Tight End Production, Or Lack Thereof

Many fans are excited about the usage of the tight end in the new Saban / Applewhite / Pendry offensive scheme. Many are even expecting that the tight end will be quite productive in this year's scheme.

A dose of reality could be helpful.

In 2006, we didn't throw the ball very often to the tight end, and rightfully so. In the eight conference games, we threw the ball to the tight end fourteen times, and it only resulted in a completed pass about one-third of the time (five receptions).

Generally speaking, the few catches that the tight ends racked up in 2007 generally came when they were ignored by the defense. For example, Nick Walker's touchdown catch in overtime against Arkansas was a fluke thing that wouldn't normally occur. In that situation, all eleven Arkansas defenders engaged the run, and no one ever thought twice about covering Walker, who waltzed into the back of the end zone wide open. Of course, that was a great play call in that situation, but it's not useful for future performance because if the tight end became more involved in the offense, the opposing defense would have covered him.

At bottom, the tight ends simply were terrible in 2006, and there is no way to sugarcoat the situation otherwise. Despite the fact that we sent tight ends into passing routes with a relatively high degree of regularity (contrary to popular belief, we did try to utilize the tight end in the passing game, and he was not just a blocker; if you don't believe me, ask Chris Capps), it just didn't work. The tight ends didn't get off the line well, ran poor routes, thus struggling to get open, and then struggled to actually catch the ball once it was thrown in their direction.

The performance of the tight ends in the passing game in 2006 can be summed up quite nicely in one play: We are playing Florida, in the Swamp, in a very close game. It is in the fourth quarter, Florida leads 14-10, and we are driving deep into Florida territory. It is 3rd and 5 from the Florida 4-yard line, and we desperately need a touchdown, or at the very least a first down. Nick Walker comes into the game at tight end, and Shula and co., knowing that the Florida safeties will be playing the outside to shut down the dangerous receivers D.J. Hall and Keith Brown, will likely leave the deep middle of the field open, call for Walker to run a post route. Unfortunately, though we have exactly the match-up we are looking for, Walker lazily gets onto the second level, and then runs a very poor route (rounds it off instead of running a good, clean route with a sharp cut towards the middle of the field). The end result is that the pass is almost intercepted by the Florida defender, and the pass falls harmlessly to the ground, incomplete. We settle for a field goal, and never get close to the end zone again.

Ideally, with the match-up that we wanted, Walker would have charged strong out of his stance and quickly moved onto the second level. After running very hard in a straight line, once he reached the depth of about seven or eight yards, he would immediately and unexpectedly make a very sharp and crisp 45 degree cut towards the middle of the field, and in doing so he would separate himself from the defender covering him. As a result, he would be open, and with a good throw from Wilson, we score the touchdown, and take a 17-14 lead over Florida with twelve minutes to go, and it's an entirely different ball game. Of course, though, it did not go as ideally planned, just about like everything else with the 2006 season.

The tight end play will, hopefully, be a good bit improved, but no one should be kidding themselves. The performance of our tight ends last year was terrible, and from a player development perspective, they probably have as far to go as any other unit on the entire team. Rome wasn't built in a day is the common expression these days, and that applies to tight ends as well. No one should be expecting miracles, just hoping for solid, steady improvement.