FanPost

Evan Moore and the Return of Kellen Winslow

John Schneider and Pete Carroll decided to go a little younger and cheaper by cutting Kellen and signing Evan, and only time will tell if this move was correct.

I've been thinking about this move a bit and have taken some time to look at some information on Evan Moore, the former TE of the Browns. Note that I have not watched any video on him or analyzed him as a player, but have only been trusting the sources I've read. By the way, it would be great to get one of the writers here to give us a good look at Evan Moore as the TE/Big WR that we expect him to be in Seattle.

Here are a few notes on my part:

  • Positives to bringing in Evan Moore: 27 years old, minimum salary (I believe), 6'6" and 250 lbs., 13 yards per catch average, and top 10 TE in yards-per-snap (right behind Aaron Hernandez for 10th, at ~1.77 yards per route).
  • Negatives on Evan Moore: 4.74 40-time when he was at 235 lbs., history with injuries, and a mediocre to poor blocker.
  • Several Brown's fans have expressed his inability to block, but his incredible ability to catch and run routes. Most admit he was underutilized in Cleveland, playing under 40% of the time. It is actually quite impressive that he put up the numbers he did last year, including 4 TD's, when the D always knew they were throwing with him in.
  • Here is what the Combine saw in him coming out of College:

Positives: Athletic build with room for additional growth. ... Surprising initial quickness off the snap. ... Can defeat press coverage with his athleticism, but relies more on his size and strength. ... Obvious advantage due to his size in jump-ball situations and times his leaps well. ... Reliable hands. ... Tough. Will take the big hit and make the catch. ... Flashes the body control to be a quality route-runner. Negatives: Lacks the speed teams prefer on the outside and has zero experience as a tight end. ... Big and physical as a wide receiver, but is only a marginal downfield blocker and would have to add a great deal of strength to perform as an inline blocker. ... Has struggled mightily with injuries throughout his career, missing time due to a dislocated hip and stress fracture in his right foot, among other injuries.

  • The Packers converted him to a TE at an UDFA and had high hopes for him before going on to the IR. The Brown's snagged him and saw enough success to give him a pretty good contract last year.
  • Why has such a promising talent failed? Pete Carroll and John Schneider asked this:
  1. His QB's were poor, to say the least. A receiver's success depends largely on a QB's chemistry with him. A TE is only as successful as his QB wants him to be, case and point being Aaron Hernandez (who I loved out of College, by the way) and Gronk with Tom Brady.
  2. Injuries. This was and will still be a problem.

My Conclusion: Evan Moore will have the chance to be very successful in Seattle. Russell Wilson is used to slower and taller WR's (which did become a problem against Michigan St. last year), and he made them successful. He also liked his TE's in preseason, including Miller and especially McCoy. Moore has the ability to stretch the field better than both of them, and also possesses the quality that got Braylon Edwards his job this year--the ability to beat out his man in jump-ball situations and to time it well. Also, blocking is not essential to the TE2 in this offense, similar to the Patriot's, and I am fine with an average blocker, because he is likely at least comparable to the blocking skills of an above-average WR by now. That is all we need and all we are asking for.

We brought Winslow in to be a big WR, and found a better and cheaper one in Moore. Now, my last question becomes, and the one directly attatched to the title, will we bring Winslow back?

I say this because Winslow has not been signed by anyone yet, and we may resign him at a minimum salary with incentives. His pride may hold this move back though. I think bringing Winslow, or someone like him, back will be important, because of Moore's injury history. If we could drop a RB and pick-up an extra "explosive" TE it would keep our game-planning intact. We have Miller and McCoy as TE1, the blocking TE with average ability to get up-field, but we only have 1 TE2, the field-stretching big TE. Is this a problem, or is McCoy enough to back-up both?

Thoughts?