New Cal OC Tony Franklin talks TE position - good insight

[Buffnik]

Great interview with a lot of insight into the spread offense. But the part on TEs stood out to me:

Does the tight end have a role in your offense?

FRANKLIN: "My whole deal with tight ends, I'd love to have a good tight end. But the key word is 'good.' I don't need a body just to be on the field to occupy the space. They need to be able to run. If I'm going to put somebody in the box to bring another defender in the box, they need to be able to block. If they can't block, why did I bring them into the box to bring another defender to have the guy get his butt whipped."


http://www.mercurynews.com/cal-bear...offensive-coordinator-tony-franklin-interview

Generally, that has become the thinking in a nutshell. There are so few TEs who are good enough to make an impact. How many guys that size can run well enough to create matchup problems against LBs these days? How many are good enough on the OL to block a DE one-on-one? For most teams, the conventional wisdom these days is that your 4th best WR is a lot better weapon than your best TE and your RB will be more effective with only your 5 best blockers and 2 fewer bodies in the tackle box. This is the same thing we saw happen to the FB position.

 

[sackman]

The problem is that high schools usually don't have the resources to properly coach the TE position. They're usually undersized OL or linebackers who play both ways. It's very unusual to see the TE be used a lot at the high school level. There is a lot that goes into the utilization of the TE. It's easier to concentrate on running the ball and trying to work the WRs into the gameplan.