Yes, we do have tight ends on the roster this season. And we’ve had them on the roster the past few as well, yet the TE usage has plummeted in recent seasons for the Spiders. Will we see a turnaround in 2023 and who should we expect to be a part of it?

Player Profiles

Connor Deveney – https://richmondspiders.com/sports/football/roster/connor-deveney/5718

Brooks Heagarty – https://richmondspiders.com/sports/football/roster/brooks-heagarty/5732

Sean Clarke – https://richmondspiders.com/sports/football/roster/sean-clarke/5714

Aiden Mack – https://richmondspiders.com/sports/football/roster/aiden-mack/5740

Competition

So much of this post will be about the position itself and slightly less focused on each player, solely due to not having much to go on. I’ve watched this group some in practice and each of the guys mentioned have played in games, but the sample size is so much smaller when it comes to game statistics.

Connor Deveney enters as the incumbent yet this feels the most open competition amongst the position groups. Deveney and Brooks Heagarty have each taken plenty of reps with the 1s, with Sean Clarke working his way in there as well. Deveney fought injuries in 2022 but was solid when he was on the field. He really burst on the scene in 2021, as his experience in the shortened spring season prepared him for a strong fall. His 159 receiving yards were the most among the tight ends and it really felt like he was set to grab this position for the next three years.

More than anything, the offensive scheme and talent at receiver really limited the snaps for tight ends in 2022. Billy Cosh ran a ton of 10 personnel (1 RB, 0 TEs, 4 WRs), so even when healthy we didn’t see much from this Spider group in his one season. The talent at WR didn’t help either, as it was hard to take any of Herres/Henley/ Williams/DeGennaro off the field last year. With how well this offense worked and our effectiveness running with four wide there was rarely a sequence when we saw a tight end on the field for two or three straight plays.

So where does that leave us for 2023? Deveney has looked good early on, so I don’t expect that to change anytime soon. Brooks Heagarty has seen the field plenty but hasn’t had the opportunities to prove himself. Clarke has looked great in practices, is that enough to take snaps from either of the older guys? I think a big factor in determining playing time will be run blocking – not something that we’ll be able to pull box score stats on however if this team does use more 11 personnel more we’ll get to see the tight ends heavily involved in the running game. We’ll still need a reliable pass catcher, but more than ever I think the run game with factor into how the staff divides up the snaps.

Past production

John Fitzgerald, a transfer from Cornell, shined in the four games during the spring COVID season for the Spiders, but outside of that it’s been over five years since our TEs have averaged two catches a game as a group. 2019 only saw seven catches from tight ends, and one of those was from now soon-to-be NFL offensive lineman Ryan Coll. While I do think 2022 is a slight anomaly, as injuries and the depth at WR made it difficult to play too many tight ends, the lack of production is pretty clear, and likely doesn’t mirror the talent of the group.

Having two juniors in Deveney and Heagarty, along with both Clarke and Mack coming off redshirt seasons, will likely give this staff more confidence to give this group a bigger role. Deveney was responsible for 100% of the receiving production in 2021, so he’s proven he can go out there and put up good numbers in CAA games. During the spring and so far in the fall it’s clear that TEs will get much more of a chance, and a think their biggest area to pick up targets will be the redzone and in the play-action game.

What we should expect

The 2023 scheme likely sets up well for tight end resurgence from the Spiders and if you’re looking for a year to use for comparison 2012 might work. The games John Laub started align with what we’ll see from Wickersham, and I think the offenses will be fairly similar. Kevin Finney led the TE group that season with 27 catches and five TDs, with Sam Roller & Hunter Westfall contributing 23 catches combined (and another TD) – more importantly, nearly a third of all targets for that group came in the redzone. That squad still featured Ben Edwards and Stephen Barnette at receiver, but there was a strong reliance on using tight ends in both the short-intermediate passing game, as well as the redzone.

One area where production should jump is play-action passing. This offense will still value solid gains on early downs, so anytime Wickersham pulls the ball on an RPO or has a TE for an easy 5-yard completion he will certainly take it. As teams start to crowd the box to help in run support it shouldn’t be too difficult for us to sneak at TE behind the linebackers or out into the flat. Redzone is a good guess as well, as the absence of larger targets from the wide receivers probably allows some of those targets to shift to tight ends. All four tight ends listed have great size at the FCS level so expect at least one of them to become a prominent name closer to the goal line.

One goal for 2023

Have three tight ends with at least five receptions. Having a TD target or a red-zone target felt like the easy way out, so I’ll set more of a depth goal in 2023. That’s probably ambitious going off the trends we’ve seen recently, but if fall camp is a good indicator a few different tight ends will be given their chance this season. I really think Deveney, Heagarty, and Clarke can accomplish this, even if some of the catches are for only a few yards. There will be so much more 11 personnel and play-action passing that I don’t think this is an unfair goal for a rather unproven group. There isn’t a QB out there that doesn’t love having a reliable tight end, so no matter how the snaps get divided up I think we can safely assume that the production from this group will drastically rise in 2023.

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2023 Position Group Overview – Cornerbacks