Has Butch Underutilized Our Tight Ends?

#1
VolFreakJosh

VolFreakJosh

“Don’t you put that evil on me Ricky Bobby!”
Joined
Feb 2, 2013
Messages
28,702
Likes
73,513
#1
First off, this isn't a Butch bashing thread.

Any way, I went back and watched a couple of games from last season. Now we don't know if it was Dobb's decision making or the play calling itself, but I noticed we wouldn't use Wolf on a lot of these slants, wheel routes, curl routes, or screen plays.

I know Tight Ends aren't supposed to be a deep threat when it comes to "speed" but I feel like Wolf could have been more useful in our offense. If you go back and watch these other teams like Bama, Clemson, Ohio St, their Tight Ends are used in so many ways which is why I keep asking myself this question.

I've heard that Larry Scott wants to utilize his Tight Ends more so I think Wolf will be more heavily used in this offense which is something we've should have been doing from the start. Hopefully Pope & Bumphus sees some action as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
#2
#2
I think they have been underutilized for years. But a lot of the reason is poor OL play and needing to keep the TE in to help block. My opinion anyway.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 6 people
#4
#4
A lot of other SEC teams when utilizing their TEs, their TEs block and release or brush somebody at the LOS before taking off in their route or flat out block on run plays. Wolf's blocking is so bad it's almost as if he assists the defensive player into our backfield. Hard to get the ball to a guy with a 300 lb DT hanging on your neck. We were lucky Dobbs was an escape artist as Wolf's blocking assignments were usually chasing him in our backfield after about 2 seconds.
 
#5
#5
Possibly but moreso out of need. Besides it's not like we've struggled to score points.
 
#6
#6
We have tight ends? Yes our tight ends need way more touches! Wolf is a big target should get at "least" 5 touches a game. Opens things up when you use your TE's
 
#7
#7
They have for years..Look back when we had Jason Whitten all the passes he caught..I believe if you can use your TE it opens up a whole new dimension to play calling..BUT we have to have an o-line that can block and not have our QB running for his life...GBO
 
#9
#9
jctenn1 said:
They have for years..Look back when we had Jason Whitten all the passes he caught..I believe if you can use your TE it opens up a whole new dimension to play calling..BUT we have to have an o-line that can block and not have our QB running for his life...GBO
Click to expand...

Works for the Patriots.
 
#14
#14
Wolf has lead the team in receptions in two different games in his career. Both were QB'd by Justin Worley. Dobbs is more of a reason why the TE wasn't used as much in the throw game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
#15
#15
BigZiti09 said:
Wolf has lead the team in receptions in two different games in his career. Both were QB'd by Justin Worley. Dobbs is more of a reason why the TE wasn't used as much in the throw game.
Click to expand...

Agree. When other teams start to fear our passing game to WR's, not only does it open up inside run game, but also opens up TE opportunities, especially if we have TE talent to support it. For all Dobbs great qualities as a Vol, teams did not fear us in the passing game to the point that they aligned away from playing the run (our strength). I think QD and JG both have the chance to raise our passing game efficiency...and along w/ Scott being OC, will probably script more plays for TE...as long as it works for us.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#16
#16
i dunno, i think we made a pretty concerted effort to get croom and wolf involved early in games last year...and both had major let downs at times when their number was called.

early on in the FL game last year, both whiffed on what could have been huge plays for us.

i don't see a single TE getting 8+ targets a game regardless but as a group, i think we've definitely tried to get them involved in the overall game plan.

plus the more effective we are elsewhere in the offense, will free TE's up more in the middle of the field. i think you might see some more of that this year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#17
#17
VolFreakJosh said:
First off, this isn't a Butch bashing thread.

Any way, I went back and watched a couple of games from last season. Now we don't know if it was Dobb's decision making or the play calling itself, but I noticed we wouldn't use Wolf on a lot of these slants, wheel routes, curl routes, or screen plays.

I know Tight Ends aren't supposed to be a deep threat when it comes to "speed" but I feel like Wolf could have been more useful in our offense. If you go back and watch these other teams like Bama, Clemson, Ohio St, their Tight Ends are used in so many ways which is why I keep asking myself this question.

I've heard that Larry Scott wants to utilize his Tight Ends more so I think Wolf will be more heavily used in this offense which is something we've should have been doing from the start. Hopefully Pope & Bumphus sees some action as well.
Click to expand...
If you mean tight ends in pass patterns? Not at all. There are 3 major factors that have affected production at tighht end at UT.

1 As mentioned by many previous posters O-line play
2 The tight needs have to not only get open but catch the ball when its thrown to them. in the case of Dobbs tight end was historically a high source of drops.
3 We play in the SEC. Yes the SEC has produced a lot of ok NFL tight ends. But take a look at their college offenses almost all (that were successful) came from i/pro-form run heavy offenses and didn't have stellar stats in college. exhibit A Jason Witten

that being said Jones' offensive history says he likes feeding the TE and Larry Scotts' background is even more to the point. If we don't have a TE produce over 5-600 yards this season it wont be because of scheme. Look at last year you have a QB running for his life who do you throw to? Wolf (proven good tight end)? Malone (consistent and explosive) or Jennings (pure unadulterated beast). Jennings took on the role of tight end in our offense tbh.
 
Last edited:
#20
#20
Its my understanding that our TE are soft and may indicate why they are under utilized.

But i dont think TE is the only position he has under utilized.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#22
#22
VolFreakJosh said:
First off, this isn't a Butch bashing thread.

Any way, I went back and watched a couple of games from last season. Now we don't know if it was Dobb's decision making or the play calling itself, but I noticed we wouldn't use Wolf on a lot of these slants, wheel routes, curl routes, or screen plays.

I know Tight Ends aren't supposed to be a deep threat when it comes to "speed" but I feel like Wolf could have been more useful in our offense. If you go back and watch these other teams like Bama, Clemson, Ohio St, their Tight Ends are used in so many ways which is why I keep asking myself this question.

I've heard that Larry Scott wants to utilize his Tight Ends more so I think Wolf will be more heavily used in this offense which is something we've should have been doing from the start. Hopefully Pope & Bumphus sees some action as well.
Click to expand...

Why dont you just let the coaching staff make the decisions?
 
#24
#24
dcm3w said:
Rivera was/is underrated.
Click to expand...

Agreed. He was very good and never fully utilized in our system. We had Bray and he through to him some. Personally, I thought that he was a mis-match for Florida, especially on seam routes, but we never used him for that. Of course, I am not much of a coach, so my opinion has limited value.
 
Last edited:
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top