While the new year has begun, HuskerOnline is looking back at the previous season and taking a deep dive into each of Nebraska's positions, how they graded, their trends and other observations.
Nebraska's tight end position, especially Austin Allen, was one of the bright spots on the Huskers' offense and the stats reflect that.
Observations:
The star:
In the 2021 season, Austin Allen was the highest-graded tight end in the Big Ten, the second-highest in Power Five and fourth in the FBS based on his offense grade. Georgia freshman standout Brock Bowers is the only tight end with a higher offense grade in the Power Five than Allen.
Nebraska relied on Allen in moments when they were desperate and he delivered with 27 first downs, the third-most on the team behind quarterback Adrian Martinez and wide receiver Samori Toure.
Allen did everything possible to give himself a shot to play at the next level. He had the highest offense grade and reception grade on Nebraska's team. The 6-foot-9 tight end improved his pass block grade 35 points from last season.
Travis Vokolek:
After missing Nebraska's first three games, Travis Vokolek provided to be a solid second option at tight end. Vokolek is returning for another season to have a good chance at being the No. 1 tight end and more than 14 targets as he did in 2021.
Vokolek's reception grade is 58 based on his game performances but scored high on deep passes (88.9), medium (91.8) and short passes (91.1). His catches from behind the line of scrimmage earned him a 64.8 grade. He catch all four passes with had a combined 15 yards.
The 6-foot-6, 260-pound tight end had two games with a reception grade of over 60 which could factor in the number of targets. As a six-year player and one of the most experienced players in the tight end room, Vokolek will have a shot to be a bigger contributor in 2022.
The best run blocker:
Chancellor Brewington transferred to Nebraska from Northern Arizona and agreed to switch positions from wide receiver to tight end due to some injuries in the group. Brewington proved he was valuable and became a part of some of Nebraska's red zone plays.
The tight end had the highest run block grade on the entire team, including offensive linemen, with a 74.3 grade. Brewington earned an 80.2 run block grade on gap blocking.
Brewington has several plays where he trucked a defended on the goal line. Against Iowa, he laid out a defensive back as he was motioning across and did the same thing on a similar play against Northwestern. Both plays resulted in a touchdown.
He caught all three of his passes, one for a touchdown, and with Allen moving on, Brewington could have a bigger role in 2022, especially with those blocking skills.
Most reliable catchers:
Nebraska's tight ends were the most reliable receivers on the team. Allen and Vokolek had the two highest reception percentages of the team's receivers. Allen caught 79.2 percent of his 48 targets and Vokolek caught 78.6 percent.
While Brewington and Nate Boericher didn't play often they both caught the five combined passes that went their way. Chris Hickman brought in three of his seven passes.
The tight ends did the best job of catching passes where a defender is close in coverage. Allen secured six of the seven contested passes. Vokolek and Hickman each caught their lone contested pass during the 2021 season.
