Niklas with timely grab

[PACardsFan]

Troy's 1st down catch salted away the game. For those that think he's simply a blocker, you will be surprised. BA isn't quick to give playing time to anyone (see Cooper), but I watched enough of this kid at ND to know he'll be a very good TE in the NFL. Injuries slowed him down early, but we'll be seeing more of him the rest of the season. With Carlson, Housler, & Niklas, we're deep at the position right now.

 

[Goldfield]

Approved

 

[BullheadCardFan]

It was a big catch and I hope to see more of those fromhim

 

[Chopper0080]

We will see.

 

[LittleDavis]

That was a great catch. He made it look effortless. Very soft hands and smooth through the catch.

 

[GuernseyCard]

We will see.

First, Floyd and now Niklas.

Is your problem Notre Dame?

 

[Finito]

Troy's 1st down catch salted away the game. For those that think he's simply a blocker, you will be surprised. BA isn't quick to give playing time to anyone (see Cooper), but I watched enough of this kid at ND to know he'll be a very good TE in the NFL. Injuries slowed him down early, but we'll be seeing more of him the rest of the season. With Carlson, Housler, & Niklas, we're deep at the position right now.

I really liked Niklas coming out and I have no doubt he's going to turn into a player. By the end of the season he's going to be starting

 

[Chopper0080]

First, Floyd and now Niklas.

Is your problem Notre Dame?

lol

I never thought about it, but it is looking like it.

No, my doubts stem more from Niklas, and his lack of explosiveness. As LBs become smaller and faster, I question his ability to seperate. I think he can be a Mercedes Lewis type player, but I haven't seen enough yet for me to believe he can a consistent receiving threat.

Again, I think he can be a good player, but I not convinced he can be Heath MIller (which would be awesome).

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

One nice catch is not enough to justify a 2nd rd pick. IMO, if you draft a TE that high you expect him to be the starter . 3rd string behind Housler? Really?

 

[BigRedRage]

lol

I never thought about it, but it is looking like it.

No, my doubts stem more from Niklas, and his lack of explosiveness. As LBs become smaller and faster, I question his ability to seperate. I think he can be a Mercedes Lewis type player, but I haven't seen enough yet for me to believe he can a consistent receiving threat.

Again, I think he can be a good player, but I not convinced he can be Heath MIller (which would be awesome).

I think he is mainly here for blocking and happens to have pass catching ability. Explosiveness is for guys like housler.

 

[kerouac9]

We will see.

Yup. I think it's way, WAY too early for people to be taking a victory lap on Niklas. It was a good catch.

The problem is that Niklas got so behind recovering from his hernia and then broken hand that we were forced to keep Robert Hughes as a fullback to block from the H-back position, and he's been a total zero, plus allowed a punt block yesterday.

Arians is happy to give PT to rookies who deserve it, but neither Niklas nor Kevin Minter have shown that they could justify the faith that the scouting staff had of them.

 

[BigRedRage]

Yup. I think it's way, WAY too early for people to be taking a victory lap on Niklas. It was a good catch.

The problem is that Niklas got so behind recovering from his hernia and then broken hand that we were forced to keep Robert Hughes as a fullback to block from the H-back position, and he's been a total zero, plus allowed a punt block yesterday.

Arians is happy to give PT to rookies who deserve it, but neither Niklas nor Kevin Minter have shown that they could justify the faith that the scouting staff had of them.

Robert hughes had some HUGE plays on special teams last night. He was big time in the plays I noticed.

 

[kerouac9]

Robert hughes had some HUGE plays on special teams last night. He was big time in the plays I noticed.

He was big time in giving up that punt block, that's for sure. He was big time in not blocking anyone in the offense.

 

[Mulli]

Yup. I think it's way, WAY too early for people to be taking a victory lap on Niklas. It was a good catch.

The problem is that Niklas got so behind recovering from his hernia and then broken hand that we were forced to keep Robert Hughes as a fullback to block from the H-back position, and he's been a total zero, plus allowed a punt block yesterday.

Arians is happy to give PT to rookies who deserve it, but neither Niklas nor Kevin Minter have shown that they could justify the faith that the scouting staff had of them.

Ya, so early we should just put both on the bust list. Like Michael Floyd was.

Haha

 

[Chopper0080]

I think he is mainly here for blocking and happens to have pass catching ability. Explosiveness is for guys like housler.

Ok...that isn't worth a 2nd round pick, especially in a deep draft. If this is the case, Keim gets a fail. I'm not saying it is, but as a 2nd round pick, Niklas better be more than a blocking TE. Earily similar situation to Minter.

 

[BigRedRage]

He was big time in giving up that punt block, that's for sure. He was big time in not blocking anyone in the offense.

i didnt see that and he deserves critisism for that but I think he caused the fumble on the kick return and also had a huge tackle on the enxt kick return as well.

Maybe he should just stick to kickoff coverage.

 

[Chopper0080]

Ya, so early we should just put both on the bust list. Like Michael Floyd was.

Haha

I don't think anyone is saying he is a bust. He had a nice catch. That doesn't change the fact that he has played 29 of the 138 offensive snaps this season (21%). Not great for a 2nd round TE whose forte is blocking, plays for a coach who values blocking at TE, and is losing snaps to a TE who is not a good blocker (Housler). He needs to improve over the year, and his snap count % should indicate if that is happening.

 

[Garthshort]

Read that WR's make a big step up in their second year, and i'll lump TE's with that assessment. And based on that Troy could turn into a VG TE.

 

[AZCrazy]

What the heck do you want from him? When you have a good team, rookies don't all start instantly. For the record, our starting TE is John Carlson (also a Notre Dame guy) who happens to be pretty great at everything except blocking Dwight Freeney. Nicklas has played in the NFL for exactly one week, and was injured in the preseason. Don't expect much, do you guys?

 

[GuernseyCard]

Read that WR's make a big step up in their second year, and i'll lump TE's with that assessment. And based on that Troy could turn into a VG TE.

Not to mention that he came out a year early.

 

[Chopper0080]

What the heck do you want from him? When you have a good team, rookies don't all start instantly. For the record, our starting TE is John Carlson (also a Notre Dame guy) who happens to be pretty great at everything except blocking Dwight Freeney. Nicklas has played in the NFL for exactly one week, and was injured in the preseason. Don't expect much, do you guys?

I want him to do what he was drafted to do, which is be a blocking asset in two TE sets and be a size mismatch in limited pass situations.

 

[Dan H]

Jimmy Graham year 1 - 31-356, 5TDs

Jimmy Graham year 2- 99-1310, 11TDs

Yeah I think we can give Niklas a year to develop, eh?

 

[Mulli]

I don't think anyone is saying he is a bust. He had a nice catch. That doesn't change the fact that he has played 29 of the 138 offensive snaps this season (21%). Not great for a 2nd round TE whose forte is blocking, plays for a coach who values blocking at TE, and is losing snaps to a TE who is not a good blocker (Housler). He needs to improve over the year, and his snap count % should indicate if that is happening.

Agree.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I think he is mainly here for blocking and happens to have pass catching ability. Explosiveness is for guys like housler.

if that's the case, then we completely blew that pick. Taking a blocking TE in the second round just doesn't seem like great value for that high a pick.

 

[Mulli]

TE probably not catching much with a backup QB. Right?