Spring Spotlight: Tight End

[Matt Dillon]

Preparations for the 2026 college football season are underway at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility. In a few short weeks, cleats will be hitting the grass practice fields and/or the turf at the Nutter Field House as Kentucky head coach Will Stein gets set to begin his first spring practice as the leader of a program. There will be a lot of new for the Wildcats in 2026 but the tight end room stayed mostly the same.

UTSA offensive coordinator Justin Burke replaces tight ends coach Derek Shay after he bolted for Texas A&M following the season. The former Louisville quarterback inherits a room that did not add a transfer this offseason. UK is rolling with personnel continuity at tight end in 2026.

Spring Spotlight: Tight End - On3

[Jaxcat]

Barring a bunch of injuries, I would certainly expect the TE room to more involved in the passing game. It appears we have two that could present some matchup problems for a defense and that is where Stein supposedly shines when gameplanning and calling plays. The two big guys will play, also, and may even catch a few passes to keep defenses off balance. But Rodriquez and Skinner should be are main passing targets.

In light of a questionable WR room, I believe both the RBs and TEs will figure heavily in the passing attack. Since Stein expects near 70% comp rate from his QB, it makes sense to me that short/intermediate passes to backs and TEs would figure prominently. We still will want to make the defense respect the WRs, of course. But, I would be very surprised to see multiple long balls to WRs every game like we saw with Hamdan and his 'system'. I'm hoping to see more slants and skinny posts to the wideouts to give them room to run vs throwing rainbows 30+ yards downfield and completing almost none.