Pat Kirwan of NFL.com continues his series of articles grouping each position, and by now we all be up to speed on his method. He ranks the players in groups of 5, and lists them alphabetically. We've spotlighted most of his "Group" posts so far and he's been spot on for the majority of them, with only his look at safety being skewed. After the jump we'll look at his take on the tight end position.
He had Chicago's Greg Olsen in group C along with Brent Celek of the Eagles, Todd Heap of the Ravens, Dustin Keller, Jets, and the Vikings Visanthe Shiancoe. Here's what he had to say about Olsen;
Some think the Mike Martz offense is a bad fit for Olsen, but NFL Network analyst Trent Green told me Martz will use the tight end more than most people think. Olsen was the 18th-most targeted player at the position in his first season with Martz, and hopefully Jay Cutler goes to him more this year.
I think as the year progressed Martz got more creative in his use of Olsen. He did this for two reasons; one, he realized how good of a receiver he was, and two, Olsen's blocking is no longer a liability. I've watched Olsen grow as a blocker, I've broke down film on his blocking, and where he lacks strength at the point of attack, he makes up for that with good technique and body positioning.
I think his numbers will go up in 2011, but I don't think he'll surpass his carer high 60 receptions.