UCLA Football 2021 Positional Preview: Tight Ends
With UCLA football's shortened offseason already winding down, it's time to start looking ahead to fall 2021 and what lies ahead for the Bruins on the gridiron. Before scouting out opponents and projecting the Pac-12 pecking order, it's best to look within by picking apart how UCLA will shape up on its own sideline.
All Bruins will be breaking down every position group over the next few weeks, and the tight ends are the next ones to go under the microscope. To catch up on the positions already covered, take a look below.
Aug. 9: Quarterbacks
Aug. 10: Running Backs
Aug. 11: Wide Receivers
Depth Chart
TE1: Greg Dulcich, redshirt junior
TE2: Mike Martinez, junior
TE3: David Priebe, redshirt junior
TE4: Michael Ezeike, senior
TE5: Michael Churich, redshirt sophomore
TE6: Hudson Habermehl, redshirt sophomore
TE7: Grant Norberg, redshirt freshman
TE8: Lucas Egurbide, redshirt freshman
TE9: Sam Summa, freshman
Dulcich is undoubtably the best tight end on this team. He has the best hands, the best route-running skills and is towards the top in terms of straight-line speed and blocking fundamentals.
Add in his long-lasting chemistry with quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, and you've got a reliable No. 1 tight end and then some.
When coach Chip Kelly and offensive coordinator Justin Frye decide to trot out 12 personnel, expect Martinez to get most of the snaps alongside Dulcich. The 6-foot-7, 266-pound junior is a freak athlete with a high ceiling, even if his six career catches for 70 yards and a touchdown don't show it. Still, with his long arms, big hands and sub-4.90 40-yard dash speed, Martinez can certainly be a weapon in Kelly's offense, which runs a lot of seam routes in space for tight ends.
Priebe figures to fill a key role in jumbo sets down towards the goal line, considering he is a plus blocker and the next most experienced tight end on the team. Ezeike has been around longer, but since this is his first season since transitioning from receiver, Priebe is expected be the better blocker early on in the season.
Ezeike doesn't project to put up big numbers as the fourth tight end on the team, but his length, athleticism and familiarity with the offense as a whole put him in a spot where he'll probably be running a couple routes here and there.
Churich will also be more of a goal line specialist, and he will probably rotate into any three-tight end formation when one of either Dulcich, Martinez or Priebe isn't available or needs a breather.
Don't expect Habermehl, Norberg, Egurbide or Summa to get any snaps on offense, barring a string of unfortunate injuries. Some combination of the four of them will see the field on special teams, just don't be surprised if their names never get called this fall.
Predictions
In each of the Bruins' three seasons under Kelly, their most productive pass-catcher has been a tight end.
First, it was Caleb Wilson putting up 965 yards and four touchdowns on 60 receptions in 2018. Then, Devin Asiasi racked up 641 yards and four touchdowns on 44 catches. Dulcich posted 517 yards and five scores off of 26 receptions in 2020, good for 886 yards, nine touchdowns and 45 catches across a regular 12-game regular season.
Dulcich coming back for another year marks the first time Kelly will have back-to-back seasons with the same No. 1 tight end, and that will show in the redshirt junior's stats.
Eight touchdowns and 800 yards on 50 catches seems like a good stat line to project Dulcich to hit. Martinez should end the year somewhere around 15 catches and 175 yards, while Priebe and Ezeike will likely find the end zone one or two times – Priebe in goal line action and Ezeike on some kind of tight end screen with a lot of yards after the catch.
With that kind of production as a group, the Bruins will be just as dependent on the position as they have been in years past under Kelly. Dulcich alone will make headlines and is a near-lock to make one of the All-Pac-12 Teams, and he is a serious threat to be a finalist for the John Mackey Award as well.
There's only three spots for the likes of Dulcich, Iowa State's Charlie Kolar, Texas A&M's Jalden Wydermyer and Washington's Cade Otton, but Dulcich has as good a chance as any of them to make the cut come December.
And depending on the status of his degree and any decisions he makes about his future next winter, Dulcich should be the third UCLA tight end to hear his name called in the last four NFL Drafts when April rolls around.
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