Florida Gators Tight End Room Might Be Strongest Room on the Roster for 2024 and Beyond

with their 2025 tight end commits in check is tight end the most solid spot on the Florida Gator roster you are locked on Gators your daily podcast on the Florida Gators part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day H hello and welcome back to another episode of lockon gators part of the lock on podcast Network your team every day thanks for making lock down Gator your first listen of the day we are available daily and free listen the podcast and on YouTube Happy Tuesday it's tight end Tuesday I guess I am Brandon Olson find me on Twitter at wns Brandon today's episode of lock on Gator by FanDuel make every moment more playoffs are kaput they're dunzo we got Euros going on we got Copa America going on Sports ain't sporting like we want them to all summer long but this summer fandu is hooking up all customer with a boost or a bonus daily I logged in today and I checked I opened fandel and it was like hey you know what we're giving you 51% profit boosts chef's kiss beautiful job FanDuel that's right something for everyone every day all summer long visit fanduel.com lockon to get started and when I say is tight end maybe the most solid spot on the roster I don't mean oh the best players on the team are at tight end I don't mean my favorite players in the tight end on on the team play tight end so that's what I care about I mean in terms of proven Talent at the position right now you got Aris you got Hayden you got Keon zipper Tony Livingston was promising I'm not going to say he's proven Talent just saying as an example proven Talent as well as having long-term answers tight end's up there I think the tight end Rivals quarterback maybe running back because also we're looking at what you have now that's proven so quarterback you've got Graham Ms tight end you've got Hayden and Arles running back you've got Montell and then talking about what you have in the future quarterback you've got DJ lagway will Griffin tight end you've got air Jackson just came in you've got both of the 2025 commits which we'll talk about later and then of course running back you've got both the 2025 commits you've got uh trayon web from last year like like you've got guys but I think most of the other positions up in the air tight end I do think is a pretty good case for being the most solid in terms of proven present ability as well as having long-term answers like looking at the at the past catching types youve got Aros Bingham and Keon zipper and Keon Zipperer missed the entire year last year showed decent promise throughout his Florida Gator career I mean I know that a lot of us we go back to that 2022 game in uh in Tennessee or at Tennessee at nean stadium and you see Anthony Richardson hits Keon zipper Keon zipper blls dude over right at like the two yard line and gets into the end nasty Savage play I know that all of us loved it I loved I went nuts I was watching that game with my most of my family and we all went nuts and I am the only Florida fan in my family most of them don't even care about football but a lot of them were just like oh my God like like Keon zipper has shown some intense flashes Aros boardingham you look at the multiple drives where he goes ghost at times but then again he he shows up an important drives Arkansas game we saw him and then during the spring game he had that last catch when they're like yeah you know we were kind of we were kind of hoping to get him the ball there made too many men Miss uh vanderbild game he had two touchdowns if I'm not mistaken South Carolina he had a couple big catches like Aras has had his big moments where he's shown that that that flash that we look for with him because when he was coming out of high school he wasn't the highest rated guy but he was very highly touted amongst Florida Gator fans because he was a wide receiver slash tight end hybrid like wide receiver going to tight end and we all of course were like all right might have us one of them on uh and he was from California that was a lot of hype too to get a kid from California to want to come to Gainesville and play football for you that was big because don't forget that was also bil ap's first class that was Billy ap's transition class was what are we going to get here and that's what he got there and that was huge for him then you talk about the inline type because Florida they have two starting tight ends like I've said before I don't care about is it Hayden or Arles they're such different receivers it's they're such different tight ends it's like playing completely different positions it's like well who's starting a tackle or guard like that that kind of thing we're like yeah you're both on the o line but you're so different just stylistically and responsibility wise in line type you've got Hayden Hansen and then Tony Livingston Hayden for a long time uh was Hayden for a long time had the most snaps played without allowing a pressure for anybody but especially at tight end Hayden was up there in the entire country not just Florida he was up there dominating as a blocker he did that he didn't allow a pressure until week 11 at LSU last year and he was in pass protection a lot okay like six to 10 times per game six to 12 times per game he's in pass Pro allowed one pressure or didn't allow any pressures until week 11 like that's what he does in the Run game big contributor as well you look at the Utah game and Hayden I don't think Hayden played at all in the first half comes out as a starter in the second half replace Dante xanders and immediately put Lander Barton on the ground like those were the kinds of flashes we saw with Hayden and we saw some flashes as a pass catcher with Hayden you look at the Florida State game Max Brown hit him down the sideline LSU they just didn't cover him and he just went right down for a big game he can do those things where I think they both have strength and weaknesses of course like Aras leaves a lot to be desired as a Blocker still Hayden I don't think has a ton of Wiggle so I think it's going to be hard for him to create consistent separation at tight end but hey you can you're 67 28 almost and you can run straight really fast work the seams get open like that's fine by me then the far depth you've got Scott isacs who we saw play special teams last year we saw him contribute a little bit as the third pass catching tight end there Gavin Hill who was the 2023 D lineman moved to tight end this past spring played decently in the spring game has had shown some flashes in the spring game again it was the spring game so take you with a grain of salt but he showed some flashes that you you should be happy about right like you should look at that and say okay yeah that those weren't starter quality snaps but you put out some film that makes me a little bit optimistic that you can contribute a bit here that's all I need right like that's that's fine by me to look at that and say hey that's where we're working with that tight end then you can talk about air Jackson 20124 true freshman who look I know Florida Gator fans want to say that he's going to play and he's going to contributed he's going to do a great job there I'm not as sold on it um just to be completely honest with you he played glorified receiver in high school that's what he did he was running end rounds he was running reverses like like catching screens on the outside wasn't truly playing tight end he's not going to be a contributor this year in my opinion think he needs a bulk up because while you can say yeah but but he's a pass catching tight end you still need to be able to hang and bang with these big defensive linemen these big linebackers in the SEC I don't think Amir Jackson can do that right now okay like Hayden and Arles returning as starters is awesome for the team genuinely I think we see both of them take the next step I think that we see Arles I do think that Arles has benefited from the strength conditioning program that's been put in I expect him to be a significantly better blocker this year and Hayden honestly my main thing is like just throw the ball up to him in the end zone he's six seven he's he's 67 he's played basketball he was rebound look like throw the ball up to him he's a big dude just get the ball up uh that's what I want to see like that that's it like usage wise you can see significant improvement from both of them I do think that using Aris more of like a have him in motion at the snap and let him just go and Hammer the Jack linebacker or whoever it is just let him go as he's going in motion snap the ball with that like have him run the little jet hand it to a running back let let R his lead block and just crack the Jack linebacker the nickel whoever it is just crack him like that's what I want to say and there's a lot of scheme things that Florida can do this year and Florida has done that can make that position even more effective for them in 2024 I love sports unsurprising the guy who hosts a podcast covering Sports love sports I love him so much that I never want him to stop but playoffs are done we've still got the euros and Copa but not for long so we get fewer games and the sports are and Sports in like I want them to but fand will lets me keep the sports going whenever I want all I have to do is open the app and dream up bets anytime I'm in the mood which is a lot and this summer fand was hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus that's right there's something for everyone every day all summer long so head over to fanduel.com lockon and start making the most out of your summer FanDuel is an official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball thanks lock down G is your first listen of the day every day we are available daily and free rev in the podcast and on YouTube and like I said Florida tight end usage in 2024 could be considerably better than it was in 2023 and I again I don't just mean in terms of oh give them the ball more I mean first off 12 Personnel is always going to be yeah that's right baby that's right we're talking 12 personal here I get pumped to talk 12 personal I know so many fans hate it I love 12 Personnel so I am excited that we get to see it again this year we're going to see it a lot this year 12 Personnel of course one running back two tight ends two wide receivers so in this case Hayden Hansen and the inline ARS boardingham as the pass catcher 12 personnel gives you great threats all around again I don't think arl's is bad as a blocker I just don't think he's good as a blocker and I would like to see him be better Hayden as a pass catcher has been so infrequently even looked at he but 15 targets last year yeah 15 targets 12 catches on 15 targets last year that's he had in 2023 Aros had almost 40 targets um but I I think that having both of them is just very promising and I've I've even called that 11 and a half Personnel before because and i' I've mentioned this Shawn McVey with the Los Angeles Rams similar offense stylistically at least what sha mcve was is similar to what Billy apier is stylistically not saying play calling wise and tendencies and all that but stylistically but he's talked about 11 and a half personnel which is we're putting three receivers on the field one of them blocks really well so it's kind of like having two tight ends on the field while also still having those receivers I like an 11 and a half Personnel for Florida as the opposite way where I say you've got two receivers on the field two tight ends on the field but one of them runs pretty damn good routes and can be used like a receiver that that's what arless is right so I think that or at least that's my opinion of Aras uh so I think that having that 11 and a half Personnel is a big Advantage for Florida because as a defense you have to go well do we put a linebacker on our list and we kind of put ourselves at a disadvantage in coverage do we put the slot on our list and then we kind of put ourselves in a disadvantage in the Run game do we put a safety on our list and Ju Just just hope that we get to cover him just hope that that's the possibility while bringing one safety down then probably setting yourself up in a position to have only one high safety at that point and if Florida wants to try to push the ball deep down field they could try to do that then you can't have safety help over trade Wilson really right or Elijah Badger so what do you do there as a defensive coordinator honestly I got no clue but that's the benefit that Florida has with 11 and a half Personnel I do think that it's it's really really underestimated how effective that Personnel grouping can be of having Graham Merz at quarterback obviously your five offensive linemen Montell Johnson behind Graham next to Graham whatever having Elijah badger out wide Trey Wilson out wide and then Hayden Hansen in line AR boardingham in line on the other side next to Hayden in the slot whatever it is I do think that that Personnel grouping specifically first off we'll see it a lot this year secondly I think that that grouping that we see will have a very high EPA per play uh which I know a lot of casual fans probably don't care about and I think even most Die Hard fans don't care about the EPA per play but this Florida Gator coaching staff cares about analytics okay and EPA per play a very very uh we'll say heavily weighted analytic metric there so Florida will care about it even if you don't so I think that 11 and a half person all grouping which is really 12 Personnel but you get you get my point I think that'll be really effective this year uh I think we'll see a lot of split Zone this year as well which if you don't remember split Zone buddy split Zone read my favorite any split Zone is what I love where basically let's say I'm Hayden Hansen same size right but lined up behind the left tackle next to the left tackle whatever you run the ball to the left side but I run and block outside the right tackle whole offensive line blocks to the left and then I'm sealing the Gap so you have a cut back if you want it that's the big benefit is that when you're going in these Zone blocking schemes which Florida will still be heavily Zone blocking this year when you're going with these Zone blocking schemes or at least I believe they will be you're going with Zone blocking you kind of leave that that backside end He tends to get unblocked quite a bit just because again when everybody's blocking to the left then if he's on the outside of your right tackle no one's picking him up because your right tackle is going to the left and picking up the D tackle so no one's picking up that right tackle that that guy on the outside of your right tackle which means you don't have that cut back Lane if you're a running back blit Zone however you come in and you clean him up and not only do you have a cutback lane you've got a big cut back Lane because he's the guy on the edge and he's now being blocked by a tight end and then you have that big cutback Lan if you're run like like I know that everybody that watched the spring game you talk about Jayden ball and the cutback angles imagine if he had that whole L line going left whole defense going to be going to that same side big cut back right be right in between the right tackle and Hayden and get get some space and get going it's big there's also GH counter which is more Gap based but GH counter is let's say just for the sake of sticking on the left side tight ends on the outside of the left tackle running back takes a step to that left side and then cuts to the right with the hand that counter you have the guard on the left side and the tackle and the tight on the left side both pull across we saw Florida find a lot of success doing that last year and I I've been saying this since the the move of Damen George Damen George is really good as a puller okay so GH counter is something that you should be running a lot I want to see Hayden line up on the right side with Damen George at Right Guard and have GH counter and just go yeah we got big dudes coming through get out the way or we will move you out of the way ex I think Daman George has been really good as a puller and so that opens that up and again you watch Tennessee you watch vanderbild you watch a lot of SEC games and you watch a lot of Florida's runs when they found success counter was a decent part of it specifically GH counter again guard and theh that tight end coming across lot of success there you sprung some big runs for Florida I remember sil's Tryon web picked up on a first down if I'm not mistaken it was like first and 10 takes GH counter first down immediately takes it again and they went I think 40 yards it was just big plays get sprung from it because you're telling the running back essentially where they're running and then you're kind of overloading that side with blockers but also that little counter step that little misdirection there can get an aggressive linebacker or safety flying down in that direction gives you even more of a numbers Advantage there and so I think schematically you got those in the Run game in the passing game boot slide something that I will always pound the table for boot slide is again imagine tight end next to or behind the left tackle then snap the ball hit that little play fake to the left side tight end runs to the right side doesn't pass the line of scrimmage never crosses runs to the flat catches it usually open space just saying and we saw Florida dud in the spring game I remember Scott Isaacs caught it uh in 2023 we saw Florida break it out during the season a little bit we saw AR Bingham score a touchdown on that um if you watched any michah Jones tape the 2025 tend commit the first tend to commit uh we saw if you watch that film you see him run boot slide a little bit we saw Florida do it works better with a mobile quarterback which is why I don't think they ran it a ton with graham Merz uh but they ran it in 2022 with Anthony Richardson I think they'll run it again this year especially as they feel a little a bit more comfortable with their offensive line holding up while Graham does the play fake rolls out and then looks for whichever tight end it is I think both of them can thrive on it as well we saw Hayden do it in high school caught it in the flat get going downfield I think Corners out there probably aren't going to be able to tack tackle him much and Aras the same thing you run that with him they're not going to be able to tackle him very much so I think that getting more boot slide yards after catch opportunities those easy completions that you've been looking for for grars and I think that you're talking about more production from your tight ends in the pass catching in the passing game I guess in 2024 and then like I said like there's the 2025 kids coming in who by the way both of them really excited for thanks man lockdown Gator your first listen of the day every day we are available daily and free rev the podcast and on YouTube uh also I will say before we wrap up today show please do be sure to like subscribe comment leave a review if you want to uh if you want to go on YouTube and type in whole n Sports w h o l n i n Sports and follow that channel I would love it we're gonna get EA Sports college football 25s coming out in two weeks at this point uh so I can't freaking wait for that but we're gonna get a ton of content there we've been doing an MLB we've been doing two MLB road to the shows careers that I don't know if we're going to continue those when football comes out but for now we're having fun with it right um but the 2025 class has two tight ends committed and we've known this whole time Florida is planning on taking two tight ends in this 2025 class that's been their plan they've got them both committed they're they're done right and I want to make it clear I like both of them as takes I sent this to The Insider group yesterday which if you're not a part of and you want to be the links in the description below um but I sent this out yesterday when I was evaluating both of these guys films and I was like look I I know three stars are three stars for for a reason right they've got risk attached to them each of them have risk every three star is a three star for a reason and I'm not someone that gets hung up on rankings but I understand what some of the doubts are what some of the questions are why you go hey that's a three star I I get it don't get me wrong um but I like both of these takes I do think that they both have roles I mean Hayden was a three star I'm pretty sure arless wasn't a consensus forer I think he was a three at some spots four at the others um so I don't get too up on the rankings and I don't get too offended about rankings but I will say three stars they have roles like that's what I look for when when Florida brings in a three star I say okay at the absolute minimum is there a role I see for you on this team and if there is then I'm fine with it cool with it absolutely uh with Micah Jones the first tight end to commit out of Madison Mississippi he committed uh two Fridays ago to the Florida Gators he is the inline option at I think he say 64 245 so already good size for a a tight end that's going to be playing I I don't think he's gonna be playing early but a tight end that'll be on the field somewhat soonish I think I think he's one of those guys we could see play as a red shirt freshman not start but play as a red shirt freshman I mean looking at the rest of the tight end room right now that the FL Gators actually have arus is 63 240 Keon zipper 61 and A4 245 Scott isacs is 64 255 Tony Livingston 64 and 3/4 253 Gavin Hill 63 253 Hayden 66 and a quarter 272 pounds Hayden's the outlier there at 272 right but for Micah Jones he's what 10 pounds away from being the second heaviest tight end in the room already if he's 245 maybe 235 even then though that's from now until you get expected to be on the field in two seasons plenty of time to gain that little weight that you need to uh if they think you need to gain some weight so he's an inline option one thing that I liked about Michael Jones is that in high school he's already playing the inline role and I think that a lot of high school tight ends play more of that Flex that glorified receiver spot than anything else I'm I'm just being honest I think that in when you watch High School film a lot of tight ends you go yeah he's a tight end but he's really playing flot HB like he's not fully playing an inline next to the tackle tight end role Micah Jones did that at Madison so I think that that's one thing that that you like to see just being that comfort and we saw that with Chad Gasper the running back that's committed he's he's been playing running back in a pistol offense he's been playing a role that they're going to ask him to play at Florida I do think that gives you a leg up as far as one makes the evaluation easier because if you've seen a guy succeed running out a pistol and you know hey he can run out of pistol fine Micah Jones you see him succeeding playing inline tight end you go okay he could play inline tight end that's great for us it makes that evaluation a little bit easier but also just in terms of comfort I think that you speed up that developmental process a little bit in terms of when can they contribute I think playing that role already gives you that help and Michael Jones like don't get me wrong I'm not saying he's he needs all a lot of work technique wise his technique is is kind of a mess right now in terms of hand placement and being able to consistently drive his legs with power but willingness as a blocker is absolutely there I mean you cut on his film in the first play is him on a block and release which Florida's gonna have you do so you cut on the film in the first play block release does it he's got popping his punch there there's one play puts a dude on the garage like like there's popping his punch and of course he's doing this as high school kids we'll see how it goes when you get to the SEC when things are just built differently there but having that skill set already is huge and it's impressive I don't I don't care if if you don't find it impressive that's fine that's on you you could be wrong but having that comfort in that role and having the skill set to perform in that role consistently it's there like like michah Jones good ad I don't know if he's going to climb rankings but I do think think that he's pretty good doesn't have much wiggle for yards after the catch or separation I don't think he's as rigid as Hayden Hansen I also don't think he's as fast as Hayden Hayden not very mobile or not not that he's not very mobile sorry not very agile Wiggly whatever you want to call it he doesn't wiggle Aon he's got relatively stiff hips he's fast he 20.3 miles per hour this spring I don't think Mike is going to hit that speed I think Mike has got a bit more wiggle to his game not going to make men Miss but a bit more wiggle taan gy who just committed this past weekend out of Jacksonville needs to add weight He's listed as think 63 215 or 64 215 needs to add weight desperately great jump ball thre he plays Receiver right now but great jump ball threat with a big catch radius like and I don't mean by catch radius I think when I say catch radius a lot of people mean oh he can go High Point like yeah taan gy can high point the ball absolutely that's what he does a lot of in high school they're kind of just like hey you're bigger than everyone go get it and he does that a lot but I mean in taan gy safe you see him get low and catch the ball by his ankles you see him Reach Out wide and catch the ball out wide that's what I mean by catch radius like like Johnny Wilson from Florida State one of the things with him is that he doesn't have a big catch radius he's 67 but he's such a rigid athlete that he doesn't go low frequently he can go high he can go left and right but he can't go low and even left and right High yeah sure but that's it like taan gy has a huge catch radius I think he can be more effective than Arles I'm not saying he's going to be but I think he be more effective than Arles as a pass catching type because AR is boarding him as good as he is as a receiver like I don't want to take anything away from him I feel like he didn't find much success when he lined up as an actual receiver like outride I think a of his successors when he was lined up in in line or when he was lined up in the slot I don't think he found a ton of success when he was lined up out wide and I think part of that is that he's not a a giant he's not a big jump ball he's 63 240 he's not a big jump ball guy so I think when you have taan gy who's a jump ball receiver you have more success out wide because now you're lined up against the corner it's like all right buddy let's get into it let's see how it goes I am curious to see how tan goes he's movement skills change when he gains weight again he needs to gain weight I'm curious to see how his speed agility and vertical as well as just mobility in terms of being able to to actually stretch up and go up and high for the ball get down low for the ball I'm curious to see what happens with ton gy when he gains that weight like I said three stars to three stars for a reason Micah Jones limited as a pass catcher or a run after run after catch threat taan gy needs to gain weight and gaining that weight might impact his athletic ability three stars or three stars for a reason doesn't make them bad and being able to identify those reasons that's big and being able to identify those reasons and say hey I think if we fix these they can still be effective is also huge thanks for making lockdown G is your first listen of the day every day we are available daily and fre in the podcast we'll be back tomorrow talk more Florida Gator football maybe later if tavan Wallace commits but I really don't think that's happening for lock down Gators I'm Brandon OLS don't forget to follow me on Twitter at wns Brandon find all my written work at Giants G NFL 33 and I will see you all next time