Last Season's weaknesses addressed?

[mizzoucoug]

I watched the UW bowl game again, trying to recall the most glaring weaknesses vs our toughest opponents last year. My question is have they been addressed via recruiting and development?

Yeck was frequently abused as a LT. I don't see him any better than 2nd string right now according to depth charts. I am going to assume that's good news.

Lack of athleticism at WR & TE. In watching these games, the opponent's D never had to worry about anyone but Cody and we all knew it. You blanket him with 2 DB's and man cover the rest while stacking the line. That's a recipe for getting shut down, which they did often.

Taysom needs more time and accuracy for sure, but I'll tell you what, there was no deep threat who could seriously punish anyone. Most routes against the top teams were underneath and those routes were often blown up. I pray that Leslie, Blackmon, Kurtz (eventually), and Dye can be that threat we have been missing since Collie. This year's team has got to be able to stretch the field.

Special Teams were atrocious in the bowl game. I don't know how to fix that one...

[Cougarbib]

I would have said yes to all but special teams before tonight's scrimmage. Color me nervous about T Hill throwing.

BTW, how many defenders did it take to double Hoffman, single cover everyone else and stack the box all at once?

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[Cougs_Rule]

Oline? Probably. Couldnt get much worse.
Receviers speed and receivers depth? Looks like it.
Red zone efficiency? Undetermined, publicly anyway.
Tight End? Wh. Knows. Doesnt look like it.
Special teams really wasnt a weakness last year. It could be this year.

[Qman]

Oline? Probably. Couldnt get much worse.
Receviers speed and receivers depth? Looks like it.
Red zone efficiency? Undetermined, publicly anyway.
Tight End? Wh. Knows. Doesnt look like it.
Special teams really wasnt a weakness last year. It could be this year.

Why do we need a tight end? As long as we have receiver who can catch the ball in traffic inside the hashes, I don't see the need..

[mizzoucoug]

Oline? Probably. Couldnt get much worse.
Receviers speed and receivers depth? Looks like it.
Red zone efficiency? Undetermined, publicly anyway.
Tight End? Wh. Knows. Doesnt look like it.
Special teams really wasnt a weakness last year. It could be this year.

Why do we need a tight end? As long as we have receiver who can catch the ball in traffic inside the hashes, I don't see the need..

Look at every great season BYU has ever had and you'll find an All-American (or close to it) tight end. We don't get the best WR athletes, but for whatever reason we've been able to land top notch TE's. TE's are bigger targets and easier to find when things get close to the goal line. That's why. We'd have won another game or 2 the last couple of years with a legit TE.

[Cougarbib]

Oline? Probably. Couldnt get much worse.
Receviers speed and receivers depth? Looks like it.
Red zone efficiency? Undetermined, publicly anyway.
Tight End? Wh. Knows. Doesnt look like it.
Special teams really wasnt a weakness last year. It could be this year.

Why do we need a tight end? As long as we have receiver who can catch the ball in traffic inside the hashes, I don't see the need..

Look at every great season BYU has ever had and you'll find an All-American (or close to it) tight end. We don't get the best WR athletes, but for whatever reason we've been able to land top notch TE's. TE's are bigger targets and easier to find when things get close to the goal line. That's why. We'd have won another game or 2 the last couple of years with a legit TE.

The most memorable passing plays of the last decade were to Harline and George. Red Zone. Game on the line. Clock winding down. Utes. BAM. TD. Tight End. Glad we had tight ends those years. Pitta made a few clutch catches. NFL. Tight End.

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[Cougs_Rule]

Um, Pitta, a few clutch passes? You think?

[Stirfry]

Um, Pitta, a few clutch passes? You think?

Was it Pitta that had the 4th down conversion against OU on the game winning drive? I think I remember Pitta and Collies drops more than their catches because it was such a shock when either of them would drop a ball. It seems like it was about 1 in 50 they might miss.

[CrimsonCoug]

Yeah, Pitta had a coupla clutch catch-and-runs against OU. That was when I really started to take notice of him.

TE situation has been frustrating. After our great string with Coates, Harline, George, and Pitta, we had tremendous recruiting in the TE position: we were all thrilled with Wilson, Mahina, Murphy, Friel, Matthews, and others (I think Hine was recruited as a TE, but not quite sure). But we've had very little production out of them. When that many well-regarded TEs fail, I start to wonder if it's the coaching. We haven't had consistent coaching for TEs since 2005 when Bronco took over, taken from the media guides.

Year Coach
2005 none (Grimes was O Line, Higgins was "Receivers")
2006 Anae (OC/"Inside Receivers")
2007 Anae (OC/"Inside Receivers")
2008 Anae (OC/"Inside Receivers")
2009 Anae (OC/"I-WR" [inside wide receivers])
2010 Anae (OC/"I-WR"; Higgins was outside WR)
2011 Reynolds (Asst HC/Tight Ends)
2012 none, according to the 2012 football almanac (no media guide online for that year)
2013 none. But Grad Assistant Andrew George was assigned to the TEs.
2014 none, according to the official 2014 fanguide. Don't know if George is still a GA.

Interestingly, the football almanacs, like the 2012 almanac, have an entire section dedicated to BYU's TE tradition: http://byucougars.com/m-football/tight-end-tradition, the only positional spotlight on the site other than QB.

I have to say that while I've been critical of Anae a bit over the years, he was the coach of the best TEs we've had in 30 years since the mid 1990s with Chad Lewis and Itula Mili.

Spiff, do you have data on targets, completions, and yards by TEs (as a level and as a percent of total) over these years? I'd be really interested in seeing if there's a trend.

I get that Anae has gone all-in with the O-line (he's currently listed in his coaching duties as Asst Head Coach/OC/Offensive line), but that seems to have come at the cost of Tight End development. That's probably OK in the short run, but needs to be adjusted at this point.

[snoscythe]

In 2012, Lance Reynolds was "Assistant Head Coach/Tight Ends"
2013, Guy Holiday was listed as "Outside Wide Receivers" and Andrew George was listed as "Offensive Graduate Assistant focusing on Tight Ends, Y Receiver, Inside Wide Receivers"

Andrew George is still in that same position. Matt Edwards is helping as well.