Gopher Football
Matt Spaeth
Back as a starter for the 4th straight year at Tight End for Minnesota is Matt Spaeth. Matt saw his first action as a starter during the 2003 season when Ben Utecht was injured and has kept getting better ever since. Last year as a junior he was awarded 1st team All-Big Ten by both the coaches and media. Spaeth’s receiving totals are pretty average for a tight end (26 catches for 333 yards, 4 TD’s), but what sets him apart from other feature tight ends is his blocking ability. Spaeth is generally regarded as one of the top (if not THE top) blocking tight end in the nation.
Heading into this season I don’t see a ton of change in how Spaeth is utilized. His blocking is already top notch, so the only area he really has to improve is his receiving. He’s not a great natural receiver, and he doesn’t have the speed to outrun linebackers, but what he does have going for him he can find the open areas underneath and he has soft hands. Because the Gopher offensive is a little thin at wide receiver it wouldn’t surprise me to the offense tweaked a little to take advantage of Matt’s experience, but if it’s not then I’d expect similar numbers to what we’ve seen from him the past two seasons (a 25 catch, 325 yard, 4 TD average).
Depth
So far in my previews I’ve ranked Special Teams, the DL, LB’s and RB’s below the Tight Ends. The reason why I had the tight ends ranked this low is because after Spaeth, there is no experience whatsoever. The only guy who can come close to claiming experience is sophomore Jack Simmons, but as a redshirt freshman last year he only saw action in 17 plays total all year. At 6’6″ 240 pounds, Simmons is more of a speed tight end than a blocker, so one would assume that he is the more natural compliment to Spaeth and seems to be the guy who could be number two. Besides Simmons there are two freshmen who will also be competing for time, Chris Mensen and Troy Reilly. Both guys are in the 6’5″ 250 lbs range and coming off redshirt seasons. All in all there is some good potential here, but at this point it is only that and the coaches will be hoping for one of these three to step up in the fall.
Around the Big Ten
After Spaeth the best tight end in the conference coming into the season is Iowa’s Scott Chandler. The big 6’7″ Chandler led all Big Ten tight ends in receiving last season with 552 yards on 47 catches. He’ll once again be a big part of Iowa’s offense seeing that he’s their leading returning receiver. Chandler isn’t much of a blocker however. By the end of the season Hawkeye sophomore Tony Moeaki could take some of Chandlers receiving numbers away. It’s early, but it could be safe to say that Moeaki will be the best tight end in the Big Ten in 2007. The last of the top returning tight ends is Michigan Tyler Ecker. With the overrated Tim Massaquoi out of Ann Arbor, Ecker will have a chance to shine and improve his 285 yards receiving. After these guys that I just mentioned the quality (or maybe I should say, “œproven quality”) of players in the Big Ten falls off in a hurry. There will be a lot of unknowns at this position this fall.
Last Year
In 2005 the Gophers had the top tight end duo in the Big Ten with Spaeth and Jared Posthumus. Though he wasn’t really asked to be a receiver, Posthumus did make the big catch when needed and was always reliable as a blocker. As I mentioned above, Spaeth was again a great blocker and did a good job receiving. Together, Jared and Matt were arguably the best blocking tight end duo in the nation, and an oft-overlooked key in the Gopher running game.
Bottom Line
To me, the big question atTight End heading into this year might not be surrounding who will be the backup, but more just how important of a role the second tight end will play. In past years its been huge, but that’s also when there were guys like Posthumus, Ben Utecht and Scooter Baugus around. With the questions about experience this year, along with lack of confidence in the running game in general (loss of bodies at RB and OL), I wouldn’t be surprised at all if we see far fewer two tight end sets, and more of 3 WR & 2 WR ““ 2RB sets. That would mean Spaeth would be the only guy out there and we know the position would be in good hands. However, tight-lipped as Mason is, he has three young guys to choose from and it’s very possible he may already know that he has a future star in the fold, and thus he’d have no plans to abandon the two tight end sets. In either case, what we do know is that the Gophers have the luxury of having one of the best tight ends in the nation whose experienced and talented, and with him Gopher fans really couldn’t hope for much more.
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