It had been three months since those who chronicle the Broncos’ exploits had seen Tony Scheffler walk into a room, and I, for one, was not expecting such an imposing figure to stroll through the door leading to the media room where he held a media briefing on Thursday afternoon.
Scheffler’s words would only confirm what his mere presence demonstrated — that he’d bulked up in the past three months, gaining an average of 10 pounds a month and going from a 235-pound rookie to a 265-pound beast through a simple regimen.
“A lot of eating,” Scheffler admitted. “Not too much running, just a lot of lifting and eating. In the summer I always trim down.”
Scheffler expects that he’ll drop between five and 10 pounds from his current weight; such loss will be a simple byproduct of on-field work in organized team activities and his four conditioning sessions per week. For now, though, his movement isn’t where he wants it to be.
“Right now I’m not as smooth in and out of my cuts as I was at 235 (pounds), but I think as the summer goes on, I’ll trim up,” he said.”
Scheffler also noted that his weight gain wasn’t by coaches’ edict; rather, it stemmed from a desire to play more than just on obvious passing downs.
“Hopefully I’ll maintain my speed, but at the same time I can get better in the run game so I can be out there every down. That’s my ultimate goal as a player in the NFL — to help this team every down.
“I don’t want to (just) go in on third down,” he added. “I want to take my career to the next level and help this team every down. Putting on the weight was my own decision. I need to maintain my speed and everything I had before.”
And at any size, he feels he’ll still see plenty of action on the field, even with prominent free-agent signee Daniel Graham among the cornucopia of players at his position.
“We obviously have a lot of weapons at tight end, so that’s something that’s naturally going to take place,” Scheffler said. “I’m sure there’ll be some two-tight end sets down the road.”
Click here to watch Scheffler’s interview.
Tags: 2007 season, Tight ends, Tony Scheffler
We have seen similar moves by players in the past, only to see them look slow and lumbersome. In most cases, the player actually slims back down the next off-season. We are going to need an effective Tony Scheffler this season and I hope he knows exactly what he is doing….
TSG
http://www.milehighreport.com
Tony is going to be 1 of the best TE in the leauge
I could see Tony putting on another 10 or 15 pounds by working hard in the weight room this offseason but 30 in 3 months is way too much, its got to be all fat and just get in the way while slowing him down. Extra weight takes its tol on your knees too, I know that from experieince. Shannon Sharpe was an every down TE, probably the best ever, and he weighed about 235 at most, so follow his path Tony, not this one of turning yourself into just another slow fat guy.
Way too much weight, too fast. Tony was an amazing receiving threat last year. This will nullify his speed and quick cuts to get open. Very disappointing to read this. Basically, he’s coming in to training camp plump and overweight.
I wouldnt jump to too many conclusions right now. From what I have read Tony still has some work ahead of him, but it was his decision to bulk up and he knows the kind of work that needs to be done in order for him to be as athletic as he was in the past.
Hey arm chair quarterbacks, give it some time before you diagnose. Although I agree that Shannon Sharpe was the best TE, he was not the best blocking TE. Tony is simply taking the time that he has in the off season to get to the optimum playing weight. That’s a combination of speed, and strength. It’s simply not realistic to be 235 lbs, and still be a dominant run blocker. If he can find the happy medium between 235 and 265, he’ll be an even more dominant pass threat, while adding more strength to his resume to become a more complete TE. He’s already said as much, now let’s see if he delivers.
More than likely, Scheffler will lose at least 10 lbs. in training camp. I know from when I played in high school I would spend the entire off season bulking up and gaining as much possible weight as I could, only to lose almost all of it in the month of August.