saw a viable Red Zone target for DAL other than #82. So they pay extra attention to him inside the 20. GB clearly did that.

That approach could changewith the emergence of M Austin, but who else is a consistent threat? Every time RW emerges as a potential one, he seems to regress.

1: Witten is not very fast. When he’s got space in the middle of the field, he can make a move and the ball can be placed in a spot where he can use the open space to run and use his body to shield the defender and make the catch. In the red zone, there is less room and he can’t be led by as much so the defender can catch up and make a play.

2: Corners can cover him. Give me a break. He is not uncoverable. If he was, Charles Woodson wouldn’t have picked the RED ZONE pass to him off and we might’ve ended up beating Green Bay.

3: Defenders can take chances in the Red Zone. This is because generally, you’re gonna see maybe one move from Witten in the end zone. There’s not enough room for long drawn-out routes. Defenders know that once Witten makes one move, that’s where he’s going, so they jump routes and take chances because they know the ball is coming quick and it’s not like they’re going to get burned deep by a double move or something. As mentioned earlier, Witten isn’t really fast or agile enough to shake a guy in close quarters. Yeah, he’s great. But it’s not because he’s fast. Woodson probably doesn’t jump the route quickly enough to get the pick if that throw to Witten was happening on say, the 45 yard line. Because he’d be conscious that one false jump and Witten’s scoring a 45 yard TD (unless he gets caught, which certainly has been known to happen).

I’m fine with how Witten is used. He’s not some imposing force like Gates. He’s big, but not tall or athletic really. Hence, he’s good in the open field, but once you get close to the goal line, his value decreases. And I’m ok with that. We have enough weapons on the team that we don’t need Witten to be a Red Zone threat. Because as the Green Bay game showed, we’re probably better off using our other weapons in those situations.

Please don’t take this as a bashing of Witten post or anything. I love Witten. But I realize that he is not just some unstoppable TE or anything. He is not perfect. One of his weaknesses is speed and that hurts him in the Red Zone in my opinion. He’s still great. But there’s no point in trying to force him into something he’s not really cut out to excel at.

Physically he is a mismatch on the majority of corners in the league. He isn’t what I would call the best athlete, but he is tall.

Six foot 5 is tall.

But you’re right, he isn’t a leaper, he isn’t a jump ball guy.

Once you get in the redzone, while he still is a good target, he’s not Gates. LB’s have problems covering him in the middle of the field but once you get into a smaller space, it’s easier.