Using Tight Ends in Your Offense

As a preface to this post, I’d like to point out that the focus of this column will shift to offering ideas that you can add to your offense right now, as the season is progressing. The idea isn’t to add more plays or concepts, but rather to make adjustments to the offense you already have installed and make it more powerful and difficult to defend. The idea may help you add a wrinkle, involve more personnel, break a tendency, make a simple adjustment that hasn’t been seen on film, or adjust because of an injury to a key player. The ideas offered will be simple for you to execute, but complex for your opponent to defend. Good luck as you embark on the 2012 season.

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The Evolution of the Modern Tight End

In his book Smart Football, Chris Brown brings up interesting points in two case studies. The first was on the run and shoot offense. Brown said, “What killed the run and shoot wasn’t the playoff failures or perceived lack of physicality, but rather the zone blitz, which was designed to defuse the kind of six-man protection schemes that run-and-shoot teams used on every down.”

Brown’s analysis of the run and shoot and how it was adapted into many offenses since it “died” is much like what has happened with the spread. The spread has evolved from 2 x 2 and 3 x 1 four wide receiver spread sets to incorporating a tight end or multiple tight ends, as the Patriots have done, aligned as an attached tight end, a wide slot, or even a single side split end. As defenses have evolved to keep up with the spread, safeties have become linebackers in nickel types of packages, and now the bigger tight end type presents match-up problems, not just in terms of one-on-one match-ups, but also in terms of the personnel package on the field. With a versatile athlete, offenses can still align in four wide sets and take that same guy and put him down in the box or into the backfield without changing personnel. For defensive coordinators who package a defense based on personnel, this can cause fits.

Brown’s second analysis was on the evolution of the New England Patriots offense. Their creative use of tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski has revitalized an interest in using the tight end. For a while it seemed the spread offense was becoming more and more popular to the point that the tight end was a position that was becoming extinct. I know from a recruiting perspective in 2009, we had one tight end on our recruiting board. That wasn’t because we didn’t have any we liked or we were only recruiting one, it was because we couldn’t find any that were available. In many offenses it seemed that the tight end was becoming a specialist for short yardage situations and that the spread offense was changing the game. Tight ends weren’t available because many high schools no longer used them.

With the success the Patriots have had causing mismatch problems with Gronkowski and Hernandez, it seems everyone is looking for those types of players. Finding a 6’6 target who can run with speed through the middle of a defense is a huge task. Currently, we have six tight ends returning. None of those players was recruited as a tight end. Two were quarterbacks, three were receivers and one was a linebacker. They range from 6’1” to 6’4”. We have been taking bigger skilled athletes and teaching them the position. We are excited about a 6’5” 225 pound recruit from Tampa who may be able to be a true triple threat at tight end, but he is the exception, not the rule. Yet, we are very excited about the personnel we have available in our tight end group because of the skill sets they possess and how we have been able to utilize those skills.

Benefits of having a Tight End in your offense

For defenses that want to match a philosophy, set of calls or personnel with the offense and what they feel are “tip offs” based on a certain personnel grouping against the tight end who is a true triple threat and can play both attached and flexed, the defense is in a quandary.

As Brown says about Gronkowski, “He is a true triple threat from the tight end spot – he can block, he can go out for passes, and he can even block and then go out for delayed passes. Multiple defenders therefore have to keep an eye on him.” At BW, we were fortunate to have that true triple threat in the 2010-11 seasons.

As a note, our tight end started as out as a 200 pound receiver. He wasn’t stout enough to play inside initially, but as he grew and developed physically, so did our utilization of him in multiple roles and responsibilities.

Here are some examples of our two-time all-conference tight end from the 2010 and 2011 season. At 6’4” 230, he presented many skill sets and we were able to utilize them. Video of him displaying his skills is below (he is #10 in his senior year or #16 in his junior year).

Run Gunning Game Skills:

Y Counter pulling – Our tight ends are inserted into the blocking scheme in our zone schemes and gap schemes. On this counter, his job is to wrap for the linebacker and kick him out, allowing our running back to cut up inside of him.

Combo on duo – on this goal line play, the TE combo blocks with the tackle and double teams up to the linebacker. In this particular set we employed five tight ends with one serving as the fullback.

Motion and secure edge on stretch – we motion the tight end across, moving the extra gap to the other side and allowing him to work with the tackle to secure the edge on a stretch play.

Arc Block – getting a big tight end arced to a small safety or corner is a huge advantage for the offense in the running game.

Anchor on Pin Pull – The tight end’s job is to plck down and allow and secure his gap and allow us to get pullers around to the perimeter.

Blocking on bubble – we are able to get our tight end good match-ups in space to get our bubble screen going on the perimeter.

Play Action Skills

Play action catching counter pass – Counter action draws the linebacker up into his run fit and allows the TE to exploit the void left by the run fill of the linebacker.

Dragging on Naked – the TE is in great position to get across the formation into a void in the coverage.

Play Action Bow – The TE gets into a seam caused by safety movement toward the jet play. He does a great job using his body in space to shield the ball from the defender.

Passing Game Skills:

Running a slant in the quick game – after becoming a big part of our bubble screens, the TE is able to exploit a seam with a quick slant.

Stick – Stick is a great, easy throw to a tight end.

Stop on sideline – we switch releases on a four vertical route and get the tight end singled up on the sideline.

Y Slip – the TE is also able to get space for yards after the catch by executing a slip screen off of our bubble play.

Delay – The Y delays and runs into a void left by linebacker drops.

Spot – A spot route is great for a big TE who is able to find the area between the linebackers.

Axe on Shallow – Our Y splits out and attacks across the field on a variation of one of our four vertical plays.

We definitely benefited in having a triple threat, and further benefited from another group of guys who could block and be viable pass threats. We have been grooming them to be able to fill the void left by graduation.

Creating Tight Ends

Brown is quick to point out a problem, “…finding players who can do all these things. So it’s one thing to say they are the future and another to actually find enough people to make that future a reality.”

Speaking with Andrew Coverdale, Offensive Coordinator at Louisville Trinity High School, he sees the necessity and benefits in using tight ends in an offense. Throughout his career he has made using tight ends and h-backs a core of his offenses, and he sheds some light on the answer to this problem. Coach Coverdale said:

“Even though most of our tight ends have been physically limited guys – none of whom say “prototypical TE” when you look at them – the character qualities we’ve gotten with the kinds of kids we’ve moved there along with the manageable number of things we’ve asked them to do and the selectivity we’ve used to place them into advantageous situations, has more than outweighed whatever limitations we’ve had. It’s also given us lots of tools and made us much tougher to defend. If we ever get elite, feature-type measurables at that spot, we’ll expand and be more vertical with what we do.”

The things we build our offense around don’t require them to be dominant blockers in the run game: (Wide Zone – the RB will make him right in blocking the DE; Counter Trey, generally Arc blocking, etc.).

The skills he has to master are very manageable and can be mastered by the player with a fair amount of athleticism and size and a great “want-to” that doesn’t exactly fit the profile of your other positions (converted QB, RB, slot receiver, etc.).

Having two TE sets are important components of our being able to dictate to a defense – how much I use them in a game as opposed to being in 00, 10, or 20 personnel – depends on how good our TE’s that year are at their particular skills and how the problems you present as a defense match what the TE alignments solve.

At Baldwin Wallace University, we take a similar approach. Like Coverdale, we require our TE to be a great blocker, but don’t necessarily rely on physical dominance as much as great technique allowing him to distort or displace a defender. Secondly, the character of this position group is very high because these are, for the most part, guys who come to us from different positions with a strong desire to contribute and get on the field. They are willing to get out of their comfort zone and learn something new.

First and foremost, our experience in creating tight ends comes from players’ desire to get on the field. We looked for those “tweeners”, guys who were bigger than what we typically get at a receiver. They usually were slightly slower than the other receivers but still possessed skill in running routes and catching the ball. Some of them have grown into the position through the weight room. We have a 6’3” receiver who came to us as a 190 freshmen, started as a sophomore at flanker, and is now a 225 pound tight end. For us fortifying a dynamic receiver in the weight room works best because these guys can do something with the ball after they catch it. They are far from the day when a tight end was a leaner tackle.

We also take approach that our tight ends skill sets are constantly evolving. We want to take the guy who can be part of a personnel grouping and fill a role with a limited skill set and expand on his skill set as he progresses through our system. We want to create tight ends who are a triple threat by their junior or senior year.

The main point is that most programs have these guys in their system. It’s a matter of taking their skill sets and adding the blocking component to them.

Advantages of Using a Tight End

If you are willing to find the player and develop him in your offense, you will find that there are many benefits to using him on the field.

A tight end creates extra gaps and changes run fits: 3 x 1 vs. 8 man fronts cause problems for safety and linebacker run fits. For a seven man front team, the defense has an extra gap to defend and must do so by making the hash safety a dual role player.
Create mismatches. Defenses have different philosophies on how they will handle a tight end. At our level, many teams try to match a nickel package with spread sets, and an even front with tight end sets or 11 personnel. The tight end who can align next to a tackle and flex out as a receiver causes some problems. Furthermore, when you look at body types, you are usually to get a taller and thicker player matched up on a safety. The tight end can have a 15-20 pound advantage as well as being taller. For us, because these players were receivers and quarterbacks with decent speed, they also present problems for thicker, slower linebackers whom might try to match up with them.
The defensive end now has more to react to. He is forced to play a different technique than he is to an open side. He now has to have multiple block reactions.
Using two tight end sets has an advantage over using two back sets. While two backs essentially gives an eight man front an extra defender to the ball, two tight end sets force that defender to be responsible for a gap thus negating the advantage of the eight man front.
Using two tight ends together in a wing set allows an offense to have an advantage in securing the edge to the wing side while also allowing the wing to be a puller on counter coming back to the open side.
Because of range and size, tight ends can be open even when they aren’t open. A tight end who knows how to use his body in space and “box out” much like a rebounder in basketball, can be a huge asset on short to intermediate passes for a quarterback who understands ball placement.
Create big opportunities for the tight end in the play action passing game. Because of his alignment in the box, the tight end is able to get into the voids that linebackers or safeties leave when they are fitting into the run game aggressively.
Shifts and motions of multiple tight end sets further create problems by enabling the offense to quickly change strength and put extra gaps on the opposite side of the formation. This as an area definitely worth exploring because many defenses either have one standard check or few answers when this happens to them if it wasn’t on film. This will be the topic of the next post.

Coaching the Tight End

Staffs at all levels are limited, and sometimes having a dedicated Tight End coach is impossible. We have had as much success having someone to coach this position as we have had without. The key is in your planning the practice for this position. It must be coordinated and given careful consideration. This is a player that must spend a significant amount of time in both the running game and the passing game. Our practice plan includes a column for the tight end position. The tight ends are shuttled around the practice field more than anyone, but we are sure that he gets the work necessary to be successful in all phases of the game. Make planning his practice a priority and be sure he is at the right place at the right time during practice.

Don’t wait until next season to add a tight end to your spread offense

With the season getting under way, many coaches stop studying or looking for new ideas. The hay is in the barn, so to speak. I certainly agree with this philosophy, and we don’t add concepts to our offense once we’ve installed our offense. However, I wouldn’t approach this as a way to add additional plays, but rather as an adjustment or wrinkle to what you already do.

I will offer a simple example of how I would add a tight end to an offense while using what we already have, broken down into a few simple steps:

Take one of your bigger receivers, the bigger running back or athletic linebacker or athletic defensive end that don’t quite fit into you four wide system.
Create a personnel grouping that substitutes this player for an inside receiver, preferably your least dynamic of the two.
Look at your formation system. Do you have a word or adjustment to include an attached tight end? If not, what is a simple word you can use as a tag.
In my opinion and experiences, adding the tight slot alignment rather than the tight end up on the ball may be more forgiving in technique, and adds the ability to use this one adjustment to do multiple things in your offense. He creates the extra gap, but still has the ability to motion, block down, reach, combo on zone schemes, arc to safeties, be a the wrapper on counter, or even replace the tackle on the wrap or dart play. All of these were illustrated in the examples of how we have used our tight end.
Start with your most basic scheme. Add him into the scheme. He can insert in many gaps on the front side and backside to create many variations. Let’s start with what is the most basic run scheme for spread teams – the zone read. Instead of the quarterback reading the defensive end, the tight end (tight slot) is not responsible for the end and the quarterback will now execute a naked fake. Obviously, the next logical progression with this wrinkle is to add the naked play with the TE chipping the end and going flat.