Positional preview: The Tight Ends

After announcing he was leaving, Austin Pope decided to return for his final year. Pope missed the 2020 season after having back surgery. Pope is the Vols most experienced tight end and is their best blocker. The question is can he stay healthy and how effective is he in Josh Heupel’s offense. Pope was a big time pass catcher out of high school. Pope has played in 33 games as a Vol and has just seven catches. Will Pope be more than a blocker for Alex Golesh in his final run in 2021.

Joining Pope as returning tight ends are Princeton Fant and Jacob Warren. With Pope not on the field in last year’s 10 game season, Fant saw his most action as he started 3 games. Fant had 12 catches in 2020 for 103 yards and a touchdown. For his career he has 14 receptions. Fant can play tight end or h-back. He’s improved as a blocker and at the end of his career has found a positional home after arriving as a receiver then moving to defense before settling in at tight end.

Jacob Warren at 246 pounds is the biggest and strongest he has been since he’s been a Vol. Warren started 5 games a year ago with 6 catches for 73 yards and a touchdown. Athletically, Warren is the most gifted returning tight end.

Tennessee added a trio of tight ends in the 2021 signing class with Trinity Bell, Julian Nixon and Miles Campbell, who enrolled in January.

Campbell showed soft hands in the spring catching the ball well and continues to improve his physicality. He should help with depth from day one.

Trinity Bell is the biggest high end on the roster. He’s coming off a torn ACL and the question is will Bell ultimately remain on offense or could he flip to defense where he played in high school as he played offense and defense. How close to 100% is Bell is the question.

Julian Nixon has the biggest adjustment to make. The 6-3, 245 pound prospect dealt with his own ACL injuries early in his high school career. As a high school player when healthy he played receiver so he will have plenty to learn about being a blocker especially at the SEC level.

The greatest strength of this group is their experience. Tennessee has three returning with tight ends who have played alot of football. Pope’s return gives them some physicality on the line of scrimmage in the run game. Warren athletically could cause some match up problems especially if he shows he ability to play the position in line as well as flexed out. Like Warren, Fant has good hands and has shown the ability to get open.

They don’t have a big time proven playmaker. A guy that is a real problem stretching the middle of the field. Heupel always talks about how flexible his offense can be to match his personnel. If that’s the case how does he effectively use the group of tight ends he inherited.

Offensive coordinator Alex Golesh has a reputation of really using the tight ends as a pass catching weapon in the offense. Can he find what he’s looking for from an experienced group who played more in line than flexed out a season ago.