Serviceable trio overcame inexperience
The Texans’ three-headed approach to the tight end position is defined by necessity and flexibility.
Not having a true combo player that excels at catching the football and blocking since the forced retirement of tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz due to chronic concussions, the Texans divide responsibilities between three players: veteran Ryan Griffin and rookies Jordan Akins and Jordan Thomas.
This is a reliable, albeit unspectacular group.
All are willing blockers, but only Thomas has the size at 6-5, 280 pounds to drive opponents backward on a consistent basis. And Thomas has a limited background at the position as a converted college wide receiver.
Griffin is a tall receiving tight end who led the Texans’ tight ends with 24 catches for 305 yards and no scores. He’s under contract for next season.
A third-round draft pick from Central Florida, Akins is more of an H-back type. He has excellent hands and should be utilized more going forward. He caught 16 passes on 25 targets for 225 yards and no scores.
Thomas is a huge red-zone threat. He caught four touchdowns among his 20 receptions for 215 yards and 27 targets. He’s very athletic for his size.
Collectively, they combined for 61 receptions for 745 yards and no scores.
Akins and Thomas should keep improving in their second NFL season.
“I really believe in those two guys,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. “Going through a rookie year at that position is hard. It’s totally different than, especially for both of them. The way that they were used in college, they weren’t asked to block. Jordan Thomas was a wide receiver and then all of a sudden he walked into the building at Mississippi State and he was 275 pounds. You aren’t going to be a wide receiver anymore.
“Jordan Akins lined up as a wide receiver a lot at UCF or in the slot. Now they’re asked to do a little bit more in the blocking, because if you can block and you run routes, now the defense has to decide how they want to play that from a personnel standpoint. They learned about all of that. They learned how to get better with their techniques and I really do believe if they work hard in the offseason, they’ll make a big jump between their first and second year. No doubt about it.”
There were times that the Texans barely had the tight ends in the game plan. There were other games where they were called upon a lot. Some of that was dictated by the need to keep them in to block to support a struggling offensive line.
“I think it always impacts it,” O’Brien said. “It’s not about necessarily always the technique or their knowledge of the assignment. Sometimes it’s just about who they have to block. ‘OK, so do we think that this guy as a young player is going to be able to block that grown man?’
“I think that’s something that we try to decide every week and hopefully we can be more consistent with being able to do that next year.”
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