Junior tight end Brandon Young Jr. just put on a highlight reel in his UTSA debut, snagging a ridiculous one-handed touchdown that had everyone buzzing. But here’s the kicker: his incredible play was practically the only significant moment for a tight end group that looks to be riding the bench more than ever in offensive coordinator Rick Bowie’s new scheme.
That One-Handed Grab Was ABSURD, But What Does It Really Mean?
Picture this: early in the second quarter, ball on the 7-yard line. Young Jr. lines up in the left slot, streaks up the seam, and quarterback Owen McCown throws it high, a little behind him to dodge a lurking linebacker. What does Young Jr. do? He spins, leaps, stretches out *only his right hand*, snags it with one hand, secures it with the other, and taps both feet down before falling out of the end zone. Seriously, for a guy who had just five catches for 17 yards last year at North Texas, that was an unexpected, jaw-dropping score. It was pure magic. But despite that flash of brilliance, the role for Young Jr. and the entire tight end squad under Bowie is still super murky. This spectacular play came from a rare five-wide set, a clever Bowie call to put pressure everywhere, forcing the defense to respect targets in the flats, corners, and the back of the end zone.
The Numbers Are Screaming: Tight Ends Are Disappearing
The Roadrunners smoked UTRGV 45-16 in Saturday’s opener at the Alamodome, but the box score tells a different story for the tight ends. They combined for a measly two catches all game. Coach Jeff Traylor flat out admitted, “Our tight end room is young, and they’re trying to be developed right now, so it’s about what I thought it would look like,” adding, “I thought our tight end play was average at best.” Yikes.
Pro Football Focus numbers back it up: tight ends were on the field for only 66 snaps across UTSA’s 62 offensive plays, averaging 1.06 tight ends per snap. That’s a huge drop from Traylor’s first six years, where they averaged 1.25 to 1.58 tight ends per snap. And traditional inline tight ends, the ones attached to the offensive line? Even worse! Just 31 snaps, averaging 0.5 inline tight ends per play, way down from the 0.80 to 1.09 average in previous seasons. Traylor wasn’t shocked, stating, “what we knew we’d be” and “why we made the changes we made.” Bowie’s air raid offense just doesn’t lean on tight ends like they used to.
What’s Next For This Unproven Group?
This isn’t some accident. Losing Houston Thomas and Patrick Overmyer to the transfer portal gutted the tight end room, leaving them with unproven returners Ty Rupe and Isaiah Butler-Tanner, plus transfers like Young Jr. and Miles Campbell from Florida A&M. Traylor knows it’s about playing to strengths. “It’s always about the players,” he said. “You ask players to do what they can do. If you ask them to do things they can’t do, that’s not good coaching.” With McCown’s improved health and mobility also a factor, forcing defenses to respect the run threat, it seems this offense is shifting hard. For the Roadrunners, the focus will be on if this young tight end group can develop fast enough to carve out a bigger role, or if that incredible one-handed grab by Young Jr. will remain a rare, dazzling anomaly in an otherwise quiet season for his position.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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