Gunnar Helm Staying Focused On Details Amid Breakout Season

Senior tight end Gunnar Helm showed out in Week Two of the college football season, but is there more to come from the veteran jack-of-all-trades pass catcher?

Sep 7, 2024; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Texas Longhorns tight end Gunnar Helm (85) runs the ball in the first half against the Michigan Wolverines at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

If you were to ask the average Texas fan who they thought would be leading the team in receiving yards after two weeks in 2024, they probably would've given you more than five names before they gave you what ended up being the correct answer.

Senior tight end Gunnar Helm had a true breakout game in Michigan last weekend, totaling a career-high 98 reception yards, his first time over 70 yards and just his second career game with more than two receptions or more than fifty yards.

The burly tight end has spent his first three years in Austin playing a much different role than what he's expanded into in 2024. Though Helm spent the last two seasons as the TE2 in Austin, he only registered 19 total catches in his sophomore and junior seasons. Helm made his name as a blocking tight end, helping move linebackers, edge rushers and safeties as the Longhorns allowed star running backs like Bijan Robinson and Jonathon Brooks to run circles around opponents.

"It's awesome," Helm said on his ability to contribute in both the run and passing game. "Everything I can do in my game to grow every single day, I'm going to do it.

Helm had spent the entire offseason as the No. 1 tight end on the depth chart, but many of those following the team closely expected a different name to emerge in the tight end room. Amari Niblack, a junior transfer from Alabama, was the highest-rated tight end in the transfer portal in 2024, and was expected to take a similar role in Austin as he did in Tuscaloosa, the talented pass-catcher who dominates targets at the position.

Texas Longhorns tight end Spencer Shannon and Amari Niblack during football spring practice at the Frank Denius practice fields in Austin, Tuesday, March 19, 2024. / Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK

But that hasn't been the case in 2024. Helm has strongly commanded the top spot in the room, and senior Juan Davis has taken more snaps than Niblack so far. Helm's nine receptions so far is tied for the most on the team, but his 140 yards in the air is second to none.

"I think we got a great tight end room. I think any of our guys can go in there and play and do what I did," Helm said about his performance.

Few players have taken the year-to-year jump that Helm has, ending 2023 11th on the team in total touches, now surging into one of the focal points of the team. His 21-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter opened the scoring in Ann Arbor on Saturday, and six other catches gave the Longhorns 77 additional yards.

"(I give) praise to (tight ends) coach (Jeff) Banks and what he's done with me the last three, four years to get me to the point I'm at now," Helm said. "Just going back to it, I'm going to do whatever I got to do to win."

Helm has slowly turned from an unsung role player into a legitimate threat off the line of scrimmage, so much so that Helm earned the East-West Shrine Bowl Texas Star of the Week for week two of the college football season.

Heading into an easier slate of non-conference and early SEC play, Helm is expected to continue his two-way ability, mauling in the run game and being a safety blanket for quarterback Quinn Ewers, one of Helm's best friends on and off the field.