One of the most promising things I saw last night and so far during the training camp has been Michael Vick’s desire to get the ball into the hands of tight end Brent Celek more often. Vick showed us a year ago, that he’s adept at getting the ball deep to his outside receivers, DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. Those quick strikes are great but it’s hard to consistent if you rely on them alone.
Last year Celek was kept in to block quite a bit because the offensive tackles were overmatched at times. Vick didn’t throw the ball his way a great deal when he did go out, because he was focused in on his deep weapons.
Last night the Birds quarterback hit Celek with a three-yard down touchdown pass and he has made it a point in training camp to look up Celek.
“I think this season is going to be a great year for Brent,” Vick said. “We’ve been connecting a lot over the last couple of weeks. I just told him he needs to trust me and I’m going to get the ball to him. Just get open and I’ll find you.”
“The majority of the time last year, he was wide open,” Vick said. “I just failed to get the ball to him – just focusing in on DeSean and Jeremy. I went back on some of my Atlanta film and how I used Alge [Crumpler]. We’re going to get Brent involved this year – I think 
he deserves that.”
It’s going to be extremely important that Vick and Celek get on the same page during the season because it will make the offense more consistent. The throws to the tight end are some of the easiest in football because it’s shorter throw and the tight end is a bigger target. Any time the offense gets knocked off track, Vick can get everything back in gear by hooking up with Celek on a safe, short to intermediate throw.
In addition, in the red zone as we saw last night, Celek should be one of his favorite targets because of his combination of size, speed and route running ability. I thought there were three areas of the pass offense that needed to improve dramatically.
One was the passing game in the red zone, another was the passing game versus the blitz and the final area was getting the ball to Celek which is a key weapon in the red zone and against the blitz. Advancement in an effective passing game inside to the tight end will take the Birds passing game to the next level.
He doesn’t need to force it though G,
On that TD pass to Celek, tight spot with 2 Defensers on him,
Meanwhile Cooper was open in the End-Zone and J Avant was WIDE open in
the Flat area standnig at the GOal-line with no defender within 7-8 Yards of him.. We all want to see Celek get back to 2009 Production, but the ball needs to go to the open receivers, that TD pass to Celek could have been Int which is a real no-no in the Red/End Zone and was kind of of similar to throwing into double coverage on his Int throw last year versus the Bears when Vick was trying to thread the needle to Maclin..
Yeah, interesting to hear Vick flat out say that he really wasn’t targeting Celek much last year. I think that has to be factored into some of the criticism that was directed Celek’s way based off of last year.
Yup, good points, I agree. We have so many weapons at Vick’s disposal, I am not worried at all about him and our skill position players.
Let’s just get that o-line solidified with continuity. Mudd and the players will keep Vick upright, and MV7 will be smarter and selective in his runs.
I don’t think he will get hit nearly as often, especially with ample time in the playbook and to review his past play.
Defensively, I’m not worried about our LBs being invisible (any unit).
The Ravens didn’t put many points on the board and did not run all over us like you probably thought they would.
Let the d-line and secondary get their credit because they have the names, and the LBs will grow into their own over time.
Allen has their backs and Coleman will help in the box.
Checklist:
– get Desean some reps
– get Steve Smith and Maclin healthy
– get timing, playbook, and conditioning right through the preseason with minimal injuries
– fly and sh*t on the rams week 1 (I like Sam but he will toss us some picks, hopefully for 6!!)
One thing I look at is that Donald Lee is faster than Celek so he should get playing time as well. If Maclin and Smith are out for a considerable amount of time at WR since he was able to do that with the Packers 2 years ago.
you see Mike Vick’s Uniform??
Thats what I liked the most about last night… Vick looked sharp & never got touched.. got rid of the ball quickly…
so clean, not even a shadow on his jersey…
if he can do that consistently, we’ll be fine this year
Celek was asked to block all year long because of our herrendous offensive line… we were getting blitzed almost every down. we couldnt get the ball to celek he had to block for us. But this year hopefully he ll have a PB yr. Hes bulked up alot, and hes always had great hands since his rookie year. Weve come a long way with Celek. Hes my last concern with how potent this offense is. There deep at every position. Including the TE. Donald Lee was a huge acquisition, along with the higgins pickup, i expect clay harbor to improve too, hes certainly one of if not the fastest TE we have… i don not think ingram will make the team, theyve hung in there long enough with the guy… I think they picked up donald lee for blocking purposes but hes a huge endzone threat too… big body, tall, strong, can go up and get the ball over smaller corners and LBs… im looking forward to seeing how these TEs shape out…
Celek is not a PB Player JH, Stop overrating Players, He’s a good TE but doesn’t have the speed to run away from anyone to consistently make big plays.. TE D Lee was a great pick-up and on my original Free-agent want list.. A double TE Set with both Lee & Celek will allow Celek to go out in pass routes and still be able to help with pass protection with Lee..
Check Celeks numbers in 2009-2010 before he was asked to stay in and block, he doesnt consitently make big plays and run past defenders? Does that even sound right to you? Celek always makes huge catches and has great after the catch running and breaking tackles… in recent years they have been comparing him to the cowboys TE Witten, even though i dont. Witten is obviously better… But stop paul just stop…
You stop JH, you think every player on the Eagles is a Pro-Bowler and ist’s just nor accurate.. I’ve said a 100 times that Celek is a nice solid NFL TE, but he is in no way a PRo-Bowler for he is not Athletic enough like many TE are in todays game… He is more of a throwback type that will get you 40-50 Cathces 5-6 TD’s and be a good all-around player.. I am not dissing the guy, but to say he’s like a J FInely, T Heap, H Miller, A Gates, Winslow JR, A Gonzales, G Olsen, J Whitten, D Clark, Cooley , is just being a typical Philly “homer”
Paul, we agree to disagree. If celek was featured more just like if maclin was and other he would be a PB. The eagles like to spread the ball around equally not just force feed one guy… the cowboys for instance feature witten and they force feed him often and hes there best reciever and has been for yrs… the eagles have too many weapons and spread the ball around alot…
Vick needs to look for celek especially when weather turns cold, paulman, stop pissing on everyone s cornflakes, you did the same for the phillies early on, how did that work out for you big fella
I will take the hits Jake if our Philly Teams succeed, I just don’t buy into all the hype as easily or quickly as many other fans do… I play the Devil’s advocate to bring up issues,players,schemes or whatever that many do not talk about or bring up.. It’s my duty and someone has to do it..
To JH, I enjoy your posts and enthusiam and consider you a knowledgeable fan and it’s ok to disagree, but to say if Celek were featured more he would be an All-Pro, well you can sat that about anyone– If Coachs and QB VIck decided to throw 10 passes a game to J Avant or any other receiver,than that player would be an All-Pro too…I agree that the Eagles have plenty of weapons so it’s hard for anyone to put up monster #’s but it is about winning
In Celek’s defense, he had a broken bone in his hand at the start of last season which probably contributed to a lot of his dropped passes in the early part of last season, then he did have to stay in a block due to OL failue to pass-protect as effectively as they should… but all in all, Celek is a middle of the road,slighty above average TE in the NFL..