When Ed Warinner was moved from offensive line coach to tight ends coach prior to the 2016 season, he said that as the offensive coordinator, this would be good news for the Ohio State tight ends.
He was right, but not as emphatically as he would have hoped. The Buckeye tight ends went from 21 catches and zero touchdowns in 2015 to 27 catches and two touchdowns one year later.
Warinner was replaced as offensive coordinator and tight ends coach by Kevin Wilson following the 2016 season. Last season, the tight ends responded with 36 catches and seven touchdowns.
This year, the Buckeyes lose starter Marcus Baugh, but with the continued maturation of fourth-year junior Rashod Berry and third-year sophomores Luke Farrell and Jake Hausmann — as well as the introduction of 5-star freshman Jeremy Ruckert, there could be more options here than Ohio State has had of late.
In fact, there could be enough tight ends who deserve to see the field for the Buckeyes that they could implement some “12” personnel, which means “1” tailback and “2” tight ends.
“We did some of that this spring,” Wilson said. “The only thing I will say about that is I like that a lot. Not because it’s my guys, but I like it when you can go from 12 and still spread out. In a perfect world when you can move guys around, it puts a lot of stress on the defense.”
With Ohio State wanting to stretch defenses far and wide, having the ability to run up-tempo with a tight end who can block in space in the slot or be just as effective as a receiver in that same area gives the OSU offense some powerful versatility.
There is a slight problem with doing this, however, and that is the fact that there are so many players at the other skill positions who also deserve to see the field.
Regardless, though, the best players are going to play. And it’s Wilson’s job to get the tight ends into that group.
“We’ve got some deep receivers as far as numbers and depth. Same at running back,” he said. “And if we can keep that tight end group coming along, we’ll have a lot of toys to play with and move guys around.”
Sitting back and thinking of the possibilities and the potential, however, it’s impossible for Wilson not to think about what could be this year.
“I’d love to get that [12] personnel,” he said. “We did it more this spring than we did last year. We’ll see if we can keep it moving, especially with Jeremy coming in as we have more depth.”
