As Ed Dickson was celebrating his 29th birthday last Monday, the Carolina Panthers went out and got themselves a brand-new tight end. Literally.
Former Aussie Rules player Eric Wallace hadn't played American football for more than a decade, yet an impromptu summer workout with receivers coach Ricky Proehl led to one of the most unlikely training camp invites in franchise history.
Wallace was the sixth tight end signed by the Panthers in a three-month span. The not-so-subtle offseason hunt at the position also included, according to multiple sources, an attempt to sign free agent Jared Cook and heavy draft interest in Arkansas' Hunter Henry.
So if you’re Dickson, who’s caught just 27 passes in two seasons with the Panthers, news of another tight end addition may not have been the best birthday present.
“I mean, it's competition. If there's no competition, it's not the league,” Dickson said confidently after a recent training camp practice in Spartanburg. “I’m striving to take Greg's job, and those guys should think the same thing. And Greg shouldn't relax thinking anything like that, and he doesn’t.”
The 2-time Pro Bowler isn’t in danger of losing his job anytime soon, but in May, he did jokingly wonder if the Panthers’ tight end shopping spree was “maybe the phaseout of Greg Olsen.”
It obviously wasn’t, and it really didn’t have much to do with Dickson, much to the dismay of many fans focused on his limited stats in the passing game.
“Last year we were down tight ends in training camp,” coach Ron Rivera explained, “and what we have to be careful with is Greg Olsen. He's down to his 10th season and he's a premier tight end in this league. Ed Dickson has come a long way, but after that, we have to find out.”
After cutting undrafted free agents Jake McGee and Andrew Bonnet in the spring, the Panthers still have a pair of rookie tight ends: 7th-round pick Beau Sandland and tryout guy Braxton Deaver. They’re also taking a fourth look at Marcus Lucas and giving Scott Simonson a chance to stick around for a second season.
“Simonson is having a very good camp right now,” Rivera said, “and Lucas has come back and he's run great routes and catches the ball well.
“Bringing all these guys in — was it by design? Probably. But it's also a reflection of what our offense is.”
And that’s a run-first offense that needs its tight ends to block nearly as well as they can catch. So the Panthers have a type, but it’s one that doesn’t necessarily lend itself to blocking defensive linemen.
Excluding Wallace, a 6-foot-6, 260-pound behemoth, the six other tight ends on the roster are 6-foot-4 or 6-foot-5 and weigh between 245 and 255 pounds.
“I think for guys built like me and the tight ends we have, (blocking) is something you have to continue to drill,” Olsen said. “It's something you have to continue to work on because we're not 300 pounds like some blocking tight ends around the league.
“You have to make due with what you've got.”
As much as fans want to see what young guys like Sandland or Deaver can add to the passing game, the reality is they’re not yet ready for the number of snaps they’d need to bring back memories of the Olsen-Jeremy Shockey days of 2011.
“I was no different than Beau and Braxton and these guys when I came into the league. In college, my job was to run around and catch the ball,” said Olsen, who’s blocking is still “a work in progress” 10 years in.
“You're not going to catch any balls around here as a young guy until (tight ends coach) Pete (Hoener) sees you hit that sled a thousand times.”
That may not be an exaggeration. Beginning in OTAs and continuing in training camp, when Olsen and Dickson have joined quarterbacks and receivers during individual drills, the rookies have stayed with Hoener and the sled.
Like Olsen, though, Dickson acknowledges he’s not a blocking expert.
“I’m still learning a whole lot,” the 7-year vet admitted, “but I'm becoming a pretty good blocker and I take pride in it.”
And for those that think Dickson’s limited production in the passing game has him on a bubble, his counterargument comes from Week 14: