Louisville Football Depth Chart Preview: Tight End
By Cole Murray
We continue our weekly breakdown of the Louisville football roster, position by position. This week, we preview the tight end’s.
Like the wide receiver group, the Louisville football tight end depth chart is another position group that I expect to be a strength this season.
Although it’s pretty clear which guys are going to play the most snaps this season, it’s going to be very interesting to see which role each player is used in.
All three of the main tight ends are relatively similar in size, so that shouldn’t dictate who plays when. Theoretically, it should come down to who is the most skilled and who knows their role within the offense the best.
With the Cards having so many different looks on offense, Bobby often likes to use two tight end sets whether it be in the run game or the play action passing game.
Quarterback depth chart breakdown
Running back depth chart breakdown
Wide receiver depth chart breakdown
Projected 2018 Depth Chart
Kemari Averrett
Micky Crum
Jordan Davis
Preview
Obviously, there’s no way of truly knowing how the depth chart is going to turn out prior to September 1st, especially as all three tight ends are essentially “unproven.” However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of talent at the position.
This is a pretty difficult position to “break down” because a lot of times the amount of playing time each tight end gets depends on their certain set of skills and how that correlates to whatever the offensive gameplan is.
For example, if Bobby wants to go run heavy one game then the tight ends he uses will likely be different than the ones he would use if he wanted to spread things out a little bit.
With that being said, here’s how I’m thinking the depth chart will shake out.
Expected Starter
Here’s a guy that’s so physically imposing that he makes you do a double take just about every time you look at him. Coming in at 6’7 and 265 pounds you’d be hard pressed to find a more physically imposing tight end in all of college football.
Some teams may have guys that are his size that are simply just run blockers, but they certainly don’t have the speed or athleticism that Mr. Averett here has.
Even though he’s such a big guy, he still has excellent ball skills and more than enough athleticism to be a major threat in the passing game. He showed this a couple of times last season when he was given the opportunity to play with the first team.
In fact, he put his skills on full display with his first collegiate touchdown against Boston College when he caught a short out route and took it for about 20 yards before leaping over the defender and extending the ball over the pylon for a touchdown.
I realize that it may just be one play, but in that play he showed how capable he truly is of being a difference maker for the Cardinals’ offense.
I also expect Kemari to see the most time of any of the tight ends. The reason why is pretty simple, he’s going to be a mismatch for the defense no matter what play or set the offense is running.
He’s the size of an offensive tackle with the ability to down block and climb up to the linebackers in the run game. In the passing game, he’s got the speed to run by linebackers, but he also has the size and athleticism to bully guys in the secondary.
When talking about Kemari before last season started, Bobby was talking about how excited he was to incorporate him into the offense, and I can see why.
His ability to block and create such mismatches for the defense really speaks to how versatile he is as an athlete. With that being said, I think this versatility is one of the main reasons Kemari will see a lot of time for the Cards this year.
To me, I’d be shocked if Averett didn’t have a great season. I’m expecting this talented guy to have a breakout season for the Cardinals’ offense.
Most Likely To Challenge
After having a stellar start to his freshman season with 130 yards receiving and two touchdowns against Houston in the second game of the year, Micky was a guy who many people, myself included, were expecting to have a breakout year.
After that game however, Micky had to split time with Cole Hikutini and didn’t realize have as big of an impact as some were expecting. That’s not to say that he wasn’t good enough, because every time he got the ball thrown his way he showed that he was more than capable enough to be a difference maker for the Cards’ offense.
After his freshman year, I was expecting more of the same as I knew that Cole Hikutini was coming back and that he would get a lot of looks in the passing game which obviously would take them away from Micky. Having to battle injuries throughout the season, Crum actually only had one catch on the year.
However, coming into last season I believed that this would finally be Micky’s breakout year as he looked like he would be getting the majority of snaps at the tight end spot. That wasn’t necessarily the case however as he brought in a modest 8 receptions with 100 yards receiving. For whatever reason, MIcky wasn’t really able to take over the position as I and many others had hoped he would.
Head Coach Bobby Petrino was asked about Crum last week saying, “He’s had as good of a spring as he’s ever had. Micky is a very capable player. He’s had really good games, he’s blocked really well, caught the ball really well, and made a lot of big plays for us. He just hasn’t been able to be as consistent as you would like and that’s what he is working hard on.
With that being said, I completely believe that he has the athletic ability and the skill set to make him a great tight end. At 6-4, 255, he also has the size to block in the run game. This versatility is something that I think could end up getting him some more playing time this season. While we’re on the topic of blocking, I’d like to take the time to acknowledge what is one of my favorite plays from my time as a Cards fan.
He’s had as good of a spring as he’s ever had. Micky is a very capable player.
While it may be a play many Cards’ fans don’t remember, it has always stuck out for some reason to me. The play I’m talking about is when Louisville played Clemson in 2015 at PJCS and Micky made a clean blindside block on a linebacker pursuing LJ Scott on a swing pass out of the backfield. It was a bone jarring hit that got myself and the entire stadium out of our seats.
If Micky can bring the fire and physicality he showed on that play to every game this year then I think he can have a very good senior season for the Cards.
Coming into last season, I wasn’t really sure what to expect out of Jordan Davis. He had a little bit of hype built up as he was ranked 229 in the ESPN top 300 prospect list coming out of high school.
Obviously, guys don’t just fall onto that list, so when I saw that he was transferring to Louisville I was pumped to see what he could do.
After sitting out his mandatory season, he appeared in 11 games racking up 4 catches for 88 yards and a touchdown last season. While he didn’t exactly light up the stat sheet, Davis was great at run blocking when the Cards would decide to go with the power run game.
Much like Kemari Averett and Micky Crum, Jordan Davis is another who’s very physically imposing. He stands in at 6 foot 4, 253 pounds and looks like he may be even bigger than that. His size and physicality is what makes such a good run blocker.
Out of the three TE’s, I would say that Jordan Davis is certainly the most skilled run blocker of the bunch. He uses his size and technique to create holes for the backs and he often down blocks to seal the edge in order to allow the back to get outside.
While he’s probably the best blocker out of the trio, this isn’t to say that he isn’t a capable pass catcher as well. Last season he showed on a couple of catches that he has soft hands and is able to get downfield once he gets the ball in his hands.
With Charles Standberry graduating, that should move Jordan Davis one more spot up the depth chart. I would definitely look for Davis to improve upon the stats that he put up last season and to have a pretty solid year for the Cardinals’ offense.
Expectations
As mentioned before, this group is a bit of a toss up in regards to who is technically considered the “starter.” To me, I think that really speaks to the talent at this position.
Most teams have one clear cut starter with a couple of back ups that rotate in when the main guy needs a breather. For the Cards however, it is most certainly a different story.
Even if one guy starts, another guy may receive a majority of the reps that game solely based on what schemes the offense is running. As I outlined above, Coach Petrino will attempt to play these guys to their strengths more than anything else.
The Cards have plenty of talent at the postion, let’s hope that Bobby and company figure out the best way to utilize all of it.
This season should very well be a solid one for all three of the tight ends listed above.
Next: Athlon Made a Mistake Ranking Louisville as the 40th Best Team in the Country