making tight ends a priority

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247sports.com

 

Auburn focused on making tight ends a priority on offense

ByJason Caldwell

3-4 minutes

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AUBURN, Alabama—When Bryan Harsin was named Auburn’s head football coach what he said certainly got the attention of the returning tight ends on the 2021 roster.

"One of the things about the tight end position, that was the first position I coached as a full-time coach, and I think in my opinion that's a very important position,” Harsin said. “When you see that position utilized in the NFL, if it's good enough for those teams in the NFL, then it's certainly good enough for us.”

On Saturday night that showed up in a big way with senior John Samuel Shenker catching five passes as part of a balanced Mike Bobo attack that saw nine different receivers catch a pass against Akron.

It’s a huge step in the right direction for an offense that had become a black hole for tight ends in recent years. Last season the group caught just 20 total passes in 11 games with seven of those coming from J.J. Pegues on mostly specialty plays. The number was just 19 in 2019 and that came in 13 games.

The last time Auburn had a tight end catch more than 14 passes in a season came 10 years ago when Philip Lutzenkirchen finished with 20 receptions for 238 yards and seven touchdowns for the Tigers.

With an emphasis on the position and an offense that can use three or even four tight ends together at times, Harsin said it’s something the Tigers want to continue to work on as they get deeper and deeper into the 2021 season.

“I think we have got a good group of tight ends,” the coach said of the group that includes Shenker, Luke Deal, Brandon Frazier, Tyler Fromm and Landen King. “I think they are smart and they work hard. Shenker had a chance to get a couple opportunities in the pass game, but that was created by what he was doing in the run game, and some of those type of things. It was good to utilize him, and that position, I think, can continue to keep developing for us in the run game, in the pass game.

“Those guys, now that we got a chance to get out there and actually play live, we got to see some things, and they got a chance to go out there and execute some of the schemes that we had in, and they were effective so we will continue to utilize our tight end position. We will continue to find ways to get those guys involved in what we ae doing, and certainly that includes the pass game and those opportunities. They showed that in this last game, and I think that will continue moving forward."

12COMMENTS

Auburn returns to the practice field on Tuesday to begin prep work for Saturday’s game against Alabama State. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CDT on the SEC Network.