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Anybody Else The Least Bit Excited About Dallas Baker?

Ok, let's get the negatives out of the way with Dallas Baker real quick: he's not the fastest of receivers, having run a 4.6 at Florida's Pro Day, and a 4.53 at the Combine; he's also named after the Dallas Cowboys, his family's favorite team growing up; finally, he's older than most rookies at 25 years of age.

What about the positives? At 6'3", Baker is the tallest WR on the roster. He's also been extremely productive for multiple years at Florida. He's ninth all-time in TD receptions, and snagged 151 receptions for 2,236 yards during his collegiate career.

I'm not saying Baker is going to be Marques Colston, but there are some similarities. They're the same heighth, were both undervalued and fell to the 7th round because of their lack of game-changing speed, and both possess great hands, although from all accounts, hardly anybody has hands as sure as Colston.

Furthermore, Big Ben loves tall receivers. It took him nearly 3/4 of a season to get comfortable throwing to the diminuitive Santonio Holmes. If Hines Ward can stay healthy, if Holmes can continue to develop and force defenses to account for his game-breaking speed, and if Bruce Arians does in fact utilize Heath Miller more productively, Baker should have plenty of chances to make 'possesion' receptions against single coverage.

He's got a long track record of doing so at Florida, especially in the red zone, and I, for one am optimistic that he'll be able to do so in the NFL.