Tag: Jermichael Finley

Can Jace Sternberger make a Jermichael Finley-like jump in 2020?

After a quiet rookie year, Jermichael Finley emerged as a true weapon during his second NFL season. Can Jace Sternberger follow the same path?

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A little over a decade ago, the Green Bay Packers got a breakout second season from a raw but talented tight end picked in the third round.

The Packers offense wouldn’t mind getting another one in 2020.

Can Jace Sternberger follow the path once blazed by Jermichael Finley?

The 91st overall pick in the 2008 draft, Finley improved from just six catches and 74 receiving yards as a rookie to 55 catches and 676 receiving yards as a standout sophomore. Finley caught five touchdown passes and averaged 9.4 yards per target as he emerged as a game-breaking matchup weapon for Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.

Sternberger, the 75th overall pick in the 2019 draft, should have an opportunity to create a similar season in 2020.

His rookie year was devastated by injury, first by a head injury during training camp and later by a significant ankle injury suffered in the preseason. Sternberger, who produced 10 touchdown catches his final season at Texas A&M, didn’t play in a regular season game until November and ended up not catching his first NFL pass until the NFC Divisional Round.

Finley caught six passes in 13 games as a rookie. Sternberger caught three in eight games.

Everything started to click for Finley in Year 2. He caught up mentally and physically, received more opportunities in the passing game and thrived, meshing his incredible blend of size, athleticism and natural receiving ability to become a big-play threat for Rodgers and coach Mike McCarthy.

Sternberger is in a similar position and capable of becoming a similar threat. He caught a touchdown pass in the NFC title game and entered the offseason healthy, and while the virtual offseason workout program didn’t provide an ideal developmental setting for a young player, he’ll still arrive at training camp with new and valuable opportunities waiting to be claimed. The Packers released Jimmy Graham, who handled 60 targets last season, opening the door for a player like Sternberger to become the top option at tight end in the passing game.

Sternberger doesn’t have Finley’s incredible size, but he can run, and he brings as much natural receiving talent to the table as any young tight end in Green Bay since Finley.

The mix looks right for a breakout season; Sternberger has ability, a much higher comfort level as a second-year player and a real opportunity to become a big part of the offense.

The Packers see Sternberger as a player they can use all over the formation to expose favorable matchups. They saw it during practices to end the 2019 season and are expecting it to carry over to 2020.

“Obviously, he has a lot of speed, he can stretch the seam, he’s a matchup problem for linebackers and safeties. Matt put him in the backfield, moved him around a little bit,” GM Brian Gutekunst said in January. “Jace can be one of those guys, as he develops, he can play a lot of different places and be a matchup problem. Excited for him, excited that he gained a little bit of confidence at the end of the season that will hopefully be a push going into next year.”

A Blake Jarwin breakout could fuel Cowboys offense into stratosphere

Blake Jarwin will have every opportunity to explode for the Dallas Cowboys now that there’s no one standing in his way.

The offense for the Dallas Cowboys carried the team in 2019, finishing first in the NFL in yards a game. A big part of their success was the passing game, a unit that accounted for close to 300 yards a contest, finishing second in the league.

And now it has the potential to be even better in 2020, with the full-time addition of TE Blake Jarwin. Coming into his fourth season, Jarwin will be the starting tight end for the Cowboys, finally taking the throne from future Hall of Famer Jason Witten.

Jarwin entered the league in 2017 as an undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma State, where he walked onto the team. In three seasons in Stillwater, he amassed 41 catches for 616 yards and five scores.

Those were pedestrian numbers, but the Cowboys saw Jarwin’s potential. The 6-foot-5, 260-pound tight end showed good athletic ability, was a solid blocker and played specials team in college. Jarwin had the tools of a player Dallas wanted to develop.

The Early Years

Jarwin didn’t distinguish himself during preseason of his rookie campaign and got released during the team’s final cuts. However, Jarwin did show enough to be signed back to the Cowboys’ practice squad, where he stayed until October.

That’s when the Philadelphia Eagles came calling to try and poach Jarwin from Dallas.

The Cowboys never let that happen, signing Jarwin to the active roster where he remained for the rest of the year. He appeared in just one game, but did not record a catch. Dallas surely wanted to keep him away from the Eagles, but it was also a sign of their belief in Jarwin’s ability.

Jarwin found his way onto the 2018 roster after both Witten and James Hanna retired. The sudden retirements also paved a way for playing time, which Jarwin capitalized on, seeing action in all 16 games. Although his final statistics on the year weren’t spectacular, 27 catches for 307 yards and three scores, Jarwin flashed his potential in the final game of the season.

Jarwin torched the rival New York Giants for seven catches, 119 yards and three touchdowns. It was one of the more memorable performances by a Cowboys tight end in a long time.

Here and Now

The writing was on the wall to make Jarwin a bigger part of the passing game in 2019, only to see Witten comeback and hoard most of the playing time at TE.

Despite being out snapped by the veteran, Jarwin was more productive with his opportunities. The 31 catches and 365 yards were career highs as Jarwin continued to be the threat down the deep middle that Witten could no longer provide.

With Witten now gone, Jarwin is the unquestioned top option at TE. The Cowboys didn’t dip into free agency in any meaningful way, only signing veteran blocking TE Blake Bell.

He won’t have anyone to take his snaps as the starter and its Jarwin’s time in Dallas. The Cowboys placed a second-round tender on their budding star to keep teams away this off-season before signing him to a four-year, $24.5 million deal this off-season. The Cowboys made it clear, they believe he’s ready to take the next step.

Despite the lack of playing time, Jarwin averaged a robust 11.8 yards per catch last season, good for 11th among tight ends. He’s too athletic for most linebackers to cover, especially on seam routes, and is a nightmare to tackle in the open field. Jarwin is just scratching the surface of his potential and the addition of Mike McCarthy will help.

While Dallas didn’t draft a tight end, they did add a high-pedigree pass catcher to the mix. The selection of WR CeeDee Lamb at No. 17 means Dallas should find itself in 11 personnel often. The diversity of skillsets between Lamb, Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup, and the attention they will command, should mean many easy days at the office for Jarwin. Combined with the focus defenses always have to pay to Ezekiel Elliott, Jarwin should find mismatches galore as teams will have to dedicate lesser personnel to the job of keeping up with him.

Security blanket targets should keep Dak Prescott very, very warm during the winter. The time is now for Jarwin to breakout. The ordinary statistics put up for his first few seasons are set to explode.

McCarthy’ west coast offensive principles, coupled with Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore’s scheme should equate to success for Jarwin. The last time McCarthy had a TE similar to Jarwin was when he coached Jermichael Finley. The former Green Bay TE had a three-season stretch (excluding a season in-between because of injury) where he averaged 57 catches, 703 yards and five scores a season.

The last Cowboys tight end to have 700 yards and five scores in a season was Witten in 2014, but those are the type of numbers to expect from Jarwin.

The hype train for Blake Jarwin is full-steam ahead. The aerial attack for the Cowboys is one of the best in the league, with defenses focused on stopping RB Ezekiel Elliott and the wide receiver weapons in Dallas, Jarwin will have every opportunity to cash in with a big year.

You can chat with or follow Ben on twitter @BenGrimaldi.

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Texas Longhorns team of the century: Tight ends

Texas has never been known for the tight ends but has still fielded some good players. Here are the tight ends of the century for Texas:

Texas has never been known for the tight ends, producing better pass catchers at wide receiver. However, there are a couple guys who have played important roles in the offense the past 20 years.

For both Vince Young and Colt McCoy, the tight end was always a safety valve. The two had big-name receivers to throw to such as Billy Pittman, Limas Sweed, Jordan Shipley, and Quan Cosby. Not being the main focus in the passing game, these two tight ends always came through when called upon.

Here are the tight ends of the century for the Longhorns:

Starting tight end: David Thomas

  • 98 receptions
  • 1,367 receiving yards
  • 15 receiving touchdowns
  • 51 games played

An intricate part of the 2005 National Championship winning team, David Thomas gets the starting spot for tight ends. Over his four seasons with Texas, his numbers grew better, having 50 receptions for 613 yards and five touchdowns his senior year.

Thomas’ best performance of his career came in the 2006 Rose Bowl against USC. On that night, he had 10 receptions for 88 yards. Thomas was the safe and reliable option for Vince Young the entire night. He was the leading receiver for the Longhorns, winning the program’s fourth national championship.

Backup tight end: Jermichael Finley

  • 76 receptions
  • 947 receiving yards
  • Five receiving touchdowns
  • 26 games played

Only playing for two seasons, Jermichael Finley was productive during his short stint in Austin. During his redshirt freshman season, Finley’s 31 receptions were the most a tight end had ever caught for Texas during their freshman season.

The next season in 2007, Finley showed out in the Red River Shootout against Oklahoma. His 149 receiving yards were the most by a tight end ever for the Longhorns. A career-high, he did so on just four catches and had one touchdown.

Forgoing his redshirt junior and senior seasons, Finley was drafted in the third round by the Green Bay Packers. Despite only being in Austin for two years, Finley’s production for Colt McCoy was outstanding.

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