Ranking the Big Ten: Tight End
As the 2022 college football season quickly approaches, it is time to look at the top players in the Big Ten Conference.
We continue our Ranking the Big Ten series by ranking the top five tight ends in the conference.
1. Sam LaPorta, Iowa
Sam Laporta’s honors list is an embarrassment of riches.
LaPorta racked up 670 receiving yards in 2021 and hauled in three touchdowns. That earned him an All-Big Ten third-team selection from the conference’s coaches. As he gears up for his fourth season, LaPorta is a member of both the Lindy’s and Athlon Sports First-Team All-Big Ten.
In addition, he is Lindy’s No. 3 tight end nationally and the No. 4 tight end in the NFL Draft Bible sneak peak.
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LaPorta led the Big Ten in catches, yards, yards after catch (YAC), yards after contact and catches of 15 yards or more. The only blemish is that he is the Big Ten’s returning leader in drops. Laporta had five dropped passes tied with Chigoziem Okonkwo of Maryland.
His receiving grade of 80.0 is the highest returning grade among tight ends in the Big Ten according to Pro Football Focus (PFF).
2. Payne Durham, Purdue
The Purdue Boilermakers and Aiden O’Connell need a big year out of Payne Durham. The senior will be one of O’Connell’s top targets in 2022.
Durham had the second most targets in 2021 of any returning Boilermaker for this year. Milton Wright will draw a lot of attention on the outside with former top outside target David Bell in the NFL. That leaves Durham to maintain a presence in the middle of the field.
He caught 45 passes for 467 yards and six touchdowns last season. Most of that time he spent on the line (54.7%) or in the slot (42.7%) according to PFF. His offensive grade of 72.9 is third among returning tight ends behind Minnesota’s Brevyn Spann-Ford and Erick All of Michigan.
Durham was selected to both Lindy’s and Athlon’s preseason All-Big Ten second-team.
3. Travis Vokolek, Nebraska
Travis Vokolek is the biggest wildcard on this list. Well, literally speaking he is the second biggest.
Vokolek checks in at 6-foot-6 and 260 pounds. The only tight end bigger is Brevyn Spahn-Ford who is 6-foot-7 and 270 pounds. That’s something Nebraska and new offensive coordinator Mark Whipple have to be salivating over. Whipple’s tight ends at Pitt combined for 777 yards and 10 touchdowns last season.
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The Huskers used multiple tight end sets often in 2021. Vokolek and Austin Allen were a dynamic duo for Nebraska that created serious matchup problems for opponents in large part due to the heights of both athletes. One burning question in 2022 is if Vokolek can fill Allen’s shoes and which of the Huskers young tight ends can complement the sixth-year senior.
Vokolek certainly has the physical measurables to be “the guy” for Nebraska. His PFF grades were a mixed bag. Vokolek received a grade of 88.9 on deep passes, 91.8 for medium and 91.1 for short range. However, his overall offensive grade was a 63.3 and he went without a touchdown in 2021 catching 11 balls for 127 yards.
Vokolek has the potential to be a breakout tight end in the Big Ten for the 2022 season. He has to make good on that potential and take advantage of the guys around him to create an impact.
4. Brevyn Spann-Ford, Minnesota
Brevyn Spann-Ford started three out of his squad’s 13 games in 2021. But in 2022, he will likely be in the mix with the best tight ends in the conference.
Ford caught 23 passes in 2021 for 296 yards and one touchdown. That score came against Nebraska. He’s the biggest tight end in this ranking standing at 6-foot-7 and 270 pounds.
PFF gave Spann-Ford a offensive grade of 78.1 and a receiving grade of 78.5. Those were good for fourth and fifth in the company of Big Ten tight ends. One area for improvement is pass blocking where he scored a 62.5.
Spann-Ford will also have experience on his side. He has played college football since 2018 and has the benefit of sixth-year quarterback Tanner Morgan. Lindy’s named Spann-Ford a preseason All-Big Ten third-team selection.
5. Theo Johnson, Penn State
Theo Johnson was the best pass-blocking tight end in the Big Ten in 2021 according to PFF. That’s the good news. The bad news is that he received the worst offensive grade among tight ends with 25 or more targets and the second worst receiving grade.
The 6-foot-6 254-pound sophomore put up 212 receiving yards in his freshman season at Penn State. He paired those numbers with 18 catches and a touchdown.
Johnson’s pass-block grade of 73.9 is a full five points ahead of the next closest tight end in this list Payne Durham. Yet his offensive rating of 50.7 is 22 points back of Sam LaPorta who owns the next-lowest grade.
Johnson has plenty of time to improve on the offensive end. He has two full season’s of college football under his belt compared to the list average of nearly four years.
Johnson, the No. 8 tight end in the 2023 draft class according to NFL Draft Bible, will want to improve as a pass catcher if he wants his draft stock to climb.
On another note, the Mother’s Day story Penn State put out about Johnson and his mother in the tweet above is well worth watching.
