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Chase Blakley, Class of 2014 Tight End, Commits to UW

By Ben Knibbe
Stephen Dunn

After Steve Sarkisian let out Montlake's favorite tweet this morning, fans and beat writers of the University of Washington didn't have to wait long to find out who had committed to UW. Within minutes, TE Chase Blakley had retweeted Sarkisian. Closing in on two hours later, Blakley used his own Twitter account to make the announcement himself: he has made the decision to attend the University of Washington.

Blakley is of the Class of 2014, meaning that he is yet to play his senior season at Cour d'Alene. In his junior season he had 51 receptions for 598 yards to go along with eight touchdowns, seven receiving. He is right now listed at 6'4", 215 lbs. and has the sort of frame to add on the pounds to better withstand battles in the trenches at the college level, as he has played mostly WR offensively as a Cour d'Alene Viking.

Cour-d'Alene resident and DawgPound member jacobcda put together a mini-scouting report on Blakley:

Last year he started at both WR and DE. Obviously, as a 16 y/o that entered the season at 6'4" 215 lbs. He has the frame to add quite a bit of mass. That's why he's being viewed as a TE.

CDA's offense is basically Oregon light. They value speed, conditioning, athleticism over size. They are all about getting athletes into space. That doesn't mean they aren't strong though, over the last two years this team has REGULARLY physically dominated teams who were much bigger then they were. My guess is that we won't see Blakley put on to much weight this year, maybe up to about 230-235, but when he gets to Montlake he'll have the capacity to add quite a bit more size.

Scout has Blakley listed as a three-star recruit and the number 15 tight end in the country. Rivals has him listed at a four-star, and the number eight tight end.

He is likely to fill a role similar to Austin Seferian-Jenkins, in that he is a big target that can be moved around the field to catch passes. The role of a pass-catching tight end that can be lined up in the slot and on the outside, with very little job as a blocker is called a ‘joker' or a ‘move' tight end. Blocking will probably never be his strong suit, as he isn't asked to block in-line as a WR, but he could potentially develop the skill.

He is the fourth known commitment to the class of 2014, joining WR Rashead Johnson and DEs Don Hill and Tui Talia. The class of 2013 consisted of one TE, David Ajamu, who joined Michael Hartvigson, Evan Hudson, Joshua Perkins and the aforementioned Mackey Award finalist Seferian-Jenkins.

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