Huskers looking to be more productive at tight end
One of many areas head coach Scott Frost and his staff look to improve from last season is at tight end.
Nebraska played with a talented group at the position last season, but the overall production was a bit underwhelming as the trio of Jack Stoll, Austin Allen and Kurt Rafdal caught a total of 33 passes for 326 yards and one touchdown. Finding a way to capitalize on the return of Stoll, Allen, Rafdal, plus the addition of transfer Travis Vokolek was imperative during the offseason.
"I think there's a lot that went into that," Frost said about the production of the tight ends from last season. "We looked at that as coaches and are trying to find ways to get tight ends the ball a little bit more. That hasn't been a problem in our offense at all. We would've liked to see them be more productive last year. That wasn't necessarily due to scheme or the guys we had playing tight end.
"Sometimes it was situations, sometimes it was other people around the tight ends maybe not quite doing their job. I expect that production will change this year with the guys that we have in that room now."
New offensive coordinator and receivers coach Matt Lubick said he and Frost are on the same page as far as trying to evolve the offense without necessarily changing the core principles.
"We believe in a lot of common things, and I think about the style of our offense, where it starts, so I think that's why he felt comfortable bringing me in here," Lubick said. "But I also think part of being a good coach is you're always evolving and you're always trying to get better, and find out where's something out there that can fit in our offense and make us better. But at the same time, sticking to your principles and not getting too big to where your kids can't understand what you're doing."
The tight end position is certainly a part of the evolution according to tight ends coach Sean Beckton.
"There’s some change from the tight ends and some of the things that we’re doing differently," Beckton explained. "We’re looking forward to showing those guys some of the things I’ve learned being able to sit back and study a little bit more. I’ve watched a lot of NFL over the break, Coach Frost and all of us across the board.
"He gave us all some things to work on and look at and present to the rest of the staff. Some of those things we’re not going to do. A lot of those things we’re going to explore."
A couple areas where fans may see a difference in play from the tight ends next fall is on third down and in the red zone.
"We’re looking forward to it," Beckton said about the tight ends getting more red zone targets. "I know Coach Lubick has done a lot of research there and I’ve done a lot of research this offseason there and we’re going to continue to research it more and revamp the practice schedule where we’re going to have some days where we work on it.
"You get what you work on so there’s some situations on some practices where Coach Frost has kind of grown in his development. He knows that those areas we’re weak in. So he’s going to spend some days just working on red zone, some days we’re working on third down execution. So those are some of the things that we saw that we need to change our approach so obviously the tight ends we’re going to do some things there to try to get those guys the ball in the red zone."
For guys like Stoll, they're just looking to help the team in any way they can. Of course, he believes they have the talent at tight end to make some plays when called upon.
"We have a lot of playmakers in the tight end group," Stoll said. "We're just excited to see what we can end up doing."