Top five by position in the Pac 10 - Tight End
by John Berkowitz on May 4, 2010 9:27 AM PDT
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1. Joe Halahuni Jr...Oregon State
2. Kavario Middleton Jr...Washington
3. Anthony Miller Jr...California
4. Coby Fleener Sr...Stanford
5. David Paulson Jr...Oregon
Oregon State has the best looking group of TE's in the conference led by Joe Halahuni who is technically an H-Back and Brady Camp who is a true TE. Oregon State uses it's TE's quite a bit and you can bet while breaking in a new QB they are going to be throwing a lot of high percentage passes in the direction of the TE. Halahuni is from Orting, Wa and he always dreamed of being a Husky. He says the uncertainty going on during the Willingham years convinced him to look South rather than stay closer to home.
Halahuni’s position coach, Robin Ross, said the soft-spoken Halahuni makes running and catching look effortless. "He’s got good hands, good body control, a low center of gravity – you see people just bounce off him,’’ said Ross. "Things just come naturally for him.’’ Halahuni doesn’t have Joe Newton size – Newton is a practice squad player for the Seattle Seahawks listed at 6-7 – but Riley said Halahuni compensates by being a terrific athlete. "He can go up with his hands and catch the ball,’’ said Riley.
Kavario Middleton caught 26 balls last season, had three TD's, and 257 yards which aren't huge numbers. Middleton is due for a breakout type of season catching the ball. He is a very athletic receiver who has a great set of hands. Chris Izbicki however emerged as starter 1-A this spring by becoming more consistent catching the ball and becoming an improved blocker. Middleton remains the best weapon when it comes to catching the ball and getting yards after the catch.
"We want to put up 50 points," Middleton said of Saturday's 3:30 p.m. game against WSU at Husky Stadium. "Run the score up. Put on a show. We're just trying to make a statement that we are the real deal."
Cal's Anthony Miller caught 25 passes for 357 yards last season. Miller is a big play type of guy who was highly recruited out of high school. If Riley can get him the ball he knows what to do with it. Anthony led Cal with five receptions for 55 yards in the Poinsettia Bowl loss to Utah.
The Bears probably return the most accomplished tight end in junior Anthony Miller, an all-league honorable mention selection in 2009 after catching 26 passes for 357 yards. No one should threaten Miller’s starting status, but some are in the mix for playing time, such as Jarrett Sparks and Ben Ladner.
According to his bio Coby Fleener has the size to play TE and the speed to play receiver. Andrew Luck will be tossing balls his way in 2010 and chances are he is going to have a big year now that he has the starting job all to himself.
The Cardinal aren’t completely starting over after losing second-team all-league performer Dray to graduation, but it’s definitely a setback. Stanford will build around two seniors in Coby Fleener, who caught 21 passes last year, and Konrad Reuland.
David Paulson caught my eye a number of times last season even though he was the backup to Ed Dickson. Paulson is a solid TE who just tore up Washington by making some great drive saving catches last season. Paulson is another Puget Sound area athlete who got away during the Willingham years.
Junior David Paulson did some nice things last year as Dickson's backup, catching 12 passes for 185 yards. He's got good hands and is a solid blocker and a better-than-you'd-think overall athlete. Still, a team needs more than one tight end and there are a couple of new guys who could push Paulson for the starting job. JC transfer Brandon Williams arrived in January. He had 56 receptions for 908 yards and seven touchdowns for Joliet Junior College. Also, incoming freshman Curtis White is one of the Ducks most celebrated recruits. He'll almost certainly be in the mix in the fall.
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Homerism
Perhaps you could call me a homer for rating Middleton this high but the guy can go get the ball. He has first round potential once he puts all the parts together. This is an important year for him.
On potential, maybe.
On results, yeah, it’s a homer call. Two of those TD’s came at the absolute end of losses (LSU and Oregon State), and there was just too little in between. Lots of one-catch games, especially toward the end of the season.
I think he’s got as much potential as anybody on the team. But that’s sort of damning him with faint praise at this point. In watching him in practices and games, I honestly don’t see a ton of “want to” out of him. Sometimes I lose sight of the fact that he’s only played two seasons and wasn’t given the chance to redshirt (and if any of the guys that Willingham needed a year to get bigger and stronger, it was him), but he’s just so incredibly naturally talented and does so little with it.
Like you said, he could be a first-rounder. But that almost makes it worse to me – he’s sitting on a winning lottery ticket, and the only thing he has to do to cash it in is deal with the grind of hitting the weights, and putting in the effort on a day-by-day, and play-by-play, basis.
Good call on Halahuni.
The kid broke out a few times for crazy numbers but even in his quieter games he was silently effective. Absolutely LOVED watching him develop after his g-shirt year. Such a beast.
If you want to have some Halahuni-fun, watch his Cal and SC highlights. He’s a nightmare in the open field.
It's not a great picture
John correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t that Middleton’s out of bounds catch on the endzone? Sure looks like it.
Middleton or Izibiki or both have got to step up this season. It’s time to quit B.S.ing around and become what you were suppose to be- stud tight ends, afterall that is the reason we brought both you guys in here.
All I saw was purple
That was a TD..
…and it brought us within a TD of Zona. None of us will forget what happened next, the pick six by Mason Foster off of the Zona players foot.
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
Agreed, Great Pic!
The catch was great, but more importantly, the second guy from the right is especially handsome (that’s me in my Tui jersey…easier to see after you click the photo then zoom in a bit!).
Middleton
The kid can flat catch the football. That catch (pictured) was critical to giving the Huskies a chance to fight for the win. He made a really athletic, body control type of catch. He’s still young and I think if he gets it going it may set him up for a huge season. I hope his blocking is vastly improved, that’s been his biggest weakness.
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
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