STARKVILLE — Dan Mullen looked at his tight end group in the preseason and saw a good problem to have: seven capable players in the position group, obviously too many to put on the field at the same time.
The clear answer at the time was to use tight ends more frequently in the 2017 offense; the only thing left to determine was which ones and how. As MSU (5-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) goes to Kyle Field to face to Texas A&M (5-2, 3-1 SEC) 6:15 p.m. Saturday (ESPN), it takes with it a system of tight end use that has habitually created leverage for the rushing attack and mismatches for the passing game.
“Sometimes it’s hard for other teams to adjust to it,” junior tight end Justin Johnson said. “Basically, when we use what we have, it helps us out.”
MSU using what it has doesn’t necessarily mean using every player it has. MSU’s up-tempo offense is not compatible with constant substitution, especially since college football has added a rule in recent years that requires offenses grant defenses the ability to substitute after they do so. Thus, MSU has chosen to primarily use three tight ends to do all the jobs they ask them to do.
Those three have been Johnson, sophomore Farrod Green and sophomore Jordan Thomas. Given MSU’s tight ends have gone from playing two-tight sets stacked against the line to starting games in the slot between two true wide receivers, this is no easy task, but it’s one they embrace.
“Today, the tight end has to be versatile,” Green said. “This has to be one of the most versatile positions in the game: you have to be able to do anything.”
Johnson added, “We’ve built a foundation of what we’re going to do so far. It maybe took a couple of weeks (into the season) to get used to it. We kind of did everything in fall camp, but once we got into the season and transitioned into our roles and what we’re going to be used as, it’s worked out pretty well.”
Thomas may be the best example of that versatility.
Thomas, with his 6-foot-5, 280-pound body, was the perfect candidate to play a tight end position resembling its traditional use: lined up next to a tackle and primarily used as a run blocker. He did see several reps in that role early in the season, but has since morphed into MSU’s most potent pass catcher at the position.
Thomas leads all MSU tight ends with 11 catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns — no other MSU tight end has caught more than four passes. His activity in MSU’s passing game is no accident: Thomas has come to spend a significant amount of his time split out wide, away from the box and lined up as a wide receiver. Not all 280-pound players have the ability to do it, but that speaks to what Thomas gives MSU.
“He’s a freak,” Johnson said. “There’s not much you can say. He was born with it.
“You can just use him in so many different ways.”
Johnson and Green aren’t far behind.
Both have been used as traditional inline tight ends and as H-Backs, where they line up just behind the line of scrimmage in any gap. As MSU has diversified its running game to include some under center downhill elements, Johnson and Green seem just as likely to cross the formation as part of a zone run as they are to line up across a defensive end and take them on 1-on-1.
MSU tight ends coach D.J. Looney said earlier in the season with his background — being a former MSU offensive lineman and offensive line coach — he can’t help but high expectations for his tight ends in run blocking. Luckily, they get help on that front in practice: Green said going against MSU linebackers Montez Sweat and Gerri Green has been very helpful in honing that craft.
Now that both have their run blocking skills improved, MSU has turned to using both of them on the same side of the formation, getting the formational leverage MSU uses regularly in its run game by the tight end position alone. In those situations, most of the time Johnson is the inline tight end with Green split off as the second tight end or H-Back.
Even though those tendencies are there and recognized by the players, Johnson maintains any of the three can fill whatever alignment Mullen wants them to fill.
“It’s not the strain that you’d think it would be,” Johnson said. “It’s been fun.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter, @Brett_Hudson
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