Maggard: How 'Bout CJ Conrad at 250?

[akaukswoosh]

Freddie Maggard ‏@FredMaggard 8h8 hours ago

CJ Conrad at 245 pounds. Wants to try 250 during spring. Expecting a break-out season. pic.twitter.com/GUEucnfQNq

 

[WildcatofNati]

Conrad is a beast- I hope we can keep him through 2018; but I wouldn't be surprised to see him become a first round prosepct.

 

[Poetax]

Conrad is a beast- I hope we can keep him through 2018; but I wouldn't be surprised to see him become a first round prosepct.

We better start throwing to him then, I still think that position holds the key to success in the passing game.

 

[Robcatt24]

Gronk.

 

[The_Oak]

Gronk.

CJ's hips seem to be more fluid than Gronks, but Gronks hands and catch radius are out of this world. If Conrad can be 3/4 of what Gronk is I'll take that any day of the week.

 

[How Blue Can You Get?]

Do you realize how bad it would make Dawson look for not throwing to him if he's anywhere in the realm of Gronk?

 

[3kidsandme]

Do you realize how bad it would make Dawson look for not throwing to him if he's anywhere in the realm of Gronk?

Dawson does not need much help lol. He took an offense that averaged 30 ppg and it only averaged 23.5 ppg with a vast majority of it's players returning and adding a stud te.

 

[vhcat70]

We better start throwing to him then, I still think that position holds the key to success in the passing game.

Agree. Issue is we need OT's that can halfway pass block so we can afford to send him out. We'll see.

 

[JPFisher]

Dawson does not need much help lol. He took an offense that averaged 30 ppg and it only averaged 23.5 ppg with a vast majority of it's players returning and adding a stud te.

Exactly. If I had to bet, I'd say we average around 34 a game at least... once the offense starts clicking. That is, however, if Gran is as competent as I think he is.

Conrad should've been a main target this past season. He will be this season is Gran is true to his word, and our offense will thank him for that.

 

[trueblujr]

I love Conrad and know he's going to be a very special player, but he did have a couple of super gimme drops on little dump passes right in his hands that could have gone for big gains last year. So in hindsight he has yet to prove he's any more reliable of a target than any of the other receivers. Let's just hope that changes with all of our receivers this year.

 

[Mr Schwump]

I love Conrad and know he's going to be a very special player, but he did have a couple of super gimme drops on little dump passes right in his hands that could have gone for big gains last year. So in hindsight he has yet to prove he's any more reliable of a target than any of the other receivers. Let's just hope that changes with all of our receivers this year.

Beat me to it. Those drops were...alarming.

 

[JPFisher]

I love Conrad and know he's going to be a very special player, but he did have a couple of super gimme drops on little dump passes right in his hands that could have gone for big gains last year. So in hindsight he has yet to prove he's any more reliable of a target than any of the other receivers. Let's just hope that changes with all of our receivers this year.

No, no, no... See, he was just surprised that the ball was thrown to him. He wasn't expecting it. Lol

In all honesty, repetition will help him get better. I don't think he got much last year.

 

[seccats04]

Dawson does not need much help lol. He took an offense that averaged 30 ppg and it only averaged 23.5 ppg with a vast majority of it's players returning and adding a stud te.

And we scored 58 on Charlotte, which skews the numbers a little. So we roughly scored 21 pts a game with skill position guys like Boom, Kemp, Baker, Juice, etc. Dawson was truly incompetent.

 

[Blue Decade]

Freddie Maggard ‏@FredMaggard 8h8 hours ago

CJ Conrad at 245 pounds. Wants to try 250 during spring. Expecting a break-out season. pic.twitter.com/GUEucnfQNq

I am a fan of Conrad. He will be our best tight end since Tamme. Criticizing his performance as a true freshman in an offense where every receiver was having problems is goofy. But, every returning Kentucky football player is working out and getting stronger. Only a KSR blogger would try to make a post out of news that 1 player has added 5-10 pounds. They must be desperate for material.

 

[CatDaddy4daWin]

Dawson does not need much help lol. He took an offense that averaged 30 ppg and it only averaged 23.5 ppg with a vast majority of it's players returning and adding a stud te.

Reading this again makes me so mad at Dawson for how poorly he ran our offense last year. We had everyone back, 8 home games, and the offense scores a TD less per game. Just imagine where we'd had been if we kept that 30PPG average. We probably beat UL, Vandy and maybe even Florida.

Glad that joker is gone and we seem to have a real OC now and a true QB coach. Looking forward to seeing how much Barker has improved. Kid has all the talent in the world but he was put in an unfavorable position last year and the 2 games he played in were terrible conditions for a QB. Which is why you can't really make any judgements on the kid based on last year.

 

[yoshukai]

I am a fan of Conrad. He will be our best tight end since Tamme. Criticizing his performance as a true freshman in an offense where every receiver was having problems is goofy. But, every returning Kentucky football player is working out and getting stronger. Only a KSR blogger would try to make a post out of news that 1 player has added 5-10 pounds. They must be desperate for material.

Seems like you've got an ax to grind with Maggard .

 

[screwduke]

Gronk.

I see more Travis Kelce in him than Gronk. But either one is fine with me.

 

[ZenCatFan73]

This dude needs to be heavily involved. I think he's got all conference player written all over. He's a huge piece of the puzzle.

 

[Oldtrainer_rivals]

I'm think per coach Gran we will see more line up and run the ball behind Conrad, Young, Big George, Toth, Meyers, Leavitt and Long or Hart!

 

[WildCard]

Do you realize how bad it would make Dawson look for not throwing to him if he's anywhere in the realm of Gronk?

Dawson does not need much help lol. He took an offense that averaged 30 ppg and it only averaged 23.5 ppg with a vast majority of it's players returning and adding a stud te.

The "offensive meltdown" under Dawson has, IMO, been exaggerated by some. Cats averaged 384 YPG and 29.2 PPG in 2014. In 2015 those numbers were 372 YPG and 24.7 PPG. Not much difference in yardage and 4.5 PPG difference in scoring. However those scoring figures include non-offensive points. In 2014 the Cats scored 42 non offensive points (4 Pick 6s and 2 FR TDs) compared to only 23 (2 Pick 6s, 1 FR TD and 1 PAT return) in 2015. That makes the actual offensive scoring in 2014 to 25.7 and 22.8 in 2015, a difference of 2.9 PPG. Still a decline but not exactly the decline most see when looking at just the PPG numbers.

As for Conrad, he was usually lined up in the backfield in a 4 wide set and used mainly as a check down receiver vis a vis a true "in pattern" receiver. Personally, I have never believed you "build" your passing game around the TE position. Teams that do are generally just not very good passing teams. Looking at last years top 100 receivers (total catches) last year, only 3 were identified as TEs. In this era of spread the field offenses "true" TEs are beginning to go the way of the FB, i.e., special players for special sets. Conrad certainly looks the part of the classic on line TE. It will be interesting to see how Gran uses him this year. Last season, the Cincy TEs combined for only 16 catches in a very prolific passing offense.

Peace

 

[Robcatt24]

CJ's hips seem to be more fluid than Gronks, but Gronks hands and catch radius are out of this world. If Conrad can be 3/4 of what Gronk is I'll take that any day of the week.

Wonder if Conrad parties like Gronk?

 

[3kidsandme]

The "offensive meltdown" under Dawson has, IMO, been exaggerated by some. Cats averaged 384 YPG and 29.2 PPG in 2014. In 2015 those numbers were 372 YPG and 24.7 PPG. Not much difference in yardage and 4.5 PPG difference in scoring. However those scoring figures include non-offensive points. In 2014 the Cats scored 42 non offensive points (4 Pick 6s and 2 FR TDs) compared to only 23 (2 Pick 6s, 1 FR TD and 1 PAT return) in 2015. That makes the actual offensive scoring in 2014 to 25.7 and 22.8 in 2015, a difference of 2.9 PPG. Still a decline but not exactly the decline most see when looking at just the PPG numbers.

As for Conrad, he was usually lined up in the backfield in a 4 wide set and used mainly as a check down receiver vis a vis a true "in pattern" receiver. Personally, I have never believed you "build" your passing game around the TE position. Teams that do are generally just not very good passing teams. Looking at last years top 100 receivers (total catches) last year, only 3 were identified as TEs. In this era of spread the field offenses "true" TEs are beginning to go the way of the FB, i.e., special players for special sets. Conrad certainly looks the part of the classic on line TE. It will be interesting to see how Gran uses him this year. Last season, the Cincy TEs combined for only 16 catches in a very prolific passing offense.

Peace

We scored in the 30s on Florida in the 30s on Georgia in the 30s on Mississippi st. Dawson had a much easier schedule than in Browns 2nd year as well. Your a Louisville fan but I have watched and dissected both offenses for each year. Dawson was substantially worse and it's not even close.

 

[How Blue Can You Get?]

[QUOTE=" Personally, I have never believed you "build" your passing game around the TE position. Teams that do are generally just not very good passing teams.

Peace[/QUOTE]
Tell that to Big Ben and Heath Miller!..Brady/Gronk, etc etc!

 

[Blue Decade]

Seems like you've got an ax to grind with Maggard .

Where did you get that? I wish only the best for all Kentucky players. But this is a lot more simple than you are making it out to be. Maggard or no Maggard, KSR is 95% fluff, and most of the rest is rumor that turns out untrue. An offseason weight gain of 5-10 pounds by a tight end is obviously not newsworthy.

 

[WildCard]

[QUOTE=" Personally, I have never believed you "build" your passing game around the TE position. Teams that do are generally just not very good passing teams.

Peace

Tell that to Big Ben and Heath Miller!..Brady/Gronk, etc etc![/QUOTE]
Naturally some teams have "better" TEs than others. And some teams use the TEs more than others. But of the NFL's Top 50 receivers, only 10 are TEs. Walker (TN) is the top catch TE at #94. Gronk is tied at #33 and Miller tied for #49. The 7 teams featuring the TE as their leading receiver are ranked numbers 3 (Pitt), 5 (Boston), 11, 21, 24, 25 and 27 in passing yardage.

Yes, I realize there are more WRs "in formation" than TEs but it would still seen the WR is a more productive part of the passing game than the TE. When you draft your fantasy football team do you usually pick a TE before a WR? [winking]

Peace