Will Alabama EVER get the tight ends involved in the offense on a consistent basis?

tidefan26 · December 6th, 2005, 09:22 AM

How can we have good tight ends and not throw to them on a consistent basis? Now we have the Dial kid coming in and we have Nick Walker as well. Might as well tell them to put on about 50 pounds a become blockers. Should we just use the schollys on another OL instead?Tight end could be a high production position for us if we could just take advantage.

RTR

Tide&True · December 6th, 2005, 09:28 AM

This question comes up all the time. Every year it gets some hype...then fades into the dark night.

tidefan26 · December 6th, 2005, 09:32 AM

Friend of mine went on the Cruisin with the Tide deal last year and the question was posed directly to Rader and he said this year he would get the TE's more involved. Just didnt know he meant blocking assignments only.

Andy · December 6th, 2005, 09:38 AM

My thoughts on the tight end question. Tight ends take longer to get open usually than a receiver, with the exception of a quick slant etc. which only works every now and then. We had to use our tight ends to block more because of our OL weaknesses. Our QB although a good one seemed to have the favorite receiver mentality, first it was Prothro then DJ Hall etc. When our line gets stronger the TE will catch more passes. These are just my two cents and by no means am I saying they are qualified two cents!!!! RTR

mikeua69 · December 6th, 2005, 09:42 AM

It could be that Brodie just isn't throwing to them. Maybe JPW will get them the ball more....

Bama 13-0 · December 6th, 2005, 09:43 AM

Will any team ever get the tight ends involved in the offense? Probably not. In most cases the tight end is not the primary receiver, so he is 3'r or 4'th down the pecking order. You have to have a really good line, and a really good QB, to be able to read the coverage of the 1'st, 2'nd, 3'rd receiver, determine they are not open, then dump it off to the tight end.

"The year of the tight ends", yea, that's what I'm looking forward to.

tidefan26 · December 6th, 2005, 09:53 AM

Not saying he should be the primary or secondary for that matter. But at Arkansas, first play Nick Walker over the middle for 20+ yards and then nothing the rest of the game and not much the rest of the year. If you dont have to worry about the TE's thats one more defender you can blitz or drop into coverage.

Tide&True · December 6th, 2005, 09:58 AM

	Quote:	tidefan26
	Not saying he should be the primary or secondary for that matter. But at Arkansas, first play Nick Walker over the middle for 20+ yards and then nothing the rest of the game and not much the rest of the year. If you dont have to worry about the TE's thats one more defender you can blitz or drop into coverage.

Good point.

RamJam · December 6th, 2005, 10:06 AM

Maybe this is one of those areas they've coached & coached ... & worked on & worked on ...repeatedly in practices - yet the TE's just could never wuite "get the hang of it" well enough to actually execute it in games...There's ALWAYS a reason (not excuses) And maybe these guys coming up & the newer recruits as they mature - WILL be able to execute...

tidefan26 · December 6th, 2005, 10:13 AM

Hard to say they did or did not execute when they didnt have many opportunites to prove they could. Based on the collective body of work by the TE's I would say they did fairly well with what little attention was shone them by Rader and Brodie.

CapitalTider · December 6th, 2005, 10:21 AM

	Quote:	tidefan26
	Based on the collective body of work by the TE's I would say they did fairly well with what little attention was shone them by Rader and Brodie.

What does Rader have to do with it? Shula calls the plays. I remember a couple of drops by the TEs, I also remember a couple of nice receptions by TEs; so there were some throws made to them. The TE is usually at least third in the progression for most plays. When the OL blocking disappeared Brodie didn't usually have time to look to the first option, much less the third or further down the list. We may have plays designed with the TE as the primary receiver, maybe the TE was just covered on those plays.

JCase · December 6th, 2005, 10:26 AM

I seem to remember that following a game this year Brodie said something about he was looking for the TE but that the TE didn't release or wasn't running the right route or something like that. I am with those that say it will just take some time. The first couple of years with Shula at the helm, we had constant injury problems at the TE position, this year we had inexperience there and on the o-line. I for one love seeing the tight end get utilized. I envy teams like Miami and UGA that use them on a consistent basis. How nice would it be to have big Nick Walker catching third down and red zone TD passes.

tidefan26 · December 6th, 2005, 10:33 AM

First Rader is the OC so at some point he has his hand in the game plan I hope. I just left Shula out because I dont want anyone to think I was bashing him. He get enough of that elsewhere. Like I said earlier, I dont think the TE's should be the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd option per say but try them down the middle with a LB in tow or throw a 5-7yd curl, run him out in the flat. Lets be honest its not like they were doing a great job blocking. I also understand the TE's are young but hell I am sure they caught balls in H.S. so it shouldnt be a stretch to think that they can do it in college.