Football
Passing Game Well Manned - Part III, Tight Ends
By John Porentas
Wide receivers?
Check.
Quarterbacks?
Check.
Tight ends?
Now there's a good question.
In 2001 the Buckeyes saw two tight ends get considerable playing
time, Darnell Sanders and Ben Hartsock. As the season progressed,
Sanders assumed the role of the pass catching threat, while Hartsock
was the hard-nosed, two-tight end formation, butt kicking blocker
that would come in when the Buckeyes needed tough yardage. Both Sanders
and Hartsock were underclassmen last season and scheduled to return
in 2002. Sanders, however, opted to forego his final year of eligibility
and landed on the Cleveland Brown's roster.
Hartsock is back, bigger, stronger, and tougher than ever. What he
is trying to do this fall is shake the image that pass catching is
not something he can do.
"It's
a never ending thing for me, you know?" said Hartsock when asked
if that were the case.
"I've got that look of being a big, honkin' kind of guy. I don't
know what I can do. I'm going to have to go in and maybe get some
cosmetic surgery and make myself look a little bit better," he
laughed.
This season Hartsock will be joined at tight end by redshirt freshman
Ryan Hamby (6-5, 240) , redshirt sophomore Jason Caldwell (6-5, 265)
and redshirt freshman Redgie Arden (6-4, 240) as well as freshmen
R.J. Coleman (6-5, 265) and Stan White Jr. (6-3, 230). Of that group
it is Hamby who has emerged with the reputation as the pass-catching
tight end. Hartsock has no problem with Hamby having that mantle,
but thinks he perhaps is being underestimated as a receiver.
"Hamby has had a great spring and he's working hard this camp
to try to get better at different things, just like I am," said
Hartsock. "I'm going out and catching passes and running routes.
I don't think I'm any slower than he is ," Hartsock said with
a laugh. "He may beg to differ. It's just one of those things
you've got to deal with," he quipped.
For
his part, Hamby has the opposite problem. He is seen as the undersized
tight end that can catch it, but isn't big enough or physical enough
to block. Hamby says maybe that was true at one time, but things have
changed.
"I can tell you one thing. From last year to this year I've
made huge strides in blocking. Big time," said Hamby.
"I've caught up to the speed of the game and everything like
that, so that's helped out a lot. Receiving, that's always what I've
been known for, but blocking, I've gotten a lot better," Hamby
said.
And where has Hamby found this new blocking prowess?
"I've learned a lot from Ben (Hartsock). He's a great guy to
learn from," he said. "I've also gotten bigger. Last year
I played at 210. I weighed in for physicals at 240 this year,"
said Hamby.
"It's solid. I put on good weight. They forced food down me
this summer. I had to eat a lot, a lot, a lot," he laughed, "but
I'm doing all right. The weight feels good."
Hamby sustained a slight knee injury in the first fall scrimmage
but indications are that he will be ready for the opener vs. Texas
Tech. The question is, however, that with all the talent at the wide
receiver spot, just how much will the tight ends figure into the passing
game as receivers.
"You never know," said Hartsock. "I can't make any
judgment right now. The first couple of days of practice I was pretty
excited. We got some balls our way and I kind of mentioned that we
were having a career day that day. They kind of shied away on other
days, but they were installing different things so each day is a little
bit different," Hartsock said.
Hamby seemed downright prayerful that the tight ends would see the
ball this fall.
"I hope. I hope," he grinned.
Hamby doesn't see the abundance of talent at wide receiver as a
negative toward the tight ends being involved in the passing game
as receivers.
"I don't think so," he said. "You look at and you
say, the wide receivers are so good. The other teams do too, so they
concentrate on them and maybe that's were the tight end will come
in and open it up a little bit more," Hamby speculated.
One thing is certain. The tight ends will be called upon to block,
particularly with the situation at fullback where graduation, suspensions
and academic problems have left the Buckeyes thin and therefore short
a blocker in their offense.
"I think that's one of the differences that changing within
our offense," said Hartsock
"With Jamar Martin last year, the coaches had the luxury of
calling on him to do nearly the work of what an offensive lineman
would do from an offensive backfield position. They had every confidence
that he was going to be able to do that. That gave them a lot of leeway
in things that they could and couldn't do. Now that he's gone we've
got to find a guy that can replace him so they are doing some different
things to use different people. We (tight ends) are part of that,"
Hartsock said.
Blocking will be a crucial element of tight end play this year. Hartsock
said that the Buckeye tight ends had no problem finding suitable competition
against whom to hone those skills during fall camp.
"You go out every day and going up against guys like Will Smith
and Darrion Scott and Kenny Peterson and all those defensive front
guys, it's challenging," he said.
"That's going to make us better when we get into the season.
I have all the confidence in the world that our defense is going to
be strong. The fact that you get to practice against such great players
is going to make our offense even better," he said.
As the heir apparent, Hartsock is the likely starter against Texas
Tech. Though the two-deep has not yet been announced, some time this
season Ryan Hamby will be asked to go out on the field and play a
little tight end. Hamby can't wait.
"If they say to go in, hey, I'm sprinting out there to go in.
It's up to them. I just go out there and show what I have," he
said.
Next, the overall offense.
Photos top to bottom: Tight ends Ben Hartsock and Ryan Hamby.