Magic of tight ends
By: Jake Rajala
The New Orleans Saints were home to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. There was a fascinating part of the game: tight ends. There was a record of 7 combined touchdowns by the tight ends.
Brock Bowers is arguably the best NFL TE. He could be on the same level as Gronk. He can shine from the out-side and from the slot. I would have liked to see him more doubled team. Bowers unleashed 116 yards and a touchdown. Obviously, Bowers is coming off an injury and this was his first game this season.
Juwan Johnson was a complex case. He had two touchdowns, but he also fumbled the ball at the end, which cost the Saints an opportunity to score a touchdown. Juwan brings back memories of Jared Cook fumbling the ball in the playoffs.
I loved the effort from Noah Fant. He was flawless and looking like an athletic freak. He had a pair of touchdowns, which included him walking the wire on his second TD. Fant is 28 years old, which isn’t old in TE years.
Michael Mayer and Cody White also had touchdowns for the Raiders. They aren’t names that come to mind when you hear a TD unfolded. Interestingly, White only had one grab for four yards on the night. Mayer only had four catches, as well.
The running game helped the tight ends excel for each TE. The Saints really fed Alvin Kamara and Travis Etienne. Etienne had 13 carries, AK had nine carries, and Kendre Miller had four carries. Kellen Moore loves the play-action game, and Tyler Shough loves to throw short passes. This combination allows tight ends to excel.
Klint Kubiak knew the Saints were contempt with a CB covering Bowers. This made it easy for the son of Gary to keep throwing at his direction.
It’s intriguing that the neither team had a quality group of tight ends. Yet, it worked out extremely well.
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