceiling Knox does but he also is the best all around TE the Bills have today. Kroft missed a lot of time with Josh. 
I would like the Bills to keep Kroft, Knox, and Sweeney. Draft another developmental guy later in the draft. 
 

[Mickey]

33 minutes ago, Dopey said:

Listening to Sal Capaccio this morning, he says the staff is still high on Kroft and the TE group as a whole. Chalking this up to the injury and not having a training camp to get accustomed to Allen. I agree with Beane and staff. Kroft played in 11 games and seems to be over the foot issue. Having him come in and have a complete training camp will help him and Allen get on the same page. The year before his foot injury, he had a pretty decent year. Of his 42 receptions, he had 7 td's. More important and why I think he was signed is that 23 of those receptions resulted in 1st downs. We actually have a solid group of TE's. Lee had a 2-3 game streak of penalties, but straightened that out. I really like Knox if he concentrates more on catching the ball before trying to run with it. Knox will be really improved next year. Sweeney is going to be Lee's replacement after next season. He lacks any kind of speed(he's turtle slow), but runs pretty good routes, and has really good hands. He's a pretty good blocker too. Back to Kroft. I think he can be a really solid player and target for Allen. Kroft and Knox on the field together is really intriguing to me. We've seen Knox make some great catches, but drop some easy one's. He'll clean that up. Kroft just needs a healthy off season and training camp and he'll work out really well with Allen. The fact that he played in those 11 games without any setbacks shows he is healthy now. Maybe he came back too soon after the 1st foot injury. Think AJ Green on foot injuries and coming back too soon. I did like the signing, a lot. Still do. If I had to make the decision, Kroft gets 1 more year. Beane is handling the cap really well, so the $ argument doesn't fly with me. Give me 1 or 2 wr's, 2 rbs and an o-line man and I think we'll see a better offense.

 

Kroft hasn't been healthy for two years now. It's a gamble that he can stay healthy for any appreciable amount of time. And if the best we can say about the rest is "seems to be over his penalty streak" or "will hopefully stop dropping the ball" then I'm not impressed with the TE room. If you watched the games this weekend, you saw TE's like Kelce and Graham deliver onc clutch play after another. Maybe Knox is that guy but TE is such a key position in modern offenses that I have no problem adding a draft pick at TE. We wasted a lot of time thinking that Zay Jones would get over his inability to catch the ball consistently. I hope Knox gets over his but I would definitely like to hedge that bet.

[LABILLBACKER]

8 hours ago, Gambit said:

I don't think anyone honestly loves having him here. Most probably just assume the coaches aren't gonna give up on him yet. I for one would cut him and sign Hooper or Henry. 

This ridiculous organizational loyalty for certain underperforming players is getting tired. Belichick recognizes a bad player Immediately and cuts him. We do just the opposite. 

[Dopey]

14 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

This is what I mean by “love”.  OK, Kroft played 11 games.  What did he do in those games that leads you to believe he’ll be a factor next season? 

 

It may be true that he came back too soon from his injuries.

I hear ya. To me the games played were important to show he's over the foot injuries. Other than that, this past season was a wash. I do feel next year he'll be better and help our offense out, a lot. Just my feelings.

[Mr. WEO]

He's a guy who had one good season, was injured.  The Bills picked him up injured. Did not have another good season.

 

If they cut him now it would take 7 or 8 games for anyone to notice.

[Rc2catch]

He had 14 targets this season and 6 catches. 
How much production do you want from 14 targets? Can’t expect him to do

much in the pass game if they don’t throw it to him. Is he ALWAYS covered or just blocking? 
I don’t care either way if he stays or goes but it’s silly to say how bad he sucks if he’s not exactly playing or getting the ball thrown his way. 

Edited January 13, 2020 by Rc2catch

[Hapless Bills Fan]

6 hours ago, Poleshifter said:

Did you see the article about Knox, saying he can't wait to get started training for next season? It's very encouraging. He plans to train with Josh.

 

I'm excited to see Knox's development!

 

Sweeney, too, but Knox is a special talent.

 

 

I didn’t see the article - got a link?

 

I did see his post-season presser, which was pretty amusing for meta-reasons.  He said he needs to focus on “eye discipline”, that he plans to train with Josh, and actually that he had trained with Josh a bit last year before the draft!!!

[C.Biscuit97]

Haha, who loves Kroft? Terrible signing.  Luckily, we have some promising young TEs.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

11 minutes ago, Rc2catch said:

He had 14 targets this season and 6 catches. 
How much production do you want from 14 targets? Can’t expect him to do

much in the pass game if they don’t throw it to him. Is he ALWAYS covered or just blocking? 
I don’t care either way if he stays or goes but it’s silly to say how bad he sucks if he’s not exactly playing or getting the ball thrown his way. 

 

Kroft saw his playing time drop from 40-50% immediately after he came back, to <30%.  26% in Houston loss.

 

I don’t know how many of those targets were catchable balls, but 6/14 is not good.

5 minutes ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

Haha, who loves Kroft? Terrible signing.  Luckily, we have some promising young TEs.

 

According to Sal Capaccio, our coaches evidently.

[nucci]

I wasn't aware of any love for him. He barely played

[MJS]

I've only seen Tyler Kroft hate.

[CincyBillsFan]

The tough thing about evaluating TE's when you're a fan is that we're ignorant of a big part of their game.  We focus on the catches & drops but without access to game film or how a play is supposed to be blocked we're in the dark about the total package a TE brings to the table.  We all want to see Kelsey but in this offense that may not even be possible based on the scheme.

 

With respect to Kroft I suspect his blocking is quite good.  Ditto for Smith.  And given a full training camp & preseason to work with Allen his pass catching contribution should go up.

 

I get that it would be risky to stand pat at TE but of all the position groups on the offense this is the one I would take that risk on.  A fully healthy Kroft will contribute more next season in the passing game and I have two rookies who showed great promise.  It's reasonable to assume that Knox & Sweeny will be much better next year.  I can see the TE's getting better from this year to next year.  But NOTHING can be done to make Beasley 6 inches taller or knock 10 years off Gore. 

 

 

[Florida Bills Fanatic]

9 hours ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

I'm pretty sure they'll cut him and go for a cheaper veteran.

IMHO if they cut him, the four guys going into training camp will be Smith, Knox, Sweeney, and Croom.  We should all remember how Beane came to sign Kroft.  Buffalo was a dumpster fire at tight end going into 2019.  Kroft was about the best free agent out there.  Beane paid a reasonably high price to insure that there was at least one capable TE on the roster.  No one knew how Knox or Sweeney would work out going into the season.  Knowing what they know now, Beane has the option to keep him, trade him or cut him.  When Kroft was signed I would say it was more of a relief than love. Honestly, I don't see a huge difference between Sweeney, Knox and Kroft going into 2020, so why spend the money on him?  People that think Beane is going to get into the bidding war for Hooper and Henry need to understand that he isn't going to walk away from two promising 2019 draft picks after one season.  The team has more pressing needs that will require the expenditure of cap dollars.

[blacklabel]

He's JAG. They probably thought they'd get a bit more out of him and have him mentor Knox and Sweeney (which I'm sure he does), but he got a bum foot so he was a bum all season. Except that time he caught a touchdown against the Steelers. 

 

But yeah, as others have said, I don't think there's a huge love-fest going on for the guy. He could be alright, definitely serviceable. Just depends on him staying healthy. 

 

Next season is Rambo's year, though.

Edited January 13, 2020 by blacklabel

[NewEra]

No

[T master]

Seeing as they have their 2 TE's they got in last years draft & they have Croom coming back i would use him to get more draft capital from a team like the Fins or another tea in need of decent players & use the money they save towards another FA vet or to sign their own .

 

I hate that that Kroft was dealt the cards he was this year but just from what we saw while he was out with the 2 young guys then having Smith as the vet in the room i hope they move on & give him the chance to be some where else & develop what they have in house for the future !! 

[1ManRaid]

I'm not sure where the OP is seeing the overall "love" for Kroft here.  I think I'm in the majority here with an overwhelming sense of apathy towards him, at best.  If he could stay healthy and ball out, I'd want him to stay.  But we have Knox now so I'm like...meh.

[Chaos]

11 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

I see people assuming we’ll keep him and that we’re kind of set at TE.

 

I’d like to understand the Tyler Kroft love - what do people see in him that’s promising?

 

He kind of had an uninspiring college career at Rutgers.  He backed up Tyler Eifert with the Bengals, did some good stuff in 2017 after Eifert got hurt, then broke his own foot in 2018 and again in 2019 off-season.

 

So he kind of had one good year in 2017.  When given a chance to “show out” this season, he’s seeemd decidedly “meh” to me.

 

What am I missing?  Explain the Kroft love to me.

His name is Tyler, and people are confused about which Tyler he is. 

[RyanC883]

11 hours ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Why not? All 3 of our young TES have shown promise, don't forget Croom. There is no reason to spend a lot at TE. Develop your own. 

 

Knox had a very good year by rookie TE standards. He reminds me a lot of young George Kittle. 

 

 

 

 

I agree Knox had a good rookie year.  His numbers compare favorably to Kittle, Rudolph, etc's rookie years.  That said, I would spend to bring in a guy like Hooper or Henry.  The mismatch potential with Knox and Hooper/Henry is insane.  And TE's are a young QB's friend.  That also gives Allen another "big" receiver. 

[Rc2catch]

2 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Kroft saw his playing time drop from 40-50% immediately after he came back, to <30%.  26% in Houston loss.

 

I don’t know how many of those targets were catchable balls, but 6/14 is not good.

 

I can understand both sides of things. I don’t take issue with most of the talk only the select few who just say “he sucks get rid of him” 

He served his purpose for the most part and they liked what Knox was doing as a receiver so they didn’t need to use kroft ( that can be debated on the short 3rd and shorts Gore was continuously stuffed on) 

I think it would be wise to at least hold onto Kroft until preseason at minimum cause he does have some trade value if teams like the bears are injury stricken again or maybe Olsen in Carolina retires and they need more depth etc etc 

Worst case scenario we get an injury and at least he’s there if needed. 
His salary really doesn’t hurt the ability to sign anyone or limit what the team can do financially. 
 

Lee smith having a job next year is more concerning to me than Kroft, Sweeney’s blocking cannot be that much worse than smiths when you factor in the penalties and then bump his receiver value as well. 
I could be wrong but I was under the impression at draft Sweeney was a heck of a blocker and not much in the receiving game. But maybe I’m mistaken it’s been awhile since I paid attention to him 

Edited January 13, 2020 by Rc2catch

[Spiderweb]

This is a point missing post. I would agree that we should be able to trim a TE from the roster but I would start with the most penalized TE who plays such a low percentage of snaps, Mr. Lee Smith.

[Gambit]

3 hours ago, LABILLBACKER said:

This ridiculous organizational loyalty for certain underperforming players is getting tired. Belichick recognizes a bad player Immediately and cuts him. We do just the opposite. 

Well, he still has the ghost of Tom Brady playing QB over there. 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

12 hours ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Why not? All 3 of our young TES have shown promise, don't forget Croom. There is no reason to spend a lot at TE. Develop your own. 

 

Knox had a very good year by rookie TE standards. He reminds me a lot of young George Kittle. 

 

 

 

his blocking is awful, hopefully he focuses on that and the drops this offseason.

 

Sweeney seems promising also. 
 

Croom... meh

 

Kroft- about the same as croom to me

58 minutes ago, Rc2catch said:

I can understand both sides of things. I don’t take issue with most of the talk only the select few who just say “he sucks get rid of him” 

He served his purpose for the most part and they liked what Knox was doing as a receiver so they didn’t need to use kroft ( that can be debated on the short 3rd and shorts Gore was continuously stuffed on) 

I think it would be wise to at least hold onto Kroft until preseason at minimum cause he does have some trade value if teams like the bears are injury stricken again or maybe Olsen in Carolina retires and they need more depth etc etc 

Worst case scenario we get an injury and at least he’s there if needed. 
His salary really doesn’t hurt the ability to sign anyone or limit what the team can do financially. 
 

Lee smith having a job next year is more concerning to me than Kroft, Sweeney’s blocking cannot be that much worse than smiths when you factor in the penalties and then bump his receiver value as well. 
I could be wrong but I was under the impression at draft Sweeney was a heck of a blocker and not much in the receiving game. But maybe I’m mistaken it’s been awhile since I paid attention to him 

something mentioned about Sweeney Around the draft was he has quick hands and makes tough catches.

 

Cowher liked him as I recall. 
 

hoping he makes the jump in year 2. 

[2003Contenders]

I too get the sense that the coaching staff is less bothered by Kroft's presence than we are. The emergence of Knox helped to cushion the blow that Kroft's disappointing season provided. I have a feeling that he will be given another year in the system, given the injury situation early on. Also, he did sign a relatively hefty contract last season with a signing bonus -- so the cap ramifications for cutting him may actually outweigh the cost (at least in cap terms of keeping him in 2020). I know our cap situation is strong -- but still...

 

Lee Smith has to be the goner. That should open the way for more playing time for Sweeney -- and vacate a roster spot for another TE. I do not expect that spot to be filled by someone like Hooper or Henry though. More likely another journeyman or mid-round draft prospect.