Tight Ends?

Is the tight end position the only glaring weakness in an otherwise loaded team? Coach Reynolds is a legendary fixture at BYU, but does he in 2011, have what it takes to fix what has been the lynch pin of Cougar offense? With strong tight ends, this will/would be a very threatening, balanced offense!

Reports out of camp are that there has been a dramatic improvement in the TE's under the mentorship of Reynolds. Mahina and Wilson are developing nicely as receiving threats and Holt is quite the blocking TE which will help greatly in support of our rushing attack. Friel is also returning and he is a big target with soft hands. If you watch the last game of the season bs UTEP - the TE was used as an outlet release on several plays to Wilson and Mahina and very much utilized for blocking. The TEs were an option in the passing game which allowed Heaps to spread the wealth around.



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I think the fact that this position has a FT position coach, and not teh OC/TE coach will help this group. THey were young and needed more mentoring last year, and now sure Anae had the time to do it with his dual roles. IF you are going to have dual roles, it better be OC?QB coach, because that is who the OC spends most time with anyway,



I heard that Mahina looked great, and Holt a blocking beast. Wilson was still recovering from surgery, but is now good to go. I think that position performs well for us this year with the offensive change as the TE will now be on the line, and not spread out.

Was Wilson going back to LB? Are we still looking for one TE to emerge? Holt? Mahina? Muehlmann? Wilson? Friel?

Has Chad Lewis been working with the TE's this summer?

Tight End is interesting. Mahina, Holt and Wilson are three of the biggest recruits BYU has had under Mendenhall, all of them tight ends, yet that was our weakness last year. Mahina was a three star recruit according to scout.com and had offers from Oregon, Colorado and UCLA. Holt was the number 5 tight end recruit in the country in 2008, and Wilson was number 9 in 2009. I hope BYU finds a way to get these guys, or at least a couple of them, to emerge.

And Dennis Pitta was a walk on, wasn't he?



Hopefully these young TEs can live up to their high ratings. I'm sure a lot of it was Anae spreading himself too thin last year. A breakout year for any of those 3 is there for the taking.

We have one off year with our TEs and we're worried they might never perform again? And we complain about Anae's handling of the TE's when he's had Pitta and Harline the last 5 years??? Hmmmm fickle crowd.



Now, I think the TE will return to All America caliber level of play this season because of the talent and emphasis BYU has and places at the position.

I'm no expert, but it seems to me that with good tight end play, our offense really doesn't have anything keeping it from scoring on anyone. I can't wait to see the Cougars fire on all cylinders! I do think that Juice will emerge as the primary running back. However, having a fresh stable of backs that can all block and catch the ball can only be good. I'm excited to see how Doman play calls. I'm just a fan, but I could tell you what the 3rd down play was going to be a fair percentage of the time last year. I think I once read on this blog that When we beat TCU in Texas a few years back, it was because Anae went with a passing play on 4th down. He apparently got confused about what down it was. That says a lot.

Dwight wrote:
I'm no expert, but it seems to me that with good tight end play, our offense really doesn't have anything keeping it from scoring on anyone.

You forget that Robert Anae is no longer on staff and that our offense has yet to be revealed. No one knows exactly what type of offense we will put on the field at Ole Miss, much less the extent to which Doman will use the tight ends

snoscythe wrote:

I'm no expert, but it seems to me that with good tight end play, our offense really doesn't have anything keeping it from scoring on anyone.

You forget that Robert Anae is no longer on staff and that our offense has yet to be revealed. No one knows exactly what type of offense we will put on the field at Ole Miss, much less the extent to which Doman will use the tight ends

My guess is that it is a lot easier to look good as a play caller when you have a fully loaded offense. :whistle: