Each week this offseason, we’ll be focusing on one position and how the Panthers may choose to address their needs; whether they’re in the market for an upgrade at starter or just a reliable backup, every player on the 53-man roster is going to be important in 2018.
This is Tight End Week.
Greg Olsen will start next season as a 32 year-old tight end, coming off an injury while entering the final year of his contract, and the only other tight ends on the Panthers’ roster to see the field last season are free agents; to say there is a lot of uncertainty at the tight end position would be putting it mildly. With that in mind, the Panthers might well be interested in taking a tight end as early as the first round and should they look to take a tight end early on, they should look no further than Mark Andrews.
Blocking
Colleges tend to use tight ends either as glorified offensive linesmen or as slightly oversized receivers, and while Andrews was used in more of a NFL-style than most, there are still areas where he is largely inexperienced, pass protection being foremost. Oklahoma almost never (possibly literally never) asked Andrews to pass protect and, as such, his ability in this area will be a matter of pure projection. What goes in Andrew’s favor in this regard, however, is that he did show himself to be a good blocker both in space and in the run game.
Andrews certainly isn’t a hugely powerful blocker, he can rarely be seen driving his defender backwards in the run game, but what he shows on the play above is a solid base and good hand placement. He consistently shows an ability to get hand placement inside his defender’s frame which allows him to control his defender while making it hard for the defender to break loose. On the following play, he shows an ability to hold his block while moving laterally, something that bodes well for his potential ability in pass protection.
What Andrews also demonstrated in terms of blocking was an ability to locate defenders in space, such as on the following play where he is able to get his hands inside the defender’s frame and use his body to wall the defender off from the inside channel where the ball carrier is expected to run.
For blockers who aren’t able to overwhelm their defenders, this ability to manipulate them in space is highly valuable as it allows them to play a part in a wider blocking scheme through the use of undefended gaps. What is also important for players who are likely to be asked to make blocks in space is a degree of control, as it can be only too easy to give away holding penalties when trying to make such blocks. On the following play, Andrews shows an ability to recognize that he is going to be unable to secure a clean block, and instead uses a straight arm and good body position to shield the defender from the ball carrier, rather than attempting to secure a block which could have led to a penalty.
For somebody who was recruited as a receiver and who has only been asked to block in this way in recent years, he shows good timing and hand coordination as well as enough strength to be useful as a blocker at the NFL level. Given his receiving ability, it is unlikely that he is asked to pass protect a huge amount, but he shows the skills to be a good run blocker and could well be a competent pass protector at the very least. However, he will likely make his real money as receiver.
Core Receiving Skills
For any tight end looking to be taken seriously as a receiving threat in the NFL, certain core receiving skills need to be demonstrated:the ability to catch the ball and the athletic ability to gain some degree of vertical separation. The latter is somewhat less critical, but for many college tight ends who aren’t asked to run a huge number of routes, these two make up the vast majority of what teams can tell about their receiving ability.
While there are some concentration drops on tape, Andrews showed a consistent ability to catch the ball even when forced to make adjustments or to take the ball away from his frame. On the following play, the ball is above and behind Andrews, but he is still able to come down with the ball; he shows both a nice ability to watch the ball into his hands as well as a reasonable degree of body control in order to put himself in position to make the catch.
While he is unlikely to set the combine aflame, Andrews does show an ability to stretch the field vertically on tape and will likely be able to run away from linebackers and most safeties at the NFL level.
While these two skill sets set the basis for a receiving game, they are far from a nuanced receiving game. For many of the tight ends in the 2018 class, that is basically where their receiving ability ends; what sets Andrews apart is the polish he shows as a route runner runner and his ability after the catch.
The Route To Greatness
Many college tight ends run an extremely limited route tree, with the majority of their work being done either on simple drag and out routes or via hard run fakes. While Oklahoma did run these same drag and out concepts, what Andrews showed on tape was an ability to manipulate his defender to allow him to gain consistent separation on these underneath routes. But this all starts with those base concepts; on the following play, Andrews shows an ability to get separation with a quick out route.
He also shows this quickness on deeper routes, where he is able to use his subtle speed and ability to maintain momentum through his breaks to create separation to the outside:
Part of what helps him gain this separation is how he attacks the head of the route forcing the defender to freeze at the break point and then, by carrying his momentum through the break, he is able to gain quick and easy separation.
He also demonstrates this ability on deeper routes, as when matched up against a single defender in off coverage, his change of direction allows him to time his break to the defender’s decision point making it all but impossible for the defender to prevent him from gaining separation.
However, what separates Andrews from all but the best college tight ends is his ability to use head fakes to generate additional separation. On the first play, he acts as if he is going to run a drag route but instead breaks outside and generates significant separation. On the second, he is matched up in man with the linebacker; by first faking the out route before breaking back inside on what is essentially a Texas route, he is able to get open.
The final perfection of this in/out read is shown on a red zone play against Ohio State. Here, he breaks outside just long enough to commit his defender outside, before breaking back inside to find himself wide open. This looks at though it could have been a read route, with Andrews reading the linebacker as to whether he breaks back inside or not. If this is the case, this ability to make reads on the fly is extremely valuable at the NFL level, where the ability to run option routes can create havoc for defenses.
These route fakes, while largely more applicable against man, can also be useful against zone. On the following play, Andrews fakes as if he is going to break outside against the drop-back zone, leading to the inside defender shifting away from him, before he breaks back inside into an open throwing lane.
Andrews also shows an ability to have success on the hard run-fakes which many college and NFL offenses use on a regular basis. On the following play, Andrews initially acts as if he is blocking, but by using his hands to get inside leverage on his defender, he is then able to release and get open for the touchdown. Plays like this have been a significant part of the Panthers’ red zone offense with Greg Olsen, and given Andrews run blocking, his ability to contribute in this way in the red zone and in short-yardage situations could be invaluable.
While it is unclear on the earlier play against Ohio State whether Andrews was always going to break inside, it is certainly true that Andrews showed an extremely high level of understanding of coverages and route concepts while at Oklahoma. The best example of this was the following play:
Against man coverage, this would likely be run as a simple drag route, but against this zone look, Andrews splits the inside linebackers and breaks vertically down the field. It is seen best from the downfield angle:
This understanding of defensive coverages and the ability to make such decisions on the fly could potentially allow Andrews to be a feature piece of whatever NFL offense he ends up in. However, when the above play is seen in full, it should also be noted how dangerous Andrews can be even after he has caught the ball.
Was it not for his 6’5″ frame, Andrews could almost be mistaken for a shifty slot receiver after the catch; while this is probably more of a bonus than a key skill, Andrew’s ability after the catch is certainly exciting.
YAC Attack
Tight ends are not usually known for their abilities after the catch; generally speaking, while their size sometimes allows them to break the odd tackle, their large frame tends to limit their agility, making it harder for them to make people miss in space. Mark Andrews doesn’t have this problem:
His ability to change direction and speeds is exceptional for a man of his size. The change of speed alone is that of a slot receiver or running back, as he repeatedly showed an ability on tape to cut back inside against a pursuing defender leaving the poor defender flying past him, such as on the following plays:
Combine this with the jump cut he uses so effectively and he is a genuine threat with the ball in his hand in space:
Along with his deep speed, this allows him to turn short passes into much longer plays, an unusual trait for a tight end:
The ability to make plays after the catch should be seen more as the cherry on top rather than a constituent part, but it is yet another factor which separates Andrews from the vast majority of tight end prospects and makes him worthy of a top pick.
NFL Best Case Scenario: Greg Olsen
NFL Worst Case Scenario: Hunter Henry
Summary: “A shifty, nuanced pass catcher who is able to be an effective run blocker and has the potential to develop even further”
Grade: A
