3 years and counting with no Tight End

This is getting comical now.



Now Matthews switches to WR, which is basically a demotion since he's not going to crack the 2 deep there most likely. And now Houk, another no name, is moving to TE, but nobody knows if he'll be the starter. And the 2 once-hyped mainstays, Holt and Wilson, are still wearing braces because they are injury bums.



Sorry to say our offense will struggle again this year because we won't have any open targets in the middle of the field--something Riley Nelson desperately needs against the good teams.



http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/cougars/54746583-88/mathews-mendenhall-receiver-cahoon.html.csp

No tight end = No National Championship!



Looks like we'll have to settle for something less again!

BigCougsFan wrote:
No tight end = No National Championship!



Looks like we'll have to settle for something less again!

With 2 - Pitta and George - we didn't sniff an NC and had our hands full with Utah even with our winningest QB and an NFL RB and FB.



So you are right. Very defendable assumption - No NC.



Speaking of defendable - Go Defense.



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mizzoucoug wrote:
This is getting comical now.



Now Matthews switches to WR, which is basically a demotion since he's not going to crack the 2 deep there most likely. And now Houk, another no name, is moving to TE, but nobody knows if he'll be the starter. And the 2 once-hyped mainstays, Holt and Wilson, are still wearing braces because they are injury bums.



Sorry to say our offense will struggle again this year because we won't have any open targets in the middle of the field--something Riley Nelson desperately needs against the good teams.



http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/cougars/54746583-88/mathews-mendenhall-receiver-cahoon.html.csp

I guess when they said Matthews was learning to block, they meant ice block. I'm not sure what that has to do with football.



Does anyone else find it just a little disconcerting that the staff is switching the position of a player that is obviously going to get some minutes right before the season starts. No one thought of this before fall camp? :skeptic:

Itis odd if not disconcerting., but I don't think anyone needs to panic. I saw several passes, and what seems an appropriate number of passes to the TEs last Thursday at scrimmage.

Your title should read, we still have no Pitta, George or Harline.

Kane Friel didn't even see the field in last thursdays scrimmage, at least I don't think. But hes been named the starter. I think he will do well enough. And as starter, what matters more is that he gets enough consistent reps that our Offense won't be so predictable that we send in a blocker, Holt, and tip off a running play, and then send in a receiver, Mathews, and it's going to be a passing play.



It does make me wonder why the switch happened so late. I also wonder about Coach Reynolds and how invested/participating/observant he is. And if there is a connection.

Seems to me to be an indictment that MM just can't block on the line to be servicable to run plays. So if they sent him in the D would read pass play making the O too predictable. If that is the case then I applaud Bronco for pulling the trigger. (see def of insanity).



One of the others is going to have to pull on his big boy underwear, step up, and become the TE the team needs.

It will be nice to get Mahina back. I think he has the whole package. I've always liked the way he runs routes. He looks like a TE!

We need a walk on.

Amen

I could be wrong, but I think it might be too early to already count 2012 as having little TE production.

I guess I am looking at this differently than most. I look at it that perhaps he had 2-3 other guys beating him out at TE this year, and with the move to WR, he made the two deep. He will be the #2 slot guy behind Falslev. The same spot that George played previously.



I think between Friel, WIlson and Holt, BYU will be just fine with the TE spot. This is not going to be a TE heavy pass offense anyway because we actually have great outside receivers, which is not the norm at BYU. Bronco has been pleased with how this group has looked, even with Wilson and Holt coming off surgeries. And Friel was a nice surprise.



IF you review practice stats, the TEs have made some plays. THey are not going to be the focal point of the O this year, just need to pull their weight. And I think they do.

I think a big part of the reason for our recent TE issues that we have had too many and haven't been able to focus on developing a couple of them to take most the snaps. This is due mostly to Bronco's short-lived attempt to TE body types with the idea to move them around to DE/OLB/OL. What we ended up with was a logjam of prospective TE talent and nobody has had a real chance to get solid reps and become the man. I loved having 2 good/great TE's. I'm not enjoying having 5 semi-proven TE's.



Of course injuries have been a major factor as well.

It also didn't help that we had a QB the last two years with inverse blinders on. Heaps was good at throwing to the outside receivers and checking down to RBs in the flat. Not so much to guys in the middle.

It's interesting to me how much more some of you know about football than the coaches.



Actually, I was excited to see Friel named the starter at TE. Last year, coaches and players both said Friel was the most amazing physical specimen on the team, he's big, he's fast, he's strong, and he can block, oh and he catches passes well too. Someone may recall last year when all those TE were getting injured I said, "Just make Friel the starter, he's the best TE prospect on the team."



Maybe his work ethic works against him, maybe he's not the brightest bulb in the box, maybe he can't calm down and play disciplined; I don't know. But personally, I'm excited to see him as the starter.



Oh, and I think it cruel and unusual and childish to ridicule a player because he gets injured.

Honestly, all BYU needs is 1 TE to produce. If that requires a committee, so be it. We do not need to have a 2 TE formation. That is rare over BYU history and specific to Pitta/George and Lewis/Mili. Most BYU teams did not have that. And 3 of those 4 were elite talents. Not sure we have that right now at that position, but we do have many really good athletes.



I will admit that my personal fav is Richard Wilson. HE is from Spanish Fork, and my daughter goes to HS there now. My youngerr daughter does cheer with his younger sis and are in the same carpool together. Richard does the car pool sometimes for his parents. Good kid.

I think the main reason for the lack of TE production last year was not lack of talent, but rather an under-utilization of the TEs we had, plus injuries. Marcus Matthews and Austin Holt were money on this play action roll-out we used too infrequently. They'd run an out the same direction as the QB was rolling, catch an easy pass, and pick up 15 yards every time. And they'd only run it like 1-2 times per game.



Even with that said, did you realize that TEs led the team in receptions in the UCF, San Jose State, and Utah State games?



Of our 262 completed passes, 68 went to TEs, for 791 yards and 4 TDs. But it's spread out over 6 guys, so it doesn't look as good for any of them individually. Compare that to 2007, when Pitta and George were sophomores. 88 catches, 1137 yards, 6 TDs - oh, and Max Hall was QB the entire season, with good production the whole season. No 4.5 games of stagnant Heaps offense while breaking in a new OC. I don't really want to break down the per game stats post-Heaps, because that would take me too much work right now. But I think the problem is overstated and will improve by itself by virtue of the following: 1) Doman is more comfortable at OC, 2) we have a senior QB who is good enough at spreading the ball around to get the ball to the TE consistently, and 3) Our WRs, especially Hoffman, are going to command plenty of attention. With those three things, even assuming no improvement in any of our TEs from last year, I would expect them to have better production than last year. Doman has said he wants to roll the pocket with Riley more this year, and I can't think of an easier throw to make out of that than a TE on an out or a drag running right with you, or sitting down in a seam on a curl - especially with the LBs trying to contain the QB at the same time. TEs are going to get a lot of easy production this year. Lots of catches for short yardage, possibly turning into big yardage if they break a tackle, but over time it will be big numbers for the group. Take it to the bank.

SpiffCoug wrote:
I could be wrong, but I think it might be too early to already count 2012 as having little TE production.

Hello Spiff - they don't even have a single catch - let alone any TDs this year. That is an indictment - isn't it?



:) :)



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Cougarbib wrote:

I could be wrong, but I think it might be too early to already count 2012 as having little TE production.

Hello Spiff - they don't even have a single catch - let alone any TDs this year. That is an indictment - isn't it?



:) :)



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You're right!!

:bug: :bug:



Give it a week, though!!

:crazy: 8)

After watching Friel last year I am excited to see him get some PT, I don't know about his flat out speed, but he's a good blocker (Watch the OSU game) he can contain the edge. Also had a TD in that game. I'd like to see Wilson be the go to guy because as a receiver is much more a threat, but as said before our TE's will have a much different role because of the number of good outside WR. In an attempt to go more west coast we will see more a blocking guy that can slip off blocks and catch passes in the flat or just behind the backers, or be the primary guy on a roll out. I think the days of our TE working 15-20 yards up field on most plays and looking for seams to get vertical in are slowly disappearing.



I think we see all the TE combine for 50 or 60 catches but we wont see Pitta/ Harline like numbers.

trueblue72 wrote:
I think the days of our TE working 15-20 yards up field on most plays and looking for seams to get vertical in are slowly disappearing.

I sure hope this is not true. It's a major advantage to be able to line up with a pro-style formation and still be able to run patterns like you're in the spread. They can't go nickel on you, because you'll run them to death, and in the passing game you'll either have a much bigger TE on a smaller DB or a much slower LB on a faster TE - either way, it's a mismatch you should exploit all over the field, not just the short patterns.