Fall Camp Preview: Tight Ends
Graduated: Andrew Isaacs, Eric Roca (both left program during offseason after junior year)
Returning: Kevin Woodeshick, Derrick Hayward, Noah Barnes, Avery Edwards
Incoming: Andrew Park
The tight end position has been dormant for the last few seasons in College Park, to say the least. The Terps have yet to see the type of tight end production that offensive coordinator Walt Bell has helped produce throughout his career--i.e. Eric Ebron (North Carolina), Brandon Pettigrew (Oklahoma State)--and 2017 might not be too different.
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Head coach D.J. Durkin and the rest of his Maryland staff haven’t exactly made tight end the biggest priority in their first two years of recruiting, and that is reflected by those that are currently on the Terps roster and the numbers they’ve put up so far in their college career.
Last season, Maryland’s tight ends combined for five catches for 40 yards and a touchdown. Four of those catches, including the touchdown, were made by Derrick Hayward, while the other was a 23 yarder by Avery Edwards.
Hayward (senior) and Edwards (junior) give the Terps a duo of upperclassmen at tight end entering fall camp, but neither strike much fear in opposing defenses and they don’t necessarily have any promising young backups behind them to push for playing time.
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However, Alabama native Noah Barnes, who redshirted as a freshman last season, should get an opportunity in fall camp to show some of the pass-catching skills he displayed in high school as well as the progress he has made, if any, as a blocker. Incoming freshman Andrew Park will also have a chance to make an early impact if he can acclimate to the college game quickly. Park is a former three-star recruit from Virginia who will come to College Park as one of the bigger tight ends on Maryland’s roster.
Top Storyline:
Is there a do-it-all tight end on Maryland’s roster?
Past results would indicate that the answer to this question is no. But that’s not to say that one of the tight ends on the roster won’t emerge as a reliable option this season. Hayward has been the Terps most consistent blocker at tight end but his hands are suspect. Edwards has shown that he can catch the ball, but his routes are sloppy at times and his blocking leaves a lot to be desired. And then when it comes to Maryland’s other tight ends, there’s just a whole lot of unknown.
Surely the Terps would love for Barnes or Park to emerge as a tight end that can do it all from blocking to pass catching. That would leave Maryland set at that position for years to come. But the likelier scenario for tight end success in College Park is probably that Hayward drastically improves as a receiver or Edwards learns how to block. If either of those things happen, the Terps could find themselves with an asset to the run and pass game, as well as a red-zone target.
Prediction:
Improved quarterback play will help increase tight end productivity in College Park. Not being able to stretch the middle of the field with the tight end has hurt Maryland’s offense in recent years, but much of that has had to do with inconsistency at quarterback and along the offensive line. The Terps tight ends have not only had to be used primarily as blockers to make up for the deficiencies of the offensive line and quarterbacks that hold the ball too long, but even when their numbers have been called as receivers it’s been a crapshoot as to whether or not the ball will even make it to them accurately.
The quarterback position is still up for grabs in College Park, but the crop of talent under center is the deepest it has been in a long time for Maryland. Competition like that typically yields results, and one of those results in 2017 will be more involvement for the tight ends in the Terps offense. Whether it will be one player that prevails over the others or a committee approach is anyone’s guess, but in an attempt to become a more balanced offensive team, Maryland should work its tight ends into the mix more.