Baylor Commitment Profile: TE Hawkins Polley
College football programs are seeking tight ends that make plays in the passing game more than ever. Tight ends that actually play more like big wide receivers as opposed to traditional inline tight ends. Baylor has a commitment that fits this profile well.
Hawkins Polley
Size: 6’4”, 240-Pounds
Position: Tight End
School: Houston (Texas) Stratford
Class: 2023
Recruitment
In addition to Baylor, Polley has offers from Houston, Kansas, SMU, the University of Southern California, Buffalo, and Vanderbilt. He took his official visit to Baylor (June 17) and does not have any other known official visits scheduled.
Statistics
Polley has put up stellar numbers the last two seasons, combining for 65 catches, 863 yards and 14 touchdowns. Polley was a key cog in the Stratford Spartans arsenal for a 10-2 playoff team this past season.
First Impression
Watching his film, Polley comes down with one-handed catches. He tracks the ball in flight to allow him to be in a position to actually make those highlight plays. Polley’s strength against safeties and smaller linebackers provide the ability to create separation near the line of scrimmage.
Running Routes
After the snap, Polley runs his routes without consistently rounding them off, not providing an advantage for defenders to undercut his routes and create pass breakups and interceptions. Polley also understands how to get open based on the defensive coverage he faces, including the skillfulness to settle into an open area of a zone defense. Then, a quarterback has a clear area to pass the football to Polley.
When he is tightly covered, a large catch radius helps him make plays on the football that many other tight ends simply cannot. To that point, Polley consistently catches passes that could otherwise be considered 50-50 balls. Once the ball is in his hands, Polley also possesses the open-field agility to be a threat.
After the Catch
This is when Polley will be able to create chunk-yardage plays. Once the ball is in his hands, Polley possesses the open-field agility to make defenders miss, use a stiff arm to knock away a safety or linebacker, and run over an opposing player to break a tackle.
Polley’s Baylor Impact
Once in Waco, Polley will be able to play in various personnel packages, with his natural receiving skills likely helping him to get on the football field the quickest. Further, his sure hands could allow him to be inserted into packages with four and five receivers and tight ends. In short, he’s a weapon within the passing game.
It might take Polley a little longer to play more reps as a pure blocker, but he is a solid blocker, by college standards, already. After a year in the Baylor strength and conditioning program, his inline blocking will improve against linebackers and defensive ends. At that point, he should be a strong contender to play more snaps for Baylor.
Before he leaves Waco, Polley has the potential to develop into an All-Big XII performer and give opponents of the Bears fits.
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