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Fidone moving on

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PS Iowa sucks.
Okay, that works.
 
He played/mostly started 2 straight years in the Big 10 at TE without missing a game due to injury?

The hate for Fidone around here has almost become comical. He has ideal NFL size, a massive catch radius, hasn't missed a game in 2 years, and straight up doesn't drop passes. Steadily increasing production year over year.

Yes, he is a liability as a blocker, and yes he lacks explosiveness. I think the explosiveness was exasperated by the stupid, short catch and runs Satterfield was calling all the time. Would anyone be shocked to see some team in the NFL teach him to block? I wouldn't. We had olineman that struggled blocking here and had long NFL careers.
The NFL assumes it can teach a player any fundamental skill he seems to lack. But they can’t teach explosiveness, and that’s why they value it so highly.

That’s why some guys are drafted highly or have good NFL careers, despite not producing at high level in college. And why some college studs don’t get a look from the NFL.

Fidone lacks explosiveness.
 
The NFL values:
1. Elite athletes with the right combination of height, weight and explosive athletic ability.
2. Highly productive college players that don’t deviate too far from the ideal height/weight/explosiveness template.
3. Players that are consistently available. They have a knack of not getting injured and/or tough enough to play through it effectively.

Fidone doesn’t rate well on any of these metrics. The NFL doesn’t care how many stars you had out of high school.

If he makes an NFL roster, I will be happy for him. And surprised.
He’ll get an UDFA offer for sure. That might be better for him than somebody taking a flier on him in a later round. Barring any more injuries I expect him to wind up on a practice squad. It will be interesting to see how he tests at his pro day.
 
The NFL assumes it can teach a player any fundamental skill he seems to lack. But they can’t teach explosiveness, and that’s why they value it so highly.

That’s why some guys are drafted highly or have good NFL careers, despite not producing at high level in college. And why some college studs don’t get a look from the NFL.

Fidone lacks explosiveness.
His pro day is going to be a big deal for him.
 
He plays like he doesn't trust his knees, if he can get over that mental hurdle and play free, he will do well in the NFL
 
Reminds me of Matt Herian post injury. That kid was a surefire day one pick were it not for one tackle vs Mizzou. Total freak deal. Noticeable change in his running gait afterward.
We never got to see the before/after version of Fidone like we did with Herian. That guy averaged over 20 YPC prior to injury, and through his first two years it was something like 27 YPC - phenomenal. Definitely was not the same athlete post injury.
 
This obviously must have caught the staff off guard? No way you let Boerkircher walk and don't get a transfer if you know Fidone is leaving?

Either way, going to be fun to watch. Luke Lindenmeyer time.
You do realize anyone can leave on their own volition and the team/school can't do anything about it, right?
 
This obviously must have caught the staff off guard? No way you let Boerkircher walk and don't get a transfer if you know Fidone is leaving?

Either way, going to be fun to watch. Luke Lindenmeyer time.
There’s some talk about Boerk not getting along with his position coach which is why he left as soon as he could

No clue how accurate that is
 
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I don’t mind going with Lindenmeyer, Haarberg, Markway, Flynt, and Ingwerson.

If limited by the number of TEs, Holgorsen can just run 11 personnel with 3 wide most of the time

I believe he likes that most anyway
 
Big strong kid but as we've seen, just not explosive enough, not a good enough blocker to play in the NFL.

Rams are 4 deep between Allen, Long, Higbee (1) and Parkinson and Fidone wouldn't come close to any of those guys.
 
Fidone has too many issues. He did fix up the drop issues he had from last season. That's a credit to him. But he cannot block bigger bodies. Gets dominated too easily and that will not change going up a level.

His route running is disjointed. Large catch radius sure but easily covered.

He does not want to play like a true tight end. All the horizontal passes seemed to end up with him thinking he's in high school still and instead of using his size advantage to get upfield and power through smaller defenders for small-medium gains, he would try to get outside and take the same hits to the side of his knee over and over for no gain or a loss of yardage. Was frustrating watching him try to pull this move off every time with the same result.

Verdict is that he is actually a blown up WR. The extra weight does him no good as he cannot block with any effectiveness and it hinders his mobility. Not a true WR, not a true TE. Classic tweener.

Don't be surprised if another highly-rated WR/TE ends up the same. They look to have very similar body types. Too early to tell there, but I think Matt Rhule is making the right call by going the WR route with that one.
 
Your comment that Nebraska "let him walk", as if the team could stop him from leaving, was my first clue you didn't know what you were talking about. Glad I could set you straight.
If Boerkircher had a problem with Satterfield then probably nothing Rhule could do. But if it was a playing time/money issue, they absolutely could tried harder to keep him. The fact that he chose A&M, who is known for throwing money around, makes me think money had to play a significant role.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying Rhule did anything wrong. These are crazy times, can't keep everyone.
 
If Boerkircher had a problem with Satterfield then probably nothing Rhule could do. But if it was a playing time/money issue, they absolutely could tried harder to keep him. The fact that he chose A&M, who is known for throwing money around, makes me think money had to play a significant role.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying Rhule did anything wrong. These are crazy times, can't keep everyone.

Both things can be true, you know? He could have wanted to leave for personal reasons and then went to the highest bidder.
 
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Fidone has too many issues. He did fix up the drop issues he had from last season. That's a credit to him. But he cannot block bigger bodies. Gets dominated too easily and that will not change going up a level.

His route running is disjointed. Large catch radius sure but easily covered.

He does not want to play like a true tight end. All the horizontal passes seemed to end up with him thinking he's in high school still and instead of using his size advantage to get upfield and power through smaller defenders for small-medium gains, he would try to get outside and take the same hits to the side of his knee over and over for no gain or a loss of yardage. Was frustrating watching him try to pull this move off every time with the same result.

Verdict is that he is actually a blown up WR. The extra weight does him no good as he cannot block with any effectiveness and it hinders his mobility. Not a true WR, not a true TE. Classic tweener.

Don't be surprised if another highly-rated WR/TE ends up the same. They look to have very similar body types. Too early to tell there, but I think Matt Rhule is making the right call by going the WR route with that one.
Just for reality’s sake, our TEs end up often trying to block future NFL edge players in the B1G. Some of the criticism is over the top.
 
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I don’t mind going with Lindenmeyer, Haarberg, Markway, Flynt, and Ingwerson.

If limited by the number of TEs, Holgorsen can just run 11 personnel with 3 wide most of the time

I believe he likes that most anyway
we will continue to need to play multiple TEs to help our OL protect/run block
 
Even if he blocked well, I just done see him getting any separation in the NFL. He just instead a viable option with so many other talented TEs out there. Unfortunate.
 
I keep watching that clip and can’t help but wonder if the snap timing was a little rushed. Fidone looks like he’s going to try to blow up the edge but doesn’t get there in time. Sure makes him look bad. Was that all on him or was the timing off that made him look so bad?
He appears to be the only one that is off timing wise. Nobody else is coming off the ball slow.
 
I could never figure out why he wasn’t used more in the red zone, satt tried those stupid screens that never worked! If you watch him he doesn’t look fluid it appears he’s struggling going in motion. I always had high hopes for him, good luck Thomas
 
He appears to be the only one that is off timing wise. Nobody else is coming off the ball slow.
Except he’s in motion and the snap is triggered by him going by the backside of the QB. I’m betting if we’re sitting in game film study with Rhule he says the ball was snapped a half a second too quickly. There’s no way with when the snap was made that any TE is going to make that block on a crashing edge. Timing is so important.
 
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Except he’s in motion and the snap is triggered by him going by the backside of the QB. I’m betting if we’re sitting in game film study with Rhule he says the ball was snapped a half a second too quickly. There’s no way with when the snap was made that any TE is going to make that block on a crashing edge. Timing is so important.
Then it comes back to Raiola.
 
I keep watching that clip and can’t help but wonder if the snap timing was a little rushed. Fidone looks like he’s going to try to blow up the edge but doesn’t get there in time. Sure makes him look bad. Was that all on him or was the timing off that made him look so bad?
Fidone just sucks and the clip proves it. I saw that in real time and it's the exact thing I'm talking about. It's been happening all year. He's a terrible blocker and a less than mediocre TE.
 
The timing is just off by a half second at most and that’s all it takes to screw up a play. Maybe not enough reps in practice. Sh## happens and it sure made Fidone look bad.
I would agree with you if this was a single incident but I’ve watched TF whiff blocking on the edge and in space all year. This all goes back to his knees. He has no lateral movement. If you line him head up and have him block, I’ve seen him really move guys and open holes. But if he has to block a guy in space or while moving lateral, he can’t do it. Not a one time incident.
 
The timing is just off by a half second at most and that’s all it takes to screw up a play. Maybe not enough reps in practice. Sh## happens and it sure made Fidone look bad.
Looks to me more that he got juked rather than initiating the contact... edge ran by him after TF took a weird angle. If he squared up the block would be made. Not sure the timing was off so much as he anticipated wrong.
 
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I keep watching that clip and can’t help but wonder if the snap timing was a little rushed. Fidone looks like he’s going to try to blow up the edge but doesn’t get there in time. Sure makes him look bad. Was that all on him or was the timing off that made him look so bad?
He was that bad a lot when you go rewatch some of the games.
 
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