2011 Football Recruiting Board - TE

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Heck Commits to UNC: After revisiting North Carolina and Virginia, Jon Heck decided to be a Tar Heel. http://bit.ly/mmCufh

To be honest, I expected a commitment to come out of the Jacksonville, FL area this week, but I did not expect it to be Jon Heck, who is an offensive tackle out of the prestigious Bolles School.  However, I am probably more excited about this commitment than I would have been about the other.  I know I am weird, but I get most excited about the guys in the trenches.  The offensive line is up next on the recruiting board, so I will discuss Heck in more depth next week.  Just know that you should be very excited.  Man, I love Tar Heel football!

St_Shaktrick Shakeel Rashad

HECK Yes!!!

2011 Football Recruiting Board - TE

Warning:  This is a copy and paste from a previous post on June 1st.  If you follow the blog regularly, you have already seen and read this.

Carolina uses a dual tight end set that utilizes a H-back as well as a traditional tight end.  You should know what a tight end is and what it does.  The H-back is not as common, so I will take a second to explain.  The H-back is also known as a power back.  It is a hybrid position that is a combination of full back and tight end.  In the UNC system, the H-back's versatility is the key to the position.  It requires an intelligent and dedicated player as he is responsible for blocking, pass protection, passing routes and may even be asked to carry the rock.  It is this versatility that keeps defenses guessing and makes the H-back such an effective offensive weapon.  Think Chris Cooley.

The Depth Chart:

With the graduation of Zach Pianalto and Ryan Taylor, we are loosing a lot of production out of this position group.  At H-back, Christian Wilson will be the often over looked player that makes big things happen.  At tight end, Nelson Hurst got solid reps this summer, but there was a hope that Sean Fitzpatrick would be able to step up and push Hurst for the number one spot on the depth chart.  Unfortunately, Fitzpatrick was hurt and unable to participate in Spring practice.  Therefore, we are a little shallow with experience in this group, especially if we are to suffer any injuries.  However, we are not short on talent.  We have a couple of big time freshman coming in.  Eric Ebron and Jack Tabb both come in with great size and good hands.  They will both have an opportunity to come in and compete immediately if they can get up to speed quick enough (more so with blocking than with route running).

The Needs:  Nothing.  If you didn't know, we have got two good ones in-the-fold.  One is a traditional tight end and one a prototypical  H-back.  Both are great athletes and I think we are done with recruiting TE for 2012.  

The Recruits

(listed alphabetically)

Comments:  Knox is a great athlete, but a bit of a tweener.  He is not quite tall enough for TE in most systems, but is a perfect fit for H-back in Carolina's pro-set.  Because of his lack of height, Knox is flying slightly under the recruiting service radar.  Make no mistake.  He is a great talent with a solid build and power for blocking and good hands for receiving.  Knox was destined to be a Tar Heel the moment he got an offer and he will have an opportunity to shine in Chapel Hill as an H-back.
 
The Film:
http://youtu.be/F_kHh8K5dgY (embedding disabled by request so click the link to watch the highlight)

The Comments:  Justin Meredith is a tight end with wide receiver hands.  He catches everything that is around him and he is a huge red zone target because of his size and athleticism.  Coming out of Hanna, SC, Meredith committed to UNC following his visit to Auburn for Big Cat weekend.  Like a lot of our recruits, Meredith is smart and truly concerned about academics.  One of the reasons he selected UNC was because Chapel Hill is one of the best places for big time athletics and top shelf academics. 


The Film: