Iowa Football: 2017 Tight End Preview

In part six of our position preview series, we take a look at the most versatile position in the game. With last years starting tight end George Kittle gone to the NFL (San Fransisco 49ers), there should be plenty of competition, with a handful of unheralded names in the mix for playing time.

When the first official two deep depth chart was released earlier this week, tight end featured two of the biggest surprises:

1-There were two starting tight end spots on the depth chart

2-One of those two starting tight ends as of now is relatively unknown redshirt freshman T.J. Hockenson.

When looking at why there may be more tight end usage in the offense this season, look no further than new offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz. Ferentz spent four seasons as an assistant coach with the New England Patriots, and during his tenure the Patriots used more two tight end sets then any other team in the NFL. In Ferentz’ only season as tight end coach with New England in 2011, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez combined to set the league record in yards, catches, and touchdowns for a tight end duo.

Now the players presumably had more to do with the success than the system did, that should be obvious. Gronkowski is arguably the best tight end of all time, Hernandez was an All-Pro talent and they had a first ballot hall of famer Tom Brady throwing them the football.

But that doesn’t mean fans shouldn’t be excited with the new wrinkle in the offense.

“(Tight end is) an area that we think has a chance to be a strength of our football team… it’s fair to say we’ll play with multiple tight end sets frequently” said head coach Kirk Ferentz at Big Ten Media Day earlier this week. He also added “It’s well documented, at least in our state, that we’re inexperienced at the receiver position.” Those comments seem to mean that until one or two newcomers at WR step up, tight ends will be featured more prominently in the passing game.

Outside of fifth year senior Matt Vandeberg, there isn’t a single proven weapon on the roster at wide receiver. While the Hawkeyes have three interesting newcomers in grad transfer Matt Quarells, who showed flashes in a run heavy offense at New Mexico, junior college transfer Nick Easley, who has impressed the coaching staff more than any returning players outside of Vandeberg thus far, and true freshman Brandon Smith, who might be the most athletic receiver on the team, there is no guarantee that any WR outside of Vandeberg will be a threat to catch more than 20 passes this season.

That’s a major reason why the Hawkeyes will be looking to utilize tight ends as much as possible, starting with sophomore Noah Fant. Fant received regular playing time as a true freshman last season, hauling in 9 passes for 70 yards and one touchdown. The numbers aren’t impressive, but his physical presence is.

At 6’5 232lbs, Fant has enough size to bully safeties and enough speed to blow by linebackers, the latter he demonstrated multiple times last season. Fant had problems finishing plays, looked raw as a route runner and needs to put on some weight to be a more consistent run blocker, but the coaching staff loves his physical tools.

With Fant, the raw talent and physical ability is there, now it’s up to Brian Ferentz and tight end coach Levar Woods to put it all together.

After Fant, there figures to be a pretty good competition for the #2 tight end job. As mentioned above, the second starting spot currently belongs to T.J. Hockenson. Iowa State was the only other power five school to offer the in-state, three star rectruit, making him a relatively under the radar player after redshirting last season.

Hockenson came to campus at 230lbs, but he added 13 pounds to his 6’5 frame since his arrival and he impressed the coaching staff with a 4 catch performance in the spring game. He had a dominant high school career and has flashed sub 4.7 speed, both of which are signs that he has the ability to translate his impressive frame into success on the field as a pass catcher.

Hockenson’s top competition will most likely come from senior Peter Pekar. Pekar played in every game last season, making seven starts as the team’s second tight end, but he only caught one pass. He was used almost exclusively as an inline blocker, but both Pekar and coach Woods feel that he can be more than that. He’s going to need to be if he wants to be a starter for this offense, because Iowa won’t be able to afford to play a tight end 65%-70% of the snaps this season if they aren’t a threat to catch the football.

The other second string tight end on the depth chart is sophomore walk on Nate Wieting, who appeared in 10 games last season in the same role Pekar did. With two speedy athletes and a determined senior in front of him, Wieting will most likely play a very similar role to the one he played last season as a part time inline blocker.

A dark horse for playing time could be senior Jon Wisnieski. He was on the cusp of cracking the rotation each of the last two seasons, but injuries have derailed his career path. The 6’5 250 Wisnieski has “nothing left to loose” in last season, if nothing else he’ll provide solid injury insurance behind Fant and Hockenson, as long as he can stay healthy himself.

While George Kittle has moved on to bigger and better things, the next wave of tight end talent at Iowa is nothing to sneeze at. While the size of Pekar’s role is yet to be determined, he’ll bring stability on the field and in the locker room while Fant and Hockenson will get plenty of opportunities to come into their own. If just one of the Fant/Hockenson duo can blossom into a 40 catch player this season, Iowa’s lack of wide receiver talent won’t matter.