Auburn fans have read article after article on Auburn’s inability to replace the late, legendary Philip Lutzenkirchen at tight end. Since his graduation, Auburn has struggled to field a player with his skill set, and Rhett Lashlee and Gus Malzahn have attempted tight end by committee. Only C. J. Uzomah came close, and he never had No. 43’s production.
I believe success at tight end is a key to Malzahn’s offense being deadly. Running a collection of plays with different looks is hard to defend, and defending becomes almost impossible when special plays that involve misdirection, especially to the tight end, are called from the base package.