Oklahoma Finally Has Some SEC-Caliber Tight Ends, and a TE Coach, Too

COLUMN

It was one game.

One steamy Friday night in Norman, against an overmatched opponent from the rugged hills of Bordertown, Texas.

It’s too soon to get this excited. But it’s hard not to.

Oklahoma has tight ends!

The genuine article, the real deal, some living, breathing, big-time tight ends — the kind the Sooners used to have just lying around all over the place.

Did they sprout from the red clay? Did they ripen on vines? Where did they all come from — and more importantly, where did they all go?

From Steve Zabel and Al Chandler to Keith Jackson and Stephen Alexander, from Trent Smith and Jermaine Gresham to James Hanna and Mark Andrews — and so many more — it was like elite tight ends grew on trees around here.

And then, under Lincoln Riley, the tight end position wasn’t that important any more.

They sort of dried up.

Andrews was already on campus when Riley arrived, but he blossomed into a star (112 catches, 1,766 yards, 22 touchdowns). And give Riley credit for Grant Calcaterra’s big contributions in 2017-18 (36 catches, 558 yards, 9 TDs).

But Riley never really could figure out what to do with Brayden Willis, whose breakout season (39 catches, 514 yards, 7 TDs) happened when Brent Venables returned in 2022.

Since then, the position simply wilted at Oklahoma.

Until now.

Friday night, in a 51-0 beatdown of UTEP, Oklahoma tight ends were the star attraction — if for no other reason than they had been missing for so long.

“We’ve got a good group,” Venables said after the game. “ … A lot of them can do the same things, and then some of them are really good at blocking, catching, things of that nature. I think that group has an opportunity to become one of the strengths of our football team — if they continue to develop, that group as a whole.”

Rocky Beers scored on intermediate throw from John Mateer that Beers took 40 yards to the end zone simply by hurdling a full-grown defensive back in full stride.

“I saw that guy starting to dip down,” Beers said, “and I did not want to take another hit below the waistline.”

When’s the last time you saw something like that from an OU tight end or H-back? Trey Millard against Texas? Dimitri Flowers had a couple of agile TDs against Ohio State and Baylor, but even those weren’t high-wire acts like Beers’ was.

“I was going crazy whenever Rocky caught that touchdown because I was excited,” offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle said. “The hurdle was cool. I mean, the hurdle was awesome, but I was just sitting there and I was like, 'Holy crap!' He ran an awesome route. It was good coverage for the specific call, but he ran an awesome route, made the play, got going down the sideline, and he hurdled a guy for a touchdown.”

Beers, a 6-foot-5, 240-pound sixth-year senior transfer from Colorado State by way of Florida International and Air Force Academy (and a new dad), started alongside Florida transfer Hayden Hansen, who stands 6-8, weighs 266 pounds and is a fifth-year senior with more than 1,800 career offensive snaps in the Southeastern Conference.

It's not often that OU starts two tight ends.

Coaches call that 12 personnel — one back, two tights — and it terrifies defenses because they must respect the run game with all that size and strength, and yet here comes a 240-pound dude who can apparently walk on air.

Arbuckle’s offense did suddenly get a lot more physical in the run game.

Oklahoma rushed for 170 yards, picked up plenty of short-yardage tries by digging into the line of scrimmage, and still maintained good balance with 231 yards through the air.

“I think any play caller would tell you it helps a lot,” Arbuckle said. “At the end of the day, those guys add a whole other gap for the defense to have to account for. Depending on what you're running, and the more you can put strain on a defense with those bigger guys, and the more that they can be threats not only in the run but also in the pass, I think any play caller would tell you it helps out a lot.”

Again, it’s hard to get too excited when you acknowledge that UTEP has never been a consistently good football team. The program record for consecutive winning seasons is just five — and that was in the 1950s. The Miners are one of about 30 programs with more than 600 losses all-time. Since 1973, UTEP has 21 seasons of double-digit losses and just one season of double-digit wins.

But good tight end play doesn’t have to be dependent on the quality of the opponent. Good tight end play stands on its own merits because they have to be versatile — or they play another position.

Beers and Hansen were productive receivers and effective blockers at their previous school, and they’re obviously off to a very good start in Norman.

According to Pro Football Focus, Hansen’s overall offensive grade of 88.2 was second on the team (behind wideout/punt return man Isaiah Sategna’s 90.6), while Beers’ grade of 84.2 ranks third among all Sooners on offense.

Hansen played 37 offensive snaps, Beers 29.

Sophomore Trynae Washington, who played a grand total of two snaps last season, logged 23 offensive snaps against the Miners at tight end and fullback and posted the seventh-best overall grade of 76.7.

“He was a high school wide receiver and DB,” Venables said, “and now he’s 260-plus pounds and playing fullback, H-back, playing wing, playing on the ball and is a tremendous athlete.”

Sophomore Tennessee transfer Jack Van Dorselaer got 21 snaps and graded at 52.1, near the bottom of the 37 players who got in for the offense with one glaring mistake: Beers actually caught a second TD pass, but it was wiped away by Van Dorselaer's illegal pick and offensive pass interference penalty on the goal line.

“Oh yeah, that was a pick play,“ Beers said. ”Jack got a little overzealous there. He was sitting on the sideline for a little while, and he just had to get some first-game jitters out and just de-cleated a guy.”

“Got to continue being creative in the way that we implement those guys,” Arbuckle said, “and the positions we put them in.”

We’ll know much more after next week’s colossal showdown with No. 16 Michigan in Ann Arbor. But for now, it seems likely that new tight ends coach Jason Witten has brought something special to the tight ends room that, for whatever reason, never quite connected with former Sooner tight end Joe Jon Finley, who was hired by Riley and retained by Venables until this year.

“Coach Witten brings a lot to the room, especially with his knowledge,” Beers said. “He’s just trying to get us ready every week. And I think we try to do our parts for the team.”

“He's an unbelievable … tight ends coach,” Arbuckle said. “He's an unbelievable teammate, and I think he has a wealth of football knowledge. I think he sees the game in a really good light.”

“Really excited about the depth and versatility of that group,” Venables said. “Jason’s done a really nice job with them as well.”

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