Finding The Next Great BYU Tight End

BYU has had a history of great tight ends in college and some even in the NFL, most notably Chad Lewis, but this year the Cougars will be replacing two of their best ever in Andrew George and Dennis Pitta both of whom have a legitimate shot of getting drafted in the NFL.

Whoever is the starting tight end will have a lot to replace since Dennis Pitta lead the Cougars in receiving while Andrew George was third.  Those two players combined for over 1,200 yards and twelve touchdowns.  The tight ends do not need to replicate those numbers partly because that receivers McKay Jacobson and O'Neill Chambers should step up and improve from last year.

A startling figure is that none of the current tight ends have accumulated a single stat as a BYU Cougar.  The current cautionary spring leader in reps with the first team is Mike Muehlmann who just returned from an LDS mission and has the size to be a pass catching tight end at 6-5 225 pounds, but could put on maybe 15 more to be an effective blocker. 

Richard Wilson has the speed to be that pass catching tight end, and is the fastest of the tight ends; for what that is worth.  He has not seen the field with a quad injury and a hold up in some paper work, so he is currently not on the top of the list.

Devin Mahina has the size for a tight end but he too has just returned from a LDS mission and may need a year before could be a full time contributor.

Jordan Lower is a walk-on who came from Snow College and was a preseason 2009 JUCO All-American candidate. He played in seven games and ended up with four touchdowns.

Austin Holt is the most notable of the bunch as he was a highly sought after tight end in the 2008 class as he was 24th nationally and had offers from Utah, Stanford, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Washington.  However, he will be returning to BYU in July after his mission.  He has the talent, but he may not be able to get in to shape in time to play much this year.  My opinion is that he would be better off redshirting this season and get his legs back to be a potential four year starter in 2011.