Since his hire during the offseason, a lot of talk around Chip Long as the offensive coordinator was about how well he used tight ends and involved them in the offense. He did so at Notre Dame and other places where he had been the play-caller and I was one of the people that bought into him making the position a threat in this offense in the passing game.
Tight Ends Mid-Season Grade: D-
Well through six games that has just not been the case.
Dylan Leonard was expected to have a big year and after missing the first two games with an injury, he has caught seven passes for 72 yards and is averaging over 10 yards per reception. I thought those numbers would be a touch higher, but there is plenty of season left for Leonard to get more involved in the offense and he did miss time.
Syracuse transfer Luke Benson has not been the downfield threat that he was at times with the Orange. He has five catches for 47 yards so far this season. Benson has not found the endzone and his longest reception this season has been nineteen yards.
Converted wide receiver Peje' Harris has one catch for 12 yards this season.
Now, most college tight ends are not going to put up eye-popping stats, and with Georgia Tech's entire passing game struggling so far this season, it is not fair to put the blame entirely on the tight ends. But neither of these three guys has made difference-making plays in games and their impact as blockers is not normally felt.
There is an entire half of the season to be played for the three Georgia Tech tight ends and things can turn around. Hopefully, over these last six or so games, more plays can be made from the Yellow Jacket's tight ends.
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