Apr. 6—The tight ends on the Idaho football team are a crucial part of its offense, which isn’t surprising given the background of offensive coordinator Luke Schleusner.
However, the Vandals’ offense featured an All-American and an all-conference receiver the last two years, so the position took a backseat in the passing game.
Schleusner coached TEs at South Dakota State for six seasons and helped players like Philadelphia Eagles’ tight end Dallas Godert achieve All-American status.
Schleusner has gradually gotten the tight ends more involved and 2024 might be the group’s break-out year.
A silent presence
Idaho’s tight ends don’t usually post big numbers, but they’re on the field a lot.
The Vandals often use multiple tight end sets and are strategic in what they do with their big-bodied pass catchers.
Idaho typically has one player in the trenches with the offensive line and another split out wide in hopes of a mismatch.
The Vandals didn’t have the depth for this to work two years ago. But senior Connor Whitney ranked third on the team in receiving yards (242 yards). He trailed the second-leading receiver, Jermaine Jackson, by more than 800 yards.
Idaho’s production picked up significantly the following year with the addition of TJ Ivy Jr. and the development of Jake Cox and Alex Moore.
Ivy was a problem in the open field and had an 80-yard touchdown reception on the first play from scrimmage in a 33-6 win against Nevada on Sept. 9.
Ivy paced the Vandals’ tight ends with 16 receptions for 287 yards. He declared for the 2024 NFL draft.
Idaho does retain redshirt juniors Moore and Cox, the latter of whom was the team’s starting tight end a year ago.
Cox continues to develop in his role
Cox is an old-school, hand-in-the-dirt tight end.
The 6-foot-3, 240-pounder played in all 13 games for the Vandals last season and was one of the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/tight-end-talent-palpable-idaho-131100529.html
Author : Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Moscow, Idaho
Publish date : 2024-04-06 13:11:00
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