Tag: Tight Ends

Five things we learned from Texas’ win over UTEP

Texas arguably had the most impressive opening night in the country, defeating UTEP 59-3. Here are five things we learned from the win.

Texas arguably had the most impressive opening night in the country, defeating UTEP 59-3. Tom Herman’s squad was impressive from top to bottom, ranging from starters to freshman getting their first playing time in a Longhorn uniform.

It was the first display of offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich and defensive coordinator Chris Ash. We learned a lot from the season opener on both sides of the ball.

Now with a week before the Big 12 opener, Herman will make small adjustments to play at the same level. It was an encouraging start, but the Longhorns must be able to carry it over against Power Five opponents.

Five things we learned from Texas’ win over UTEP:

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6

Auburn football: Tigers feature a (GULP!) tight end in scrimmage

Chad Morris’ offense will feature a tight end or two for the first time in a while at Auburn.

Wipe that crust away from your eyes, Auburn fans. What you might have seen or heard during the Tigers’ first scrimmage on Saturday was the use of a tight end.

You see, a tight end is …. okay, maybe I don’t need to explain what that position is but, during the Gus Malzahn era, that player has widely been ignored in the passing offense. C.J. Uzomah was the only key player during Malzahn’s tenure to make a mark at the position but with Chad Morris now leading the offense, it could once again become a feature in the passing game.

“Looking at the stat sheet, the tight ends had four catches or five catches during the scrimmage,” Malzahn said. “He likes to throw to tight ends. He likes to utilize 11 personnel (one tight end). He uses 12 personnel, which is two tight ends. I think it’s a good changeup. We have some guys that are competing for those positions.

“It’s real hard in one week to say anybody has stood out. The two freshmen coming in, one thing I can tell you is they are as talented as we thought. They have the talent. Now, the experience and getting used to the physicality and everything that goes with it, we’ll have to see how that goes and give them enough scrimmage reps the next couple of weeks.”

Auburn isn’t lacking from talent at the tight end spot either. Tyler Fromm returns along with John Samuel Shenker who can fill that role. Who might become a standout is true freshman Brandon Frazier, who stands at 6-foot-7 and is a big target in the red zone for Bo Nix.

No matter who wins the starting position, it will be nice to see another weapon utilized on offense.

Texas Football Scrimmage: Notes from Tom Herman’s media session

Texas Longhorns head coach Tom Herman met with media following the second scrimmage. He talked at length about several aspects of the team.

Longhorns head coach Tom Herman spoke with the media on Saturday following the Longhorns second scrimmage of fall camp. In his opening comments Herman mentioned that the offense won this scrimmage. The first and second team received about 35 snaps total. The team will resume practice on Tuesday, which gives them a couple of days off.

When asked about the linebacker position, Herman pointed out that Jaylon Ford is getting better every day. “Jaylon Ford is proving every day that he is going to be a solid player for us at some point. We are trying to accelerate that learning curve.”

Image courtesy of Texas Sports

Herman went on to say that he thinks they have four capable guys at the cornerback position it is just a matter of the “cream rising to the top.” The head coach did bring up they haven’t had their full compliment of guys due to precautions. Any time a player has a sniffle, a cold or a stomach bug they are reporting it to the staff and they hold the player out until they are cleared. Herman did mention they haven’t had any positive cases of COVID-19.

In response to being asked about the NCAA’s decision to freeze eligiblity for players this season, Herman said “The NCAA got it right. It is the fair and right thing to do.” Coach did say that the information about how to move forward with the new ruling is very limited. He only knows that the seniors this year won’t count against the scholarship limit in 2021.

When the topic of how different this camp has been, Herman stated that it has been “drastically different.” Not from a COVID-19 standpoint but since the team didn’t have spring and summer workouts. They are trying to condition their bodies. He mentioned giving the team a day off following padded practice. The scrimmage on Saturday and Tuesday’s practice were the only ones in pads.

Image courtesy of Texas Sports

“It’s been a great marriage thus far. We’re cut from the same cloth” -Tom Herman on his relationship with Mike Yurcich

Herman went on to talk about the new route concepts that Yurcich has introduced to the offense. “The quarterbacks and wide receivers have really liked it. But at the end of the day we all run the same plays,” Herman said jokingly. He did mention that Yurcich has done a great job of enhancing the offense. Herman stated that Yurcich will call the plans with input from himself throughout the game when the situation dictates.

“We’re very very thankful that we have him, because we need him”- Herman on Tarik Black

Herman mentioned the second scrimmage was “so much cleaner than last week and that’s encouraging.” During the scrimmage on Saturday the tight ends were playing on the line, inside and outside receiver due to being thin at receiver. Herman mentioned they played the entire scrimmage in 12 personnel. The 12 personnel group is one running back, two wide receivers and two tight ends.

Image courtesy of Texas Sports

When asked about quarterback Sam Ehlinger, Herman mentioned that he is always working and never satisfied. The big difference he noticed is a bigger jump from his off platform throws. He is getting the ball out quicker.

“The competitor that you see on Saturdays is the same competitor that he is with himself”- Herman on Sam Ehlinger

The running back position is another group that came up during the media session with Herman. When asked about the rotation of the three, Herman said “I have no idea.” Being that they are three weeks away from the first game, he alluded to the fact that it is a bit early. Herman did say having only three backs on scholarship at a violent position makes him a little “apprehensive.”

 

 

Russell Wilson will have plenty of options to throw to this season

Seahawks QB Russell Wilson will have plenty of options to throw to as the tight ends and running backs will also factor into the air game.

Seattle Seahawks training camp is in full swing, with the offensive and defensive players finally able to take the field together. Monday should mark the most exciting day for fans so far when the pads come on for the first time this summer.

Over the last week, it’s been obvious that quarterback Russell Wilson will have his choice of players to throw to this season, with multiple offensive options at his disposal.

Wide receiver Tyler Lockett – Wilson’s No. 1 go-to target – explained during his press conference on Friday.

“We’re starting to move people around a lot more, so you’ll never know where people are going to line up,” Lockett told reporters via Zoom. “That’s where our dangerous weapons are going be able to succeed.”

“You don’t know who we’re going to run the ball with, you don’t know who we’re going to throw the ball to – we added so many additions, and the people we added to our team are also selfless,” Lockett continued. “That’s what you have to be able to have in a team is selfless people that want each other to succeed.”

The Seahawks beefed up their tight end game with the addition of veteran Greg Olsen and the return of Will Dissly from injury. Wide receiver D.K. Metcalf is looking to shine in his sophomore season. Finally, don’t look past the running backs, who also could factor into Seattle’s receiving game this season.

[lawrence-related id=66257]

Report: Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs agree on four-year extension

Travis Kelce is going to the pay window. The Chiefs have agreed to an extension with their star tight end.

George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers opened the vault for tight end extensions, apparently.

Hours after the Niners’ great TE got his contract extension, it is being reported the Kansas City Chiefs have worked out future plans with their great tight end, Travis Kelce.

Kelce would be the third Kansas City star to get rich thus far this offseason as Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones already have worked out terms with the team.

Four-Star ’22 Tight End Commits to Notre Dame

The good news for Notre Dame is that the Fighting Irish didn’t have to wait long for their second commitment in the ’22 class as tight end Jack Nickel made his commitment on Monday afternoon.

It took a while for Notre Dame to land their first commitment in the 2022 recruiting class as four-star offensive tackle Joey Tanona broke the seal on that over the weekend.

The good news for Notre Dame is that the Fighting Irish didn’t have to wait long for their second commitment in the ’22 class as tight end Jack Nickel made his commitment on Monday afternoon.

Nickel is listed at 6-4, 230 pounds and from Alpharetta, Georgia (Milton).  He chose Notre Dame despite having offers from 26 other schools including Iowa, Wisconsin, Penn State and LSU.

Nickel is the first tight end to commit to Notre Dame’s 2022 class but joins an incredibly talented group that features four-star Cane Berrong from the ’21 class, five-star Michael Mayer from the ’20 class and four-star Kevin Bauman, also of the ’20 class.

The Fighting Irish certainly haven’t hit on everything out of the gate in regards to the ’22 class but it’s nice to see the commitments finally start to roll in after what had felt like a pretty significant wait.

Buffalo Bills training camp preview: Tight end

2020 Buffalo Bills training camp preview: tight ends

The Buffalo Bills are a few short days away from arriving for training camp in Western New York. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the preseason festivities will be diminished; the team will not hold their sessions at St. John Fisher College, their training camp location since 2000.

Nevertheless, the aim of the training camp remains the same. The organization must prepare players for the year. Camp could hold greater importance this year, as the potentially rimmed down preseason slate leaves fewer opportunities for players to impress the coaching staff.

The Bills Wire will complete a position-by-position analysis of each group on the team’s roster as we inch closer to training camp.  This edition will focus on the tight end position:

Buffalo Bills’ Dawson Knox reacts. (AP Photo/John Munson)

Players (age)

  • Dawson Knox (23: 2nd season)
  • Lee Smith (32: 10th season)
  • Tyler Kroft (27: 6th season)
  • Tommy Sweeney (25: 2nd season)
  • Nate Becker (24: 2nd season)
  • Jason Croom (26: 3rd year)

2019 recap

Tyler Kroft was brought in as a free agent last year. However, his injury history was on display early, as he hurt his foot on the first day of OTAs. The Bills, without a prominent pass-catching tight end, were forced to lean on rookie Dawson Knox.

Knox ended up starting 11 games in 2019. While he’s still refining his work as a route runner, Knox demonstrated athleticism and power than can make him a matchup problem for opposing defenses. He caught 28 passes last season, good for fourth on the team. He is still developing, as there were issues with drops last year. He led the NFL with 10.

Lee Smith was primarily used as a blocker, often acting as a sixth lineman. He was guilty of some penalties, though. Kroft, when healthy, provided some help on the field. But he was off the field more than on the field, and he ended up catching only six passes on the year. Another rookie, Tommy Sweeney filled in nicely when necessary, doing a bit of everything fairly well. He won’t dazzle anyone with his athleticism, but he’s developing into a reliable depth player for the team.

Now here’s a rundown of storylines to follow in this position group:

Can Dawson Knox become a bigger problem for defenses?

Knox’s development will be a fascinating story to follow this year for the Bills. Tight ends are providing massive mismatches in the league. Can Knox move closer to the tier of difference makers at the position (see: Travis Kelce, George Kittle, Darren Waller). Knox’s 28 receptions were good for 36th overall among tight ends in his rookie season.

Knox is relatively new to the position, as he shifted to tight end early in his college career. However, his speed and power have been a great starting point for developing at the position. Knox made himself known on the national stage by bowling over Cincinnati defenders on a 49-yard catch-and-run.

If Knox doesn’t show he’s capable of being a No.1 tight end, addressing that need could be on the Bills’ radar next offseason while letting Knox slip down to the No.2 spot. Kroft is a free agent after 2020.

 

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

Michigan State football position group breakdown: tight ends

Tight end is perhaps the most worrisome group heading into the 2020 season.

The point of this series of blog posts is pretty straight forward; to examine what we do and don’t know about each position group on the Michigan State football team.

It may seem hard to believe, but the college football season is–currently–scheduled to kick off in about three months. Time flies when you’re stuck inside. Whether or not Michigan State and the rest of the country play football this fall, or what that football looks like, is a conversation for another day. Today I want to start taking a deeper look at each position group on the team, broken down by what we know and what we don’t know. These will continue throughout the next couple of weeks until all of the positions are covered. Today: the tight ends.

What we Know

Trenton Gillison has to be good. Tight end might be the most worrisome position group for Michigan State right now. I’ll cover the reasons why as we progress, but Gillison is about it for proven (healthy) commodities and even he is incredibly unproven. However, the redshirt sophomore capped his first season strong with four catches for 88 yards in the 2019 Pinstripe Bowl. A former four-star recruit, Gillison came to MSU with high expectations and this is the year for him to fulfill them.

Matt Dotson is coming off a major injury. Achilles tears are absolutely brutal, we all know that. Dotson tore his towards the end of the 2019 season which gives him about ten months of recovery time before 2020 kicks off. That’s a tough ask. Even if he has recovered to the point that he can get on the field, how much of his athleticism has been sapped by his injury?

Adam Berghorst seems like he could have potential . . . maybe? Berghorst came to MSU as a defensive end, but switched to tight end midway through his freshman season out of necessity. That’s never a great start, but he was able to work his way into more snaps as the season progressed, finished with a career-high 28 snaps in the Pinstripe Bowl. He’s big and athletic, we know that. But that’s about all we know.

The rest of the depth chart is unknown. Parks Gissinger also transitioned from defensive end to tight end in 2019. He saw action in four games and heads into his redshirt sophomore season with one career catch. Could Connor Heyward see some snaps at H-back/tight end? Can true freshman Tommy Guajardo crack the rotation? Yes, I know that’s a lot of questions for the “what we know” segment.

They have a new position coach in Ted Gilmore. This might just be the most important development for the entire position group. Mel Tucker was able to pry Ted Gilmore out of Wisconsin after he spent five very successful years their as the wide receivers coach. Tight ends at MSU used to be a position of strength and haven’t been in recent seasons. Gilmore could be the guy to get them going in the right direction again.

What we don’t Know

How much MSU will involve tight ends in 2020. I like to keep these to specific players or coaches, but this is an important point. Jay Johnson recently said tight end will be the “MVP” of the offense. That’s not a statement that sits well considering all of the questions surrounding the group. Last year Colorado used one or zero tight ends for a great majority of their offensive snaps. I’d bet that continues this season and Trenton Gillison eats most of those. Maybe in the future MSU uses two tight end sets more often, but 2020 doesn’t feel like the time to do it.

Can Trenton Gillison replicate the Pinstripe Bowl? I mentioned it earlier, but Gillison’s Pinstripe Bowl was by far his most productive game in his first full season. As of now, that’s just a flash in the pan. It’s a nice flash, sure, but he’s got a ways to go before that can be relied upon. Can he do it? Gillison is big, athletic, and physical. There’s a reason he was so highly-touted out of high school. Is this the year he breaks out?

Can Matt Dotson even play? I won’t rehash much of what I wrote above, but it’s still a question mark that Dotson can even be healthy enough to play. And while Achilles tears are generally one-year injuries, it takes even longer for the sufferer to get back to 100%. Dotson is a senior in 2020. His shot at MSU might be over.

Will anyone else step up? This is the biggest question for this group. I think Gillison will be able to perform well enough that MSU will feel good about TE1. Behind that it is a total mystery. Outside of Dotson there’s a combined one catch for five yards. That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. MSU needs at least one of Gissinger, Berghorst, or Guajardo to prove good enough to take 100+ snaps at TE2 this season. Either that or Connor Heyward as a tight end hybrid type. Heyward isn’t built to play traditional tight end, so even if he ends up in that kind of role, one of the bigger bodied guys is going to have to play. At this point, there’s no telling who that will be.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1362]

Texas Longhorns team of the century: Tight ends

Texas has never been known for the tight ends but has still fielded some good players. Here are the tight ends of the century for Texas:

Texas has never been known for the tight ends, producing better pass catchers at wide receiver. However, there are a couple guys who have played important roles in the offense the past 20 years.

For both Vince Young and Colt McCoy, the tight end was always a safety valve. The two had big-name receivers to throw to such as Billy Pittman, Limas Sweed, Jordan Shipley, and Quan Cosby. Not being the main focus in the passing game, these two tight ends always came through when called upon.

Here are the tight ends of the century for the Longhorns:

Starting tight end: David Thomas

  • 98 receptions
  • 1,367 receiving yards
  • 15 receiving touchdowns
  • 51 games played

An intricate part of the 2005 National Championship winning team, David Thomas gets the starting spot for tight ends. Over his four seasons with Texas, his numbers grew better, having 50 receptions for 613 yards and five touchdowns his senior year.

Thomas’ best performance of his career came in the 2006 Rose Bowl against USC. On that night, he had 10 receptions for 88 yards. Thomas was the safe and reliable option for Vince Young the entire night. He was the leading receiver for the Longhorns, winning the program’s fourth national championship.

Backup tight end: Jermichael Finley

  • 76 receptions
  • 947 receiving yards
  • Five receiving touchdowns
  • 26 games played

Only playing for two seasons, Jermichael Finley was productive during his short stint in Austin. During his redshirt freshman season, Finley’s 31 receptions were the most a tight end had ever caught for Texas during their freshman season.

The next season in 2007, Finley showed out in the Red River Shootout against Oklahoma. His 149 receiving yards were the most by a tight end ever for the Longhorns. A career-high, he did so on just four catches and had one touchdown.

Forgoing his redshirt junior and senior seasons, Finley was drafted in the third round by the Green Bay Packers. Despite only being in Austin for two years, Finley’s production for Colt McCoy was outstanding.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Where Seahawks rookie tight ends fit on Seattle’s roster

A look at where the Seahawks rookie tight ends fit on Seattle’s roster in an already crowded position room.

The Seattle Seahawks’ first major move of the offseason was to sign veteran tight end Greg Olsen to the roster before the new league year even began. Seattle next brought back a couple tight ends on one-year deals then selected two more in this year’s NFL Draft.

The Seahawks added former Stanford standout Colby Parkinson in the fourth round to give quarterback Russell Wilson a hulking target this season. At six-foot-seven, Parkinson also brings versatility as far as blocking is concerned.

“The frame,” Seahawks general manager John Schneider said during an interview on 710 ESPN Seattle on Friday. “He still has a huge upside and his hands are ridiculous. We think he has a chance to develop into a better blocker. He has the frame to develop.”

Seattle also traded back into the draft in the seventh round to pick LSU tight end, Stephen Sullivan, who the Seahawks have listed as a wide receiver.

“Sullivan was a guy who basically he’d agreed with another team, so we were able to get back into the draft and put him on our team,” Schneider explained. “He was caught off guard. He’s just a great kid and has obviously been through a ton, but there was a little bit of a scramble going on there right at the end and I was just really excited for the kid. It was really fun.”

So why all the tight ends? Coach Pete Carroll has an easy answer.

“We’re loading up, we’re loading up,” Carroll said after the draft. “We’re really excited. You’re going to hear me every time go right back to competition. It can’t be better than this one. The guys are different too. We have unique players . . . They’re just different style players. And, again, we always like that. Let the games begin, we’ll see what happens and we’ll see how it goes and really make it a great spot for us.”

The Seahawks head into their virtual offseason with six tight ends all set to compete to make the 2020 53-man roster.

[lawrence-related id=60557]