High Praise For Dustin Keller

Rich Cimini put out a good article this morning about New York Jets TE Dustin Keller.

Bart Scott gives some surprising praise to Keller that, I thought, was just awesome to see.

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“I’ve played against some pretty good tight ends, and I practiced against (former Ravens teammate) Todd Heap – a tremendous athlete – and I would compare Dustin Keller to Kellen Winslow,” Scott said. “That’s very high praise because, other than Antonio Gates, we always viewed Kellen Winslow as the best route-running tight end in the league. I think Dustin is well on his way to that.”

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I can not say enough how much I hope this turns out to be true. Having a TE who is comparable to the likes of Kellen Winslow would not be a bad thing at all.

While there is so much good that can be said (and has been said) about Dustin’s talents, Cimini does a good

job pointing out some of the things Keller still needs to focus on if he is to be successful this season.

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“During his tear, Keller emerged as Brett Favre’s go-to receiver on third down. (Who can forget the dramatic third-and-15 grab in the overtime win at New England?) But down the stretch, he was a nonfactor, as opponents adjusted their coverage and the Jets did a poor job of countering. He dropped a key pass in Week 14 against the 49ers, and never seemed to recover.

“I’ve shown flashes of what I can do, but I need to do it over an entire season,” said Keller, who is working with tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson with the hope of improving his blocking.”

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Having Keller develop the metal acuity to keep his focus after a key miss, is actually a great point. Even the best of them have key drops in their catalog. What made them great was being able to recover and keep up the level of play they are known for.

I hope that besides a quick first step and decent hands, Keller proves to also have the mental talents that make the difference between good and great.

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