247 averages one 5 star TE per year, typically.
It’s probably one of the hardest positions to project from high school for two reasons: 1) high school football doesn’t utilize the TE position well in general, and 2) the position requires physical and mental talent development for complimentary skills of blocking and receiving.
Agreed. Even good portal TEs are hard to find. They come from a variety of different schools--large and small. From the large schools, some do not have a ton of playing time and if they did, teams snatch them up fast. CU did this with Metayer and Traore, however both portaled out in the Spring. The size and weight of TEs have been all over the place.
I think a big part of where TEs develop/end up playing is dependent on how teams use the TE--some are blockers, some pass catchers and a few do both. CU has not effectively used a TE for many years now. We used Harrison but he was more a glorified inside receiver. I guess Brady Russell, however we did not really have a backup, NFL caliber QB, and the high octane WRs that Prime has blessed us with. Plus, we rushed the ball much more. Russell played a ton, but I'm not sure that he was a better blocker than Smalls. I hope that we change the trend, as CU's offense adjusts with a new QB and better Oline/RBs. It would have been nice this year, however we did not have a bunch of ready TEs, and we produced our TDs mostly from the WR position. Much of that was scheme and lack of consistent running game or pass blocking, although that was improved.
I perused the stats of the playoff teams + Bama & Miami. Except for Indiana and Ohio State (this was a surprise), they all have substantial TE receiving production heavily skewed to the red zone/Tds. Many teams utilized more than 1 TE spreading the wealth. For Penn St. it is there #1 receiver. It is apparent that having a good/great Oline w/ rushing game frees up the TEs to do much more damage catching the ball. My thinking is CUs Oline continues progressing with an emerging running game plus a reloaded TE room will have more production. We won't have SS, TH and all the riches at WR, but we will still have talent at those positions.
Of the guys we had or brought in:
Harrison caught 8 for 153, longest catch 18 yards--Jude Wolfe played many more snaps, but his production was identical--not much.
Metayer had a great year (specifically he went bonkers in November)--29 for 290, 5tds. A note about his production was most of it came on 1st and 2nd down.
Seydou Traore 34-361, 1TD. Miss St. had a terrible year, but he started all season. His receiving production was in all 3 downs.
In the meantime, we need to recruit and portal this position hard. If underclassman are not developing/lack talent we need to move on. Smalls should stay as he has the size and experience.
