Tight End

Jan 3, 2019, 9:15 AM

One of my keys to beating ND was limiting their production from their excellent TE. As we all know, we've had issues for years letting opposing TEs have career days against us. To this day, whenever I close my eyes I see OJ Howard running free on the wheel route. We never did adjust to stop it that game.

So I was a little worried ND could exploit our aggressiveness on D with their TE. Time after time Tre Lamar or Kendall covered so well that Mack had 2 catches for 11 yards. Well done!

On the flipside, Clemson TEs dropped all three targets. Three catchable balls, three drops. Pretty clear we're not going to get any reliable production from the TE position. Not in the passing game, anyway. Valuable in the run game though.

Without Leggett's heroics we don't win in 2016. We don't necessarily have to have a lot of production from the TEs this time around, but a crucial catch to move the chains might be a key. In a tight game, one timely catch for a first down could have a huge impact. Tony and Jeff may be afraid to include the TE in the aerial game plan, but if Trevor winds up checking down they need to come through.

So one of my keys to beating Bama is to defend the TE as well as we did against the Domers. Our LBs have to continue the good recognition and coverage. We can't afford to give up another career day to a Bama TE. IIRC Howard had never caught a TD before that night. Got to make sure that doesn't happen again.

On the flipside, I hope Tony and Jeff have cooked up a few surprises for Bama. The TE won't be it. Any production would be a plus, but there's no way we can count on those guys to be a featured element in the passing game. There was a little hint in the Cotton Bowl, however. It's been well known that ETN has been unreliable catching the ball. CJ Spiller was a WEAPON in the passing game. We haven't had that since.

When ETN caught a swing pass for 8 yards against ND, I said, "well what do you know! We actually completed a pass to a RB!" Just maybe some of the loss of production from the TE position could be made up by getting ETN or Feaster in space via the pass. It's something we've not used since the Spiller days. Bama wouldn't have any film on us to give any indication of our RBs playing any role other than pass pro. I could see us getting some points by getting ETN or Feaster more involved. Any time either of them gets the ball in space, they're a threat to take it to the house. That's something I'd really like to see.

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The definition of awesome!

Leggett was a huge weapon we don't currently have, though. He wasn't the best in run support, but he was Mr. Reliable catching the ball.

I get it that our WRs have great size and win a lot of jump ball situations. Bama knows all about that. They'll make plays. Hopefully a lot of 'em.

The thing about a receiving threat at TE is you can often create opportunities for wide open throws. The combination of size and holes created by blitzing LBs or LBs biting on play action makes the TE potentially very valuable.

Assuming our WRs have their usual production, I'd like to have a plan for exploiting their aggressiveness on D. Not going to happen with our TEs. I'd like to see the RBs get some of that.

Tight End

Just think of Justyn Ross as a faster Jordan Legett

Our big dog WRs are gonna eat, no doubt

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