Is the Tight End position going to be a thing in Arizona Football this season?

At Spring Open Practice, we got a chance to hear from Arizona Football head coach Rich Rodriguez on how he felt practice went, and what he wants the team to improve on. Tight Ends are in the mix this season.

If you have been following Zona Zealots and Shereen Rayan for a while, you are well aware of my regular suggestion to Arizona Football Coach Rich Rodriguez to utilize his tight ends. You know what I mean.

One the most famous Arizona Wildcats is NFL Superbowl Champion, and tight end, Rob Gronkowski, The Gronk. Not only does using your tight ends in more plays make your team more of a mystery with regards to being a target, but utilizing these athletes to block and to double as a wide receiver, are an outlet or option as well. It’s better than having these athletes sitting on the sidelines.

On top of that, they are usually larger than wide receivers and generally a bigger target. I was dancing in my living room when Josh Kern caught a pass in the end zone last season in his senior year. Made me think, ‘that was easy, why can’t we do more of that?’ When I have asked Rodriguez in the past, he basically said that if these players got open more, then the quarterbacks would send the ball to them more.

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Or maybe he didn’t have enough depth at the position in the past? That’s not the case this season. First, you have veteran returner, Trevor Wood who was injured over a season ago before the first game was even played in 2015. Wood’s older brother Carter was the center for Arizona then, and he had suffered a toe injury, bringing his college football career to an end. Trevor played last season and did a great job when called upon. This will be his third season, and so far Rich Rod has been complimentary of Trevor, say he has looked great at practice.

Brion Anduze returns as a redshirt sophomore. He was injured in last season’s Spring Practice; missing the entire season. We look forward to seeing what Brion brings to the Wildcats this season, and he has been waiting awhile. Brion is not the only player who has been waiting to play. There are a lot of players in that same boat, one of those players is Jamie Nunley.

We had gotten to know Jamie for the last two seasons, dating back prior to his arrival in Tucson. Jamie has had time to get stronger since he arrived in the spring after he graduated high school in 2016. Last Season, he paid attention anytime Rich Rod called a play including a tight end as a target and hopes to get some action this season as well. The guy has been waiting for two seasons, you can bet he’s ready to go.

During the Open Practice, Nunley got a taste of the future, catching two passes in the end zone. Both he and Trevor are huge targets for the quarterbacks, and at 6-foot-5, 238 pounds, and 6-foot-6 265 pounds respectively, these two are certainly ‘Big Dudes’ as Coach Rod would say.

Here are the stats from last seasons tight end performances, a total of 12 receptions for 90 yards and one touchdown (Note: Matt Morin was listed as a tight end, but played quarterback):

Rushing & Receiving Table
	Rushing	Receiving
Rk	Player	Att	Yds	Avg	TD	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD
10	Matt Morin	6	31	5.2	0
15	Trevor Wood	1	3	3.0	0	7	49	7.0	0
20	Josh Kern					5	41	8.2	1

Provided by CFB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 3/9/2017.

Rich Rodriguez talked about a few players, tight ends included, along with his unhappiness with the Open practice and what he wants the team to improve on:

Must Read: Arizona Football: J.J. Taylor is back and ready, so are we!

So the answer is yes, the coaches will look to use the tight ends, and it’s about time. Thanks, Coach Rod! Bear Down!

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