Faceoff - TE Brent Celek, Philadelphia Eagles

Posted 7/29, exclusive to Footballguys.com

Upside - by Marc Levin

While I am charged with arguing a high side for Eagles' TE Brent Celek, I will not try to snow the reader into thinking drafting Celek means you could be drafting the steal of the draft. On draft day, he is appropriately ranked as a lower range TE2, sandwiched between Bo Scaife and Anthony Fasano in the TE rankings. That said, he could have higher upside than either of those players.

First of all, he is the undisputed starter at TE for the Eagles. Unless the team adds a player, he is also the most skilled receiver at the position. The team jettisoned oft-injured LJ Smith, which opens the door for Celek to cement his position as the team's pass-catching TE. While some may argue athletic rookie Cornelius Ingram can be a threat, it is rare that rookie TEs -- especially those drafted in the seventh round after missing their final college season due to injury -- can make any kind of impact in year one.

Second, he really came on for the team in the playoffs, where the Eagles discovered a TE who could actually have a major role in the offense. In three playoff games, Celek had 19 receptions on 22 targets (86% catch percentage) for 151 yards (7.9 YPC) and 3 TDs. I will not speak down to our sophisticated readers by extrapolating those numbers into an entire season. Instead, I will merely comment that these are the kinds of numbers Celek has the potential to provide in this offense.

Third, as long as QB Donovan McNabb looks for him, Celek is likely to make the catch. For his career, Celek has a 71.6% career catch percentage. Considering McNabb's well known low accuracy, such a high catch rate is impressive. Andy Reid's offense is built on the dink-and-dunk to players like RB Brian Westbrook. A player like Celek, with his big body and sure hands across the middle of the field, can play a valuable role on third down with more than three, but fewer than ten, yards to go.

Now, I will not argue that Celek is likely to steal looks from the Eagles' first three or four receivers. WR DeSean Jackson, WR Kevin Curtis, rookie-WR Jeremy Maclin and RB Brian Westbrook will have more targets and catches than Celek. What I will argue is that with those four being the primary receiving threats, and with a deep group of receivers behind them, Celek will see single coverage -- or no pass defense -- nearly every time he comes off the line. That is a TE's dream, both in the middle of the field and near the goal line. Celek's upside is that he will put up occasional, albeit unpredictable, solid fantasy games, and his cost is minimal. He can be acquired either at the end of -- or after -- your fantasy draft.

Downside - by Matt Waldman

Picture Brent Celek catching check down passes and making a valiant effort to squeeze every ounce of production out of his limited physical skills and you have an image that is a grim reminder of what Philadelphia has lacked since Terrell Owens was jettisoned from the organization.

The acquisition of rookie WR DeSean Jackson was a step in the right direction for the Eagles passing attack in 2008. His play was a salve for the uninspiring results Philadelphia has received from Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis due to injuries and inconsistent play. Jackson's ability to stretch the field and create plays contributed to a more versatile offense and the Eagles' 2009 draft picks WR Jeremy Maclin, TE Cornelius Ingram and RB LeSean McCoy reflect the desire to continue building in that direction while reinforcing their strengths.

Brent Celek has been a reliable role player for the Eagles offense, especially when the oft-injured L.J. Smith couldn't get on the field. However, it's pretty obvious that Celek lacks the physical talent to be a consistent, explosive threat down the seam. Other than his huge game against a defensively challenged Arizona Cardinals in the NFC championship game and a week nine explosion versus a hapless Seahawks unit, Celek is best used as a blocker and check down option.

The Eagles offense is at its best when there are enough downfield threats to complement the versatility of Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook. McNabb can create enough time to pick apart an opposing secondary if he has enough receivers that can stretch the field vertically. Between dumping Owens and drafting Jackson, the Eagles QB has had to deal with a more compressed field because defenses knew Philadelphia lacked the explosive receivers to consistently force the secondary to play deeper coverage. Curtis had the skill to get deep but he still needs to prove he can consistently hang onto the ball and stay healthy

Rookie Jeremy Maclin has big-play ability and the Eagles hope he can be productive after the catch on shorter routes and deep streaks as a rookie as he continues to refine his skills as an intermediate route runner. Maclin, Jackson, Curtis, and Brown present a decent corps when the Eagles go with four-wide packages to spread the field. Draft pick LeSean McCoy should see enough time that once Westbrook is fully healthy, Philadelphia can use Westbrook wide or in the slot with McCoy still keeping defenses honest with the threat of the run.

Rookie TE Cornelius Ingram has the physical talent to be a productive threat in the deep seam when healthy and focused. Ingram's YAC skills are already superior to Celek's and he should at least see targets split away from the line in various packages, something Celek cannot do for this offense. Even if Ingram doesn't pan out this year the WRs corps should have enough firepower to limit the number of looks in Celek's direction and that is a good thing for the Eagles offense in 2009.