CU Buffs position overview: Tight ends

During his first stint as an assistant coach with the Colorado football team, from 1992-93, Karl Dorrell was part of an offense that featured one of the best tight ends to ever play in Boulder: Christian Fauria.

During the final year of his second stint, in 1998, he got a chance to work with a freshman who would go on to become the best tight end to ever play at CU: Daniel Graham.

Throughout eight of his years as a coach, Dorrell worked with another one of the great tight ends to wear a CU uniform: Jon Embree.

Now that he’s the head coach of the Buffaloes, it’s no surprise that Dorrell sees great value in the tight end as a piece to the puzzle on offense.

Although there is uncertainty about the 2020 season because of the new coronavirus, Dorrell and CU continue preparing and BuffZone is previewing each position group for the Buffs. In this third installment, we look at the tight ends, a position that’s been in the news lately.

In the past week, three tight ends have announced they are planning to join the Buffs as walk-on transfers. That boosts CU’s tight end room from six bodies to nine.

“That’s some of my influence of, obviously, offensively what’s important to me,” Dorrell told BuffZone this week. “We are trying to give us options. That position we wanted to address and we’re really, really fortunate to get some guys that were grad transfers and should be able to help us; should be, on paper, but we’ll see.”

Barely an afterthought during Mike MacIntyre’s six-year tenure as head coach, from 2013-18, the tight end became a bigger part of the offense last year under former head coach Mel Tucker and coordinator Jay Johnson.

Former walk-on Brady Russell flourished last year, not only as a blocker, but as a receiver. He caught 23 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns – the most productive season by a CU tight end since Nick Kasa in 2012.

Now a junior, Russell is one of the better tight ends in the Pac-12, but the Buffs don’t have much experience around him.

Junior Jared Poplawski appeared in nine games as a true freshman in 2017, but hasn’t played since as he has dealt with a torn ACL, a shoulder injury and hip flexor. This winter, he tore his ACL again, and his playing status for next season is unknown.

Sophomore Luke Stillwell, who joined the team as a junior college transfer last fall, is the only other tight end on the roster to have appeared in a game for CU. He played the last four games of the 2019 season, but on special teams.

CU likes the potential of its two incoming freshmen – Caleb Fauria and Louis Passarello – but they will need time to develop. Fauria, Christian’s son, is considered one of the top 20 tight end prospects in the 2020 class.

There’s also walk-on sophomore C.J. Schmanski, who has not played in a game yet.

The lack of experience makes the latest additions important for the Buffs.

Matt Lynch, a former quarterback at Legacy High School and UCLA, switched to tight end a year ago. His only catch with the Bruins went for a 2-yard touchdown. Lynch is a graduate transfer who will play right away as a senior.

Nick Fisher, from Division II William Jewell College, will also be a graduate transfer. At 6-foot-5, 270 pounds, he will be CU’s biggest tight end and he’s got the most production in college, albeit at a lower level. He caught 39 passes for 596 yards and two touchdowns last season and has 55 catches in his career.

Jake Peters, who is transferring from Arizona, will be a sophomore and he hopes to play right away, as well. He did not appear in a game last year and caught one pass in two years with the Wildcats.

Over time, Dorrell hopes to develop more depth, talent and experience at tight end and he hired Embree’s son, Taylor, to coach them. They’ll lean on the group they have this year, though, to run multiple tight end sets at times.

“They’re going to be heavily involved,” offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini said last month. “We’re going to be a mixture of 11 personnel (one tight end), 10 personnel (no tight ends) and 12 personnel (two tight ends). I believe you’ve got to use all your personnel groups to be successful. Tight ends will have a heavy, heavy emphasis in our offense.”

With Russell, the Buffs have a top-notch player to lean on. Quick development of the others will be a key to the CU offense.

Here’s an initial look at the projected tight ends for the 2020 season:

Position: Tight ends

Seniors (2019 statistics): Nick Fisher, 6-foot-5, 270 pounds (walk-on; grad transfer from William Jewell College); Matt Lynch, 6-4, 230 (walk-on; grad transfer from UCLA).

Juniors: Jared Poplawski, 6-4, 250 (did not appear in any games in 2019); Brady Russell, 6-3, 255 (11 starts, 23 catches, 221 yards, 2 TD).

Sophomores: Luke Stillwell, 6-4, 220 (played four games on special teams); Jake Peters, 6-4, 220 (walk-on; transfer from Arizona); C.J. Schmanski, 6-3, 240 (walk-on)

Redshirt freshmen: None.

True freshmen: Caleb Fauria, 6-4, 230; Louis Passarello, 6-5, 245.

Players lost: Beau Bisharat, 6-2, 230 (1 start, 1 catch, 2 yards; graduated); Jalen Harris, 6-4, 255 (1 start, 7 catches, 51 yards, 1 TD; graduated); Darrion Jones, 6-6, 255 (transferred); Legend Brumbaugh, 6-3, 230 (walk-on; transferred).