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Atlanta Falcons: Who’s The Best TE in 2015?

By John Buhler

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The Atlanta Falcons look to improve on a down year from their tight ends in 2014.  The team was not able to replace the production that came from former All-Pro TE Tony Gonzalez who retired after the 2013 NFL Season.

-= Related: Atlanta Falcons: Best/Worst Case Scenarios in 2015 =-

Second-year player Levin Toilolo was dropping far too many passes for QB Matt Ryan to adequately feature the TE’s in the passing game about halfway through the season.  Former OC Dirk Koetter started using WR Roddy White in somewhat of a hybrid slot role to in a way to account for Gonzalez’s lost production at the middle of the field.

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    • With Bear Pascoe being more of a passing blocking tight end and Mickey Shuler being in and out of the practice squad, Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff needed to address the most glaring hole in the Atlanta Falcons’ elite passing game.  By bringing over Jacob Tamme from Denver and Tony Moeaki from Seattle, Atlanta now has three, potentially four TE’s if you include Shuler, that could make some vital catches for Matt Ryan this fall.  But which Atlanta tight end rises to the top of the depth chart in 2015?

    Toilolo hails from Tight End U (Stanford) and was a great red zone target for the Cardinal before being drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the 4th round of the 2013 NFL Draft.  At 6’8″, it’s understandable why he is such a commodity in the red zone passing game.  While I do believe that he will thrive there for the Falcons this year due to the fluidity of Kyle Shanahan’s offense, I’m not sold on Toilolo as an every-down pass catcher for the Dirty Birds.  While he will likely make 3 or 4 leaping red zone touchdown catches, his affinity for dropping Ryan’s passes may keep him off the gridiron in crucial third-down situations.

    Moeaki played well into two conservative passing games that emphasized the run on offense (Seattle and Kansas City).  While I do like his range, leaping and playmaking ability, Moeaki has only had two seasons, both with KC, where he has had good health.  And they say that availability is the best ability to have in football.  Assuming that he can stay on the field, I think Tony Moeaki becomes a new favorite target of Matt Ryan between the hash marks.

    Tamme fits in very well to the Atlanta Falcons’ passing attack.  He chose to come to Atlanta to play with a highly cerebral quarterback in Matt Ryan.  After spending most of his career as pass catching tight end for Peyton Manning in both Denver and Indianapolis, it speaks volumes about the Falcons QB that Tamme wanted to come to Flowery Branch.

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    Jacob has had a strong career as a number two or three tight end in the league.  He has nearly 10 TD receptions in both of his NFL stops.  Should Atlanta opt to run multiple tight end sets, I can see Tamme factoring in wonderfully in the Atlanta passing attack.  However, he is very talented at what he does in his role as a number two tight end so I don’t see him elevating to number one status for the Falcons this fall.  Remember Falcons HC Dan Quinn wants to use his players in ways that they can perform their absolute best.

    Atlanta will likely get way more production from its TE’s in 2015 due to more receiving options and a more balanced attack than just throwing the ball vertically.  While I do like the Falcons TE corps way more than I did last year, I still believe that it’s very much a work in progress.  But if I had to guess, I feel that if he’s healthy Tony Moeaki has the best year of any of the Atlanta Falcons tight ends because of his versatility.  He could be the every-down passing catching tight end the team sorely missed last season.

    Next: Atlanta Falcons: 2015 Projected Pro Bowlers

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