Like Pro Bowl defensive end Trent Cole, Eagles tight end Brent Celek has proven to be another great 5th round draft picks out of Cincinnati.¬† He’s primed to follow his fellow Bearcat to the Pro Bowl in 2010.
He had a tremendous season a year ago with 76 catches for 971 yards and 8 touchdowns, but the quarterback change from Donovan McNabb to Kevin Kolb should increase his catches and make him even more of a focal point of the team’s passing attack.
The move to Kolb will create more of an emphasis on the short passing game and likely breed additional opportunities for Celek to catch the football.  He and Kolb have to get to the point where they think as one.
He’s got to be there as a safety valve when Kolb gets in trouble because Kevin isn’t going to be able to run away from defensive linemen like McNabb used to do.
The former Bearcat has improved every year he’s been here by living in the weightroom during the off season which has allowed him to get bigger and much stronger.¬† The added strength has helped him as a blocker and made it easier for Celek to fight through linebackers’ jams at the line of scrimmage.
He’s the best tight end the Eagles have had since Pro Bowler Keith Jackson ran routes for Randall Cunningham because he has the same deep speed that Jackson had, but the dependable Chad Lewis couldn’t beat anybody deep.
The development of Jeremy Maclin will force team to declare the second-year wideout from Missouri as the second most dangerous weapon they must  stop next to Pro Bowl flanker DeSean Jackson.
That declaration will likely mean that covering Celek will the assignment of one linebacker.  The development of Maclin added to the explosiveness of Jackson will prevent teams from using a safety to help the linebacker who is trying to cover Celek.
I think the Eagles will see a lot of two-deep coverages which are vulnerable to tight ends who can get deep.
I believe we’re also going to see Celek get more chances in the red zone with a two-tight end attack consisting of him and second-year tight end Cornelius Ingram.
Andy Reid has always been adept at putting together two-tight end packages.  He was the tight end coach back when the Packers won the Super Bowl with two Pro Bowl tight ends Mark Chmura and Keith Jackson.
I think he’ll have a big year as well. He will be Kolb’s safety outlet. Right now, I think he’s the guy that benefits the most from McNabb to Kolb. Also in the redzone he can be more effective if Kolb is everything we hope he is. Obviously a pro bowl appearance will depend on how Witten and Davis perform on their teams.
I think his numbers may actually go down a tad to the 60 catches for 700 yards with 6-8 TD’s range.
I expect a lot more Double-TE Sets and think that TE’s ingram and Harbor may end up 25-35 receptions in which would have likely been thrown to Celek in previous years..
I also expect Maclin and Avant to have more receptions than they had last year so the passes/completetions totals will have to come from somewhere…
Celek took a lot of hard hits and took a beating as the season wore on,spreading the ball to more weapons will only help him and the team in keeping the Receiver Corps DJax,Maclin,Avant,Celek,Ingram & Harbor, hungry aned heathly for years to come…
All these weapons ….and we have a real gunslinger in Kolb. With this team I have no idea how they will lose a game. Finally a Superbowl coming this season. Finally
Yep Song, you got it right. Because the Eagles lost in the first round playoffs last year, any positive reporting about good expectations for a guy who played very well last year is BS. We didn’t win the superbowl, so if Celek had very impressive stats and overall play, even if that’s a fact that nobody disagrees about, well it’s all BS, because they didn’t win the superbowl. McCoy had 0 yards last year. Maclin had a terrible rookie season and Jackson didn’t improve at all from last year. Everything is 0 or 100. Black or White. Only in extremes. Song is right.
‘Andy Reid has always been adept at putting together two-tight end packages. He was the tight end coach back when the Packers won the Super Bowl with two Pro Bowl tight ends Mark Chmura and Keith Jackson”
When did he do this with the eagles in the last 11 years. I can’t remember.
Chad Lewis was not a talented tight end but Andy Reid helped make him an All Pro. He taught him how to play the position. L.J. Smith was a major disappointment but it wasn’t because of them not putting him in position to succeed. Celek is headed to stardom.
My point was that Andy Reid knows how to utilize a tight end.
I agree with the G-Man,
LJ Smith if he ever stayed healthy and kept focus could have been a good one too–
But too many injuries and questionable work ethic derailed his stay with the Eagles…
Celek is a different animal in which I liken to Trent Cole..both these players were mid round draft selections who have worked extremely hard to improve every year and have gotten bigger,stronger, faster,stronger and have become true Professionals in the chosen field as NFL Football players.
They take their jobs and postitions with the Eagles very serioulsy and prepare,study,outwork almost everyone else on the team and in NFL itself.. 2 very good players who are All-Pro Caliber who are both just coming into their primes of their NFL Careers…