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13 years ago
Quarless fighting for roster spot as tight end 


From another thread:

I believe I said Andrew Quarless may not make the team months back. However, there seems to be a portion of the fan base that compares him to Jermichael Finley. It would be probably come as a shocker from their perspective.

Originally Posted by: porky88 



I don't know if he is the 2nd coming of Finley or not but if he doesn't stick they have other options available to them both at TE and WR. GB will not be hurt if Quarless is gone in the final cuts.


The family, tucked away in its corner of New York state, saw this, too. That's what stung most.

This incident wasn't neatly brushed underneath a rug at Penn State University. No, Andrew Quarless' name bled across the ticker on ESPN. Everybody in Uniondale could see this.

"Everybody sees my last name, and it goes straight to my family," Quarless said. "That really hit me. I needed to tighten up."

In 2007, as a freshman, Quarless was suspended two games by Penn State for underage drinking. After his sophomore year, he was caught driving under the influence through a red light at 3 a.m. In September 2008, marijuana was found in the apartment he shared with three teammates.

Ever since, Quarless has been trying to cleanse his reputation. This summer could go a long way. Now, in his second Green Bay Packers training camp, the tight end is fighting for a roster spot.

Off the field, Quarless said, his life is together. And on the field, that's where the 6-foot-4, 252-pounder plans to clear his name.

"I've learned from those things, grown from them and I'm still alive," Quarless said. "I'm still alive as a football player. A lot of guys get in trouble and fade away. Their football careers end. Mine is still going."

Nothing is guaranteed for Quarless. Last year, he was playing with the first team on a Super Bowl offense. Now, although Quarless is unofficially considered the No. 2 tight end, his position is a city subway station.

Jermichael Finley isn't going anywhere. The Packers probably didn't draft Arkansas' D.J. Williams and North Carolina's Ryan Taylor to release them. Unless general manager Ted Thompson decides to keep five tight ends, one roster spot could boil down to Quarless, Tom Crabtree and Spencer Havner.

If nothing else, Quarless swears he has perspective.

After the DUI arrest, he stopped drinking completely. It was a destructive force, one he realized could suffocate his football career. So after a talk with Penn State coach Joe Paterno, Quarless quit. The next alcoholic beverage Quarless had, he said, was a toast with his family when the Packers drafted him in the fifth round in 2010.

Now, the tight end said, he drinks responsibly, usually only in social settings.

Quarless insists that he needed to go through all of this, needed a numbing wake-up call. Other players in his top-five recruiting class got in trouble and bailed. They left for a fresh start at other schools. Quarless considered transferring but instead decided to navigate his way out of Paterno's doghouse.

It's not a fun residency.

"You don't want to be in there," Quarless said in a low rumble. "It's Joe Pa's doghouse, but it's with all the coaches. They expect more of you."

Eventually, Quarless worked his way to Green Bay, albeit three rounds lower than he expected. When Finley suffered a season-ending knee injury Oct. 10, Quarless was force-fed snaps he wasn't ready for. The Packers leaned on three- and four-wide receiver sets to compensate.

In time, Quarless improved as a blocker and finished with 21 receptions for 238 yards and one touchdown.

Time for Round 2.

After missing his first four practices with a hip flexor, Quarless has run fluid routes and made the occasional catch in game settings. His size and raw ability remain clear. Most likely, the fate of Quarless, Crabtree and Havner will come down to blocking. Finley is 15 pounds lighter than last year. The team needs a tight end capable of providing in-line support.

Quarless' overlying goal is to play in fifth gear. Too often as a rookie, he couldn't keep up with Green Bay's grip-it-and-rip-it offense.
EDITED

JSOnline wrote:


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Pack93z
13 years ago
I don't believe there is a Tight End not named Finley that isn't in the same spot coming into camp.. fighting for a roster spot.

I firmly believe this might be the toughest cuts of camp at that position as far as comparative talent goes.
"The oranges are dry; the apples are mealy; and the papayas... I don't know what's going on with the papayas!"
nerdmann
13 years ago
Quarless has too much upside to get cut. Don't see that happening. Only way I could figure it is if he had some weird off-field situation. But that does not appear to be the case.
“Winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all the time thing. You don't do things right once in a while…you do them right all the time.”
beast
13 years ago
I don't like how most articles I've read talking about Quarless position on the team have assumed Taylor and/or Crabtree were locks and Quarless wasn't...

As I see it Finley and Williams are probably locks and they'll keep at least 4 TEs with the talent and depth of that group. So that leaves 2 spots for Quarless, Taylor, Crabtree and Havner. Of those four if healthy I think Quarless leads the way...

Taylor is rumored to be a ST ace and Crabtree was a ST ace and in line blocker for the team last year. But from the sounds of it Taylor is doing better in the passing game, so it might be a close call... I'm gonna guess tie goes to the draft pick. I don't think it's likely but I think there is a chance they keep 5 TEs. I don't think they will... but I think the idea will come up and they'll consider it.
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millertime
13 years ago
Of all our TEs, I think that it would be easiest to sneak either Crabtree (if eligible) or Taylor on the practice squad. So one of those should get cut.
Zero2Cool
13 years ago
This article implies that a 5th and/or 7th round draft pick are essentially locks. I think that's a bit silly. Ted Thompson has shown he doesn't much care where you were selected (by him and the Packers) and if you don't perform, you don't make the cut.

I don't know who's over hyping Andrew Quarless, I must be missing that altogether-it happens. The best I recall reading is that he has some of the same physical tools to emulate Jermichael Finley. I don't think anyone has ever said Quarless will be Finley, if so, I think they're drinking something they need to share. Then again, maybe I'm over hyping Jermichael Finley because I think he's a very rare receiving talent at the TE position.

Someone had mentioned keeping 3 RB, 1 FB and 4 TE, I could see that happening.
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Pack93z
13 years ago

I don't think anyone has ever said Quarless will be Finley, if so, I think they're drinking someone they need to share.

Originally Posted by: Zero2Cool 



This I have to see... wait.. depends on context.. maybe not. [aiee]
"The oranges are dry; the apples are mealy; and the papayas... I don't know what's going on with the papayas!"
Greg C.
13 years ago

This article implies that a 5th and/or 7th round draft pick are essentially locks. I think that's a bit silly. Ted Thompson has shown he doesn't much care where you were selected (by him and the Packers) and if you don't perform, you don't make the cut.

Originally Posted by: Zero2Cool 


Agreed. Those late draft picks often end up on the practice squad. That's a likely place for Taylor, the 7th rounder. He's making things interesting by looking good in practice, though.

To answer millertime's point: Crabtree is not eligible for the practice squad. He was on the roster for all of last year.


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earthquake
13 years ago
Another thing to remember is that Ted Thompson traded down to stock up on 6/7th round picks to use on guys he was worried he woundn't get a shot as as an UDFA, because of the labor uncertainties. So really, any of those guys really can't be considered as more than UDFA's, and only one or two UDFA's tend to make the team each year.

So yeah, a 7th rounder is certainly not a lock.

I've read some predicting that we'll keep 3RB, 2FB and 4TE's. Which seems reasonable, considering we went into last season with 3RB, 3FB and 4TE's. One of the biggest question marks is what position gets dropped a player to keep Harrell on the active roster, as it look he might be the next backup QB.
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Yerko
13 years ago
I believe there is too much upside to Quarless to just cut him now over a 7th round tight end. Quarless (like the article said) was shoved into a starting position last year. Its good to see that he knows he still has to fight for a roster spot, that I can respect. Come game time, I think he will split the 2nd string TE spot with Williams and Crabtree.

Can Quarless block?
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