Senior, Francis Sherman- The Arkansas transfer was a late addition this offseason after transferring in following spring camp. Prior to his time in Arkansas, Sherman spent three seasons at Louisville under coach Satterfield and alongside current tight end coach Josh Stepp. The 6’3″ 250-pound tight end only recorded one catch for just eight yards in 2023, but should be a guy that provides great depth and experience behind guys like Beljan and Royer.
Freshman, Gavin Grover- The 6’7″ 250-pound true freshman has continued to turn heads since arriving on campus back in January due to his size and athleticism. Satterfield mentioned earlier this offseason about the potential for a guy like Grover having all the traits to be a dominant tight end across college football. Now throughout the first week of fall camp it is clear to see that Grover could come in and make an immediate impact due to his skillset whether that is split out wide or use as an extra blocker in the run game.
The highly touted freshman also garnered high praise from veteran Joe Royer following practice on Monday and it is safe to say the freshman is quickly turning a lot of heads heading into his first collegiate season. “Gavin is really big, look at his size and frame, he is a lot bigger than I was when I went into college,” Royer told reporters. “I was probably about 6’3″ 230-pounds, he has great ball skills for someone his size and could be a huge player for us.”
Freshman, Devyn Zahursky- A high three start tight end in the class of 2024 out of Berea, Ohio who stands 6’4″ 250-pounds is another interesting name to keep an eye on their within the tight end room as well. After watching Zahusrky throughout spring and the early portions of fall camp it was clear to see why Coach Stepp and Satterfield locked in on Grover and Zahursky as their one-two punch at that tight end position there within the 2024 class for many reasons.
Expectations- It’s safe to say that the tight end position is expected to play a substantial role for Scott Satterfield and the Bearcats this season. It’s worth noting the physical size difference in the tight end group compared to last season as well. Cincinnati has shown they want to run the football and that was something they did extremely well last season after ranking fifth in the nation in terms of rushing offense (217.5 yards per game) in 2023.
Now, I expect Cincinnati’s tight ends to be the x-factor for Cincinnatis offense this season. That position group highlighted by Joe Royer who’s poised for a breakout season alongside Joey Beljan could be a dynamic 1-2 punch especially when within the red zone.
We saw Cincinnati really look to utilize the tight ends within the red zone last season with Metayer and Singletary racking in seven of the team’s 21 touchdowns a season ago. However, both moved on to their respected new schools and the opportunity awaits for guys like Beljan, Royer, Grover and the rest of the tight room during the season.
Now for me personally, I would not be surprised to see the Bearcats utilize that match up throughout the season just simply due to the size and mismatches that group presents with their size and skillsets.
Expectations for me are fairly high in this group and you can clearly see the depth at this position compared to where it was a season ago. A season ago, the Bearcats had only two players with experience at the tight end position that played significant snaps throughout their career.
Now you turn the page and see that room has nearly twenty seasons of collegiate experience between the group. That is something that had stood out to me the most within that group was the amount of experience and depth they added there at that position.
Could there be another great tight end come out of Cincinnati that joins the likes of Lenny Taylor, Josh Whyle, Josiah Deguara, Bruno Labelle, Brent Celek and plenty more?
