Spring preview: Tight end room loaded with depth this spring
The Nebraska football team is scheduled to officially start spring practice on Tuesday, Mar. 30, as the Big Red will go five straight weeks before wrapping things up with the May 1 Red-White spring game.
As we get closer to the start of spring practice, it's time to take an in-depth look at each position group.
Today we take we breakdown the tight end position, as the Huskers have nearly all of their production from a year ago back this spring.
What we know right now: TE is Nebraska's deepest position on offense
Nebraska returns three of their top four tight ends from a year ago, and they add the nation's No. 1 ranked high school tight end this spring.
It's safe to say the tight end position for the Huskers is arguably the deepest of any returning position group on the offense.
Both juniors Austin Allen and Travis Vokolek had some promising moments in 2020, and that should only continue going forward.
By season's end, quarterback Adrian Martinez did an excellent job of finding Allen and Vokolek in key passing situations.
If the wide receiver play can improve in 2021, and Nebraska can get more production from their running backs, the role of the tight end in this offense should only get better.
Also, with newcomers like Thomas Fidone and James Carnie already on campus, and even a veteran like Kurt Rafdal here, it's been a long time since the tight end room at NU has had this type of depth and competition.
Biggest question to answer: How to best utilize Thomas Fidone
When I look at Nebraska's tight end room, we know what both Allen and Vokolek can do. The biggest question is how do you plug in the nation's No. 1 ranked tight end with them?
I think a big part of this spring will be getting a feel for Fidone's overall strengths and where he can help this football team in 2021.
If that means splitting him out more as a wide receiver, you may see Fidone utilized in different ways. I think that is easily one of the most intriguing things to watch with this position group over the spring.
Spring darkhorse: James Carnie
We know a lot already about Nebraska's tight end room heading into the spring, but early enrollee James Carnie is a real dark horse.
If he would've had a junior track season, he was poised to run 10.9 in the 100 and sub-22 seconds in the 200 according to his track coach Chris Slatt. As a sophomore, he ran a leg on the Titans state champion 400-meter relay team.
The only thing that will limit Carnie this spring is he underwent shoulder surgery after his senior season ended, and just recently was cleared to do limited workouts, but it remains unknown how much physical contact he will go through during spring practice.
Nonetheless, Carnie is arguably as fast as any tight end on the roster, as he edged out even Fidone in the 40-yard dash last summer at the Warren Academy Showcase event in Omaha.