Izayah Cummings is one of the tight ends Rich Scangarello thinks could be a future NFL player. (UK Athletics Photo)
Okay, how many times have we heard that Kentucky is going to throw the football more to the tight ends in the last 15 years since the graduation of all-SEC tight end Jacob Tamme?
How many times have we heard current tight ends coach Vince Marrow say this is the season his group will get the ball more and be a huge impact on the offense?
Well, maybe this is the year based on what new offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello said Wednesday at UK’s Media Day.
“We have route runners, pass catchers, some thumpers, some speed, some who will run over you,” Scangarello said. “I do not want to over hype anything but I am very excited about the tight end room. It’s hard to imagine having a better one.”
Scangarello was the quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers — a team that relies heavily on tight ends — before coming to UK.
“You did not have the luxury of carrying six tight ends in the NFL,” he said.
Now get ready for this.
“We have three, four, five in that room who can play on Sunday (in the NFL),” Scangarello said. “They are all different. It’s really a good group.”
Count quarterback Will Levis as a believer who says there is no “set depth chart” at tight end because of the versatility the players have.
“It’s more so figuring out which guys are best at doing different things. We have personnel sets with two or three tight ends and only do that if you are confident enough to put them on the field,” Levis said.
Kentucky’s tight ends are junior Izayah Cummings, senior Keaton Upshaw, freshman Jordan Dingle, freshman Josh Kattus and senior Brenden Bates.
Upshaw missed all of last season with an injury while Cummings was injured late in the season after converting from receiver to tight end.
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops believes Cummings will “make a big difference” in the offense.
“Just seeing him out there today already caught my eye because he missed all spring. It was nice having him back out there. He’s full strength and going at it, and hopefully he’ll stay healthy,” Stoops said Wednesday.
What about having Upshaw back?
“It’s nice to see Keaton out there. Obviously he’s had a couple bad breaks, and hopefully he’ll stay healthy. He definitely has that size that we were mentioning earlier, talking about. He’s a big target, very athletic and can do a lot of things for a tight end. He’s a complete tight end,” the UK coach said.
So will the tight ends actually catch more balls this year?
“Well, you know Vince is always calling for that. That’s the only suggestion he ever makes,” Stoops joked. “No, Rich (Scangarello) likes being multiple, so it’s a tight end friendly offense, that’s for sure, so they should get some action.”
