Walker Lyons was in the eighth grade when he felt a connection to the tight end position, inspired to plant his hand in the dirt after watching film of the San Francisco 49ers’ George Kittle.
“He enjoyed it and loved it,” Lyons said, “and would put defenders in like the dirt and laugh. I try and have that a little bit, and so I always try and finish blocks. I actually do enjoy it. I do enjoy physically moving somebody. I think it’s fun.”
Tight end is a unique position, requiring the attributes and knowledge of almost all other offensive positions but hardly any of the glory.
A good one is hard to find, and building up that position group has been a years-long process for the USC football team. It’s created a seemingly unstoppable offense and, with a blue-chip recruit on the way, there’s still more to come.
“God didn’t make many of those people,” Lincoln Riley told reporters on a Zoom call.
“Seriously. In the general population, there’s not that many people that are big enough and strong enough to block like an offensive lineman, but nimble enough to go catch balls like a receiver and then smart enough to be able to process and handle all that.”
Increased contributions
The tight ends have shined through USC’s season-opening, four-game winning streak. They’ve chipped in four touchdowns after not scoring at all last season while blocking at a high enough level to help the Trojans score 27 touchdowns while averaging 583.8 yards of total offense per game.
“Twelve personnel (one running back and two tight ends) is one of the hardest personnels for defenses to defend against – if not the single hardest,” said media personality George Wrighster, who played tight end for six seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“It just creates mismatches because you don’t know – if they’re bringing in 12 personnel – whether they’re going to line up detached from the tackles or whether they’re going to line up on the same side. It just creates a lot of schematic issues for the defense.”
USC primarily deploys redshirt senior Lake McRee and Lyons at tight end, although Carson Tabaracci has also contributed a touchdown.
Pro Football Focus ranks McRee as the No. 16 tight end in the FBS with an overall 79.6 grade, and his receiving abilities stand above the rest with a 79.8 grade. He’s third on the team with 189 receiving yards.
Lyons, who is seeing his stock rise in his sophomore season, owns a 70.9 pass blocking grade and has caught six passes for 68 yards.
“We know we have to keep continuing to prove ourselves in practice and prove ourselves to the coaches and everyone else in the building,” McRee said. “But we’re excited with (scoring). Not as much as we wanted last year, and we’re able to be in a decent spot right now. I’m happy with it right now, but we know it’s early in the season and we’ve got to keep it going.”
Both tight ends have gone through physical changes in order to compete with the tough style of play in the Big Ten Conference. Lyons said he’s gone from 220 to 245 pounds from his freshman to sophomore season.
Shaping up the tight end room was an early priority when Riley arrived on campus. Now, the improved depth and physical abilities have allowed Riley to expand the playbook. He used 12 personnel to varying degrees at East Carolina and Oklahoma, and has been eagerly waiting for the position group to come to fruition at USC.
“I missed it because I love the matchups, love what it creates,” Riley said. “There’s so much you can do. A really good one could be like having a sixth O-lineman, a fourth receiver. At times, we’ve had almost a second or third running back in the game. The great ones can create just such unique matchups.
“It’s the one piece that, really, can truly do everything.”
A rare commodity
Finding a good tight end out of high school or even in the portal is a rare feat. Not every high school team utilizes the tight end position, and even fewer programs have a designated coach for the position.
On top of that, all of the required characteristics rarely come together in one roughly 6-foot-5, 220-plus-pound athlete.
“In terms of skill position players, tight ends are the hardest to find because it’s a very specific body type and you also have to be one of the smartest players on the field,” Wrighster said. “In most offenses, nobody has to know more on the field. It’s the quarterback, one – and then tight end, usually, two.”
They need to know receiver routes, running back patterns and blocking schemes while also having the physical ability to go head-to-head with or beat out myriad defensive players. And that’s not to mention the required mindset.
The blocking can be a thankless job, so no divas need apply. But more than that, there has to be an intrinsic motivation to take on gargantuan tasks.
“These defensive ends, they’re gonna be bigger than you,” Lyons said, “but you have to be able to put your head in there and get after it, otherwise there’s not really a chance. First, I think it’s the mental – like, yes, I can do that. And I think some people have that, and some people don’t.”
The Trojans will be getting all of the above in Mark Bowman, the five-star Mater Dei tight end who announced his commitment to USC on May 30.
Bowman, who could reportedly earn up to $6.5 million in NIL deals, is a prototypical tight end at 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds. He’s been training at the position with Mater Dei’s designated tight ends coach, Rudy Cambero, who also serves as the team’s recruiting coordinator.
“One of one is how we would describe him,” 247 Sports national recruiting analyst Greg Biggins said. “Usually, you see young tight ends who are more like big receivers or they’re this big, inline blocking kid. But he’s kind of the rare combination of both.”
Bowman has grabbed 12 passes for 182 receiving yards and two touchdowns in four games this season as a senior, and he’s also covering punts on special teams.
“God-given for sure. Not everybody is created equal,” Biggins said. “Not everybody can be 6-4 and 220 and be able to run like he does and jump. He was born with some gifts. But the thing that makes him rare is just how hard he works.”
While college football teams continue to pan for gold in the recruiting pipeline and transfer portal, USC has found precious metal multiple times.
The Trojans are sculpting a multi-purpose tight end room that’s ready for anything and is getting them the thing they need the most – wins.