Is Cincinnati potentially Tight End University?
The Bearcats have a number of tight ends over the years who became stars in the NFL from guys like Brent Celek, Travis Kelce, Josiah Deguara. The Bearcats have one of the best returning tight end duos in the country as Josh Whyle and Leonard Taylor both are returning which was huge for the Bearcats offense heading into the 2022 with a new quarterback throwing passes this season. The eyes weren’t just on Leonard Taylor and Josh Whyle today, there was one tight end that had a monster day, redshirt freshman Chamon Metayer. Metayer is a 6’5″, 260 pound tight end from the South Florida area, but what amazes me about Metayer is he’s not only freshman, he’s an absolute freak athlete as well, earlier this spring Metayer, was clocked at nearly 21mph by strength coach Brady Collins, just sit back, and really think about that. Metayer was the standout on offensive from yesterdays spring game, where he caught two touchdowns, one for 40 yards down the left sideline, that Evan Prater threw on a rope, which was arguably Prater’s best throw of the day in my opinion. Metayer caught his second touchdown off the arm of Ben Bryant in the second half, on a roll out to the right, where he found the 6-foot-5 target in the back of the end zone. Metayer brings a lot of options to the Bearcats offense and it’s going to be hard to keep him off the field in 2022, especially with his size, athleticism, at 6’5″, 260, to still run 21 mph is scary for opposing teams. What’s even scarier is Metayer may not be done growing either, Metayer is going to cause so many matchup problems for years to come not only in the AAC, but also when the Bearcats make the transition to the Big 12 here in the upcoming years. For people who didn’t know of Chamon Metayer before today, they do know as he brings a lot to this Bearcats offense heading into the 2022 season.
“He’s going to fall in line with all the great tight ends that have came through this place,” said Bearcats offensive coordinator Gino Guildugli.
“He’s going to be the next one behind Lenny and Josh. Chamon is going to have a chance to help us this year. I’m really happy with the way our tight ends have been playing. I think they’re going to be a massive matchup problem when we get to the fall. I anticipate using a lot of 12 personnel.”
“Josh and Lenny, those are my guys for real, outside of football we’re brothers on and off the field. Those guys, they’re great mentors, they lead by example, those are some great guys to be around on this team. I bring that swagger, I’m from Miami, those vibes are going to travel with me on the field. I lead by example for the young bulls that look up to me back home, I look forward to keep working and perfecting my craft. My relationship with coach Nate Letton, that’s where it all started on coming to Cincinnati, it’s been growing from there ever since. Guys like Josh Whyle, Leonard Taylor, Payton Singletary, the whole tight end room, that’s a brotherhood,” said Metayer.
Metayer had a lot of praise for new tight ends coach Nate Letton, who was recently promoted to tight ends coach, after spending time as a graduate assistant from 2020-2021.
“Man, coach Nate, that’s my guy, I’m happy he got this job because hes been showing us the way to go, and he’s been leading us in the right direction so far.”
