Missouri Tigers Spring Football Position Previews: Tight End

The Missouri Tigers spring football season wrapped up its fourth practice on Tuesday as the team is getting acclemated back to the grind. We know the quarterbacks, running backs, and receivers; what about the tight ends?

Tight end will play a much bigger part of the offense in 2015 for the Tigers. While Nate Brown is the teams’ leading returning receiver with five catches, Sean Culkin is actually the leading pass catcher with 20. Culkin is No. 1 on the current depth chart for tight end, and will be followed by Jason Reese, Clayton Echard and Kendall Blanton.

Sep 27, 2014; Columbia, SC, Missouri Tigers tight end Sean Culkin (80) makes a catch during the fourth quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium. Missouri wins in the final minutes 21-20 over South Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

At 6-foot-6, 245 pounds Sean Culkin has the potential to be one of the most targeted players in the red zone for 2015. He will have to start making more plays however as the redshirt junior was inconsistent in his sophomore campaign. His 20 catches went for 174 yards and one touchdown.

The Florida native had several drops last year but did make some crucial plays, a la his fourth down catch at South Carolina. With the inexperience of the receiving core and the rest of the tight ends, there is no question that Culkin’s number will be called a lot more this season.

Jason Reese really came on strong towards the end of last year, and that wasn’t just at tight end. In addition to lining up right next to the line, he was actually behind it as an “H” back, or full back the last couple of games. That was something Gary Pinkel implemented towards the end of the season, and will probably continue in 2015.

Reese only had one reception last year, and that came in the final regular season game against Arkansas, and his role expanded a little bit. He also was targeted in the Citrus Bowl against Minnesota, but really impressed with his blocking in the “H” back role. That change of pace added a different dimension to the Tigers run game that picked up towards the end of the year.

Clayton Echard, a former walk-on, had his role as main blocking tight end replaced by Reese. He has not recorded a catch in his Tiger career, but can contribute as a third tight end when the offense goes into heavy modes with multiple tight ends. The senior is a converted defensive lineman.

Nov 28, 2014; Columbia, MO, USA; Missouri Tigers tight end Jason Reese (10) catches a pass and runs for yardage during the second half against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Faurot Field. Missouri won 21-14. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Keeping with the flow of unknown, but intriguing redshirt freshmen, add Kendall Blanton to that list. His monstrous size (6-foot-6, 230 pounds) gives the Tigers a great advantage with the size of their tight ends. Culkin is 6-foot-6, Reese is 6-foot-5, and Echard is the “shortest” at 6-foot-4. Blanton may have the highest ceiling of them all however.

He played both tight end and defensive end at Blue Springs South, and has the ability to switch over to the d-line if he wanted to. He has big, tremendous hands and that may have him on the field much earlier than people originally expected to, given his 2-star ranking out of high school.

Outside of maybe Bud Sasser no pass catcher was truly that reliable in 2014, and that was a big part of the reason the offense struggled mightily during a three game stretch. In that stretch (wins at South Carolina and Florida, loss at home to Georgia) the offense only generated 28 points.

Would it have cured all of their miscues if one of the tight ends played a bigger role in that span? Probably not, but it definitely would have taken some pressure off Sasser and that would have opened up the offense much more. Culkin, in particular, needs to step up and be a consistent target for Maty Mauk.

With four humongous targets at the position, Mauk should be able to just throw it up to one of his tight ends if (and more than not) when they are bigger than the defender. The question is, will they come down with the ball? We may get some clues during the Missouri Tigers spring football practices.

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