2008 Position Previews: Tight Ends

This is the fourth part of my position by position breakdown of the 2008 roster.

TIGHT ENDS

BC enters the season with the best Tight End in the conference and a bunch of questions behind him. Like other positions, this could year could serve as a looking glass into Steve Logan’s vision for this offense. Will Purvis be the last in a long line of pass-catching BC Tight Ends as the position gets phased out or will the new kids become offensive weapons too?

Overview
To show how impressive our Tight End history is, you need to look no further than Ryan Purvis’s 2007. He was all conference and caught 54 passes. He now has 89 catches for his career. Impressive, right? Yet even if he duplicated his ‘07 efforts, he wouldn’t even move into the Top 2 of BC TEs in total catches. The list currently has Pete Mitchell with 190 and Mark Chmura with 164 at the top. (Along with those two, BC Top 10 career reception list includes Flutie's main TE Scott Geiselman.)

If he has another strong year, Purvis can join Mitchell as the only BC Tight End to be first-team all conference in back-to-back seasons.

The Players
Ryan Purvis, SR, 6’4, 258lbs
Jordon McMichael, SO, 6’5, 257lbs
Lars Anderson, FR, 6’3, 245lbs
Chris Pantale, FR, 6’5, 225lbs
Michael Stone, FR, 6’6, 230lbs


Purvis is obviously very talented. Already a decent blocker, last season he took his total skill set to a new level. He is sure-handed and does a good job getting open in soft zones. He established himself as Ryan’s safety valve. Will he have the same repartee with Crane? Let’s hope so. McMichael is a big kid who blocks well. If he can stay healthy he should be thrown to more this season. Anderson redshirted last year. He played well in the spring and should be a contributor this year. Pantale and Stone will both be true freshmen. Based on depth issues one will likely play and one will hopefully redshirt.

Outlook
I think four guys will play this year with Purvis being the focal point. Unlike last year, I think we’ll need the Tight Ends to be bigger factors in the running game. As long as the guys stay healthy, Tight Ends should not be an area of concern.