Lyerla's place on the depth chart is going to come down to his blocking ability, because his receiving is already superior to the rest of these guys. I think counting on Finley is ridiculous - stick a fork in him. I would say this is the year to keep a 6th wide receiver and 3rd quarterback, so four tight just might be our number and Play's list is probably spot on.

Originally Posted by: DakotaT 

My point is Ted Thompson knows neither of Lyerla or Rodgers will last on the PS. That is my own line of thinking.

To me, the mere signing of Lyerla by Thompson to GBs roster was just the credence other teams needed and would assume in stealing him away from our PS to sign to their own team.

As for Rodgers, Thompson took him at the end of R3 because other teams were poised to jump on him to be a #2 TE. Again, I believe Rodgers has too much talent to last on our PS, without blindly overvaluing him because he is one of ours...

That leaves Quarless, Bostick and Stoney as the top remaining candidates to win 2 roster positions.

Quarless was our starting TE when we last won the SB. He is our best blocking TE. I see him as the clear #1 at this point.

That leaves the last two, neither of which showed enough in 2013 to warrant a clear picture on where they sit on our depth chart at TE, fighting for the last position. Taylor is simply too one dimensional. Not a particularly good in line blocker, not a good receiver, but solid in STs.

Originally Posted by: play2win 

I'm not sure that the 31 other GMs in the league need Ted Thompson's stamp of approval to sign a troubled player who has talent but I agree that it is unlikely that either (Rodgers or Lyerla) would last on the PS.

Originally Posted by: sschind 

All I know is that it would be excellent if this guy works out, because on balance, Finley has pissed me off. I wish Finley all the success in the world, the inherent talent is obvious, but he can go play for someone else- my personal preference is not in our division, but I'll live if he does. Hit the trail Finley.

I don't feel any real love that so many seem to have for any of our existing tight ends, so this is why I'm rooting for this guy. I don't assign any brilliance to Ted Thompson for making this move, he's just taking a shot. The shot looks good to me.

We'll see.

I had Sam Shields when he was signed as "My guy" for that season. I'm going with the coke-head-asshole as "My guy" for this season. Note how early this prognostication is.

Originally Posted by: dfosterf