So, what metrics can we look to to see if we are really using the tight end. Here's an interesting article from Josh Planos and Neil Paine at FiveThirtyEight that breaks down the use of the tight end in modern college football. The article was written in the middle of the 2019 season and at that point of the season Power 5 schools had used a tight end on 86.5 percent of offensive plays. Receptions by tight ends rose from 10.6 percent in 2014 to 14 percent in 2019, while receiving yards went from 9.9 percent to 14.3 percent. Also, passing first downs to tight ends went from 10 percent in 2010 to 14.3 percent in 2019. This article is by no means an exhaustive look at the tight end position, but it does give us some good metrics to measure our new offense against.
It is no secret that the tight end has been underutilized at Arizona. Last year, of the 114 passes caught, 5 were caught by a tight end (all by Bryce Wolma). The last year Arizona truly tried to use the tight end was 2017, Wolma's Freshman year. That year Wolma was our 5th leading receiver with 28 catches for 241 yards and Jack Banda had 1 catch for 10 yards. So, in 2017 tight ends accounted for 10.7 percent of our 2343 passing yards and 5.2 percent of our 19 passing TDs.
So, lets look at the best year of the Arizona tight end, 2008, Gronk's Sophomore year. In 10 games played, he had 47 catches for 672 yards and 10 TDs. If you add AJ Simmons 2 catches that is 18.4 percent of catches by tight ends and 21.5 percent of the passing yards and because of Gronk an unbelievable 41.6 percent of the passing TDs.
No, I don't expect any of our tight ends to be Gronk. There can be only 1. I don't expect us to use the tight end as much as Gronk was used, but I do expect to be a bit higher than the average P5 school. My hope is 15. I look for tight ends to get at least 15 percent of the catches and recieving yards. If it is under 10, then we have way too many tight ends on our roster and a coach has lied to me once again.
