Wydermyer showing why he’s a catchall at tight end
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M tight end Jalen Wydermyer grew up in Dickinson loving basketball and football and excelling at both, but he didn’t have to ultimately select one sport over another. College recruiters made that choice for him.
“I knew for sure once I started getting offers from all around the country that I was going to pick football,” said the sophomore, adding with a smile: “But I am a pretty good basketball player, too, I would say.”
Wydermyer looks like a small forward at 6-5 and 265 pounds, and his basketball skills are evident on the football field for the No. 11 Aggies (2-1), who play at Mississippi State (1-2) at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher said he sized up Wydermyer when recruiting him out of Dickinson High and decided he’d be an ideal fit at tight end in an A&M system that leans heavily on the position.
“I saw a big, long athlete who was very fluid with great acceleration, ball skills, balance and body control, and he was a really good basketball player,” Fisher said.
Wydermyer, whose father, Vincent Wydermyer, starred at Dickinson in the 1980s as a running back, wasn’t the most heralded tight end in the Aggies’ class of 2019, however. That distinction belonged to Baylor Cupp, the top-ranked tight end in the nation, according to 247Sports.com.
Cupp was the No. 51 overall player in the class; Wydermyer checked in at 359th. But Cupp suffered a season-ending injury in camp last year, and Wydermyer was thrust into a prominent role few anticipated so early in his career.
He responded with a teambest six touchdown receptions and ranked third with 32 catches for 447 yards during the Aggies’ 8-5 season. League coaches voted him to the SEC all-freshman team, and he was second-team Associated Press All-SEC.
What made Wydermyer a success on the basketball court — agility and smooth coordination — was again on display last Saturday in the Aggies’ 41-38 comeback victory over then-No. 4 Florida. Wydermyer stretched across the A&M symbol at midfield and snagged a rocket of a pass from quarterback Kellen Mond with his right hand before pulling the ball to his chest with both hands as he landed on the grass.
The key grab came on a thirdand-5 and with the Aggies trailing 28-24 late in the third quarter. The drive ended with a 19-yard touchdown run by Isaiah Spiller — one that would not have happened without Wydermyer’s acrobatics seven plays earlier.
“I practice that catch every day,” Wydermyer said. “Onehanded or over the shoulder … I practice a lot of different ways of catching the ball. So when it happened, it was second nature.”
Fisher appreciates Wydermyer’s ball-catching ability but is just as impressed with his willingness to work on his blocking early in his college career.
“In the passing game, he’s continued to grow, and the verticality he has with his size and length (is a positive),” Fisher said. “But now he’s really grown into an on-the-line blocker and puller — he’s continued to become a complete tight end.
“A lot of (tight ends) today become either the athlete or the blocker. It’s hard to get a guy who can do both and likes to do both. He was a huge part of our running game the other day.”
The hard-luck Cupp suffered another season-ending injury in camp, and the Aggies’ depth at tight end took another hit when true freshman Blake Smith was lost for the season with an injury.
Much like last season, Wydermyer leads a position cobbled together from leftovers, this time a walk-on in the dependable Ryan Renick, a converted defensive end (Max Wright) and a converted quarterback (Connor Blumrick). Wydermyer’s 15 catches lead the team, and his 154 receiving yards rank third after three games.
Fisher, hired at A&M from Florida State less than three years ago, had only been on the job a short time when he began recruiting Wydermyer, who also mulled offers from Ohio State, Missouri and Nebraska before choosing the program 125 miles from home.
Asked why he ultimately tabbed A&M, Wydermyer cheerfully responded, “Coach Fisher and coach Fisher’s offense. And there’s such an atmosphere around Texas A&M that I love. It’s close to home, and my family comes to every game.”