South Carolina Football All-Decade Team: Tight End

by Gamecock Man on May 17, 2011 9:36 PM EDT in South Carolina Gamecocks Football

This post continues a series picking an All-Decade Team. Over the summer, we'll be honoring the best players Carolina has had at each position over the past ten years. We'll also give shout-outs to some of the other memorable players we've had. In our last three installments of this series, I picked Ryan Succop as our top placekicker, Spencer Lanning as our punter, and Marcus Lattimore (with an honorable mention to Cory Boyd) as our runningback.

Today, we're talking tight ends. Carolina has been blessed to have fielded some very solid tight ends over the past several years. The following are the ones who got the most playing time:

2001-Rod Trafford and Hart Turner
2002-Hart Turner
2003-Hart Turner
2004-Andy Boyd
2005-Carson Askins and Robert Pavlovic
2006-Andy Boyd, Robert Pavlovic, and Jared Cook
2007-Andy Boyd, Jared Cook, and Weslye Saunders
2008-Jared Cook and Weslye Saunders
2009-Weslye Saunders and Justice Cunningham
2010-Patrick DiMarco and Justice Cunningham

A few of these guys either have or likely will spend some time in the NFL. Trafford spent a few years in the league, Cook is currently getting serious playing time for the Tennessee Titans, and I still believe Saunders has a solid chance to find a place in the league. DiMarco may make it, although he'll likely play FB. Pavlovic has played in the CFL.

It can be difficult to evaluate TEs. Do you prefer pass catching TEs, or do you want a guy who can block? Obviously, the pass catchers get more attention. Cook and Saunders are the best of that group. However, it's probably not a coincidence that they played for Carolina squads that had trouble running the football, as neither--particularly Cook--were known for their blocking ability. Some of the better blockers, like Boyd, Pavlovic, DiMarco, and Cunningham, never caught as many balls, but the teams they played for ran the football better. Those teams also won more games--the 2001, 2006, and 2010 teams are the best of the decade, and none of them had a great pass-catching TE.

I'm inclined to believe, though, that the 2007-2009 teams' lack of success, both running and winning, doesn't owe so much to TE play as it does to defense, offensive line, and runningback play. The number of times Cook or Saunders' blocking hurt us likely doesn't quite add up to too too much, and they made some important catches for us that changed the outcomes of games. I'm inclined to believe they helped us more than the great blockers did. For that reason, I would probably prefer to have a great pass-catching TE, and the best of that group is Cook. Saunders may be more talented and is probably a bit more balanced as a player, but Cook was catching as many balls as our WRs during his most productive years. He clearly had a more productive career at Carolina. Moreover, sometimes it's good to look to the NFL for talent evaluation, and the NFL gave Cook good reviews--he was a third-round draft pick, one of the more impressive draft-day turnouts for our boys.

So, who would you pick out of this group?

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Comments

I would have to go with DiMarco. I know that isn’t the sexy choice, but his blocking ability and intangibles were very important the last few years. And he could catch rather well, we just used him for his blocking abilities more than his catching abilities.

by Whasup33 on May 17, 2011 10:18 PM EDT reply actions

DiMarco is obviously the all-decade player at FB

but not at TE… As far as TE goes, I would go with Saunders (even though Cook was my favorite). Saunders could catch the ball very well, but he was also a capable blocker (which is what we excelled at when we were good).

I dont think Pass Catching TE’s have been as important to us, since we have had the likes of Williamson, Rice, Mckinley, Jeffery to catch the ball over the last decade meaning TE’s were only “decoys” for them standout WR’s

by Gamecockrock on May 18, 2011 12:53 AM EDT up reply actions

rock sums up my reasoning about DiMarco.

He’s a great player, but he made his biggest contribution at FB.

I can see picking Saunders over Cook. Saunders was a solid player.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on May 18, 2011 9:33 AM EDT up reply actions

Are we making these judgments...

on their actual contributions to Carolina football or their ability as a whole? If it’s the former, I’d have to go with DiMarco, since his one season at TE was our most successful in 25 years. I cannot recall a single time DiMarco missed a block or dropped a pass (although I’m sure there must have been one). Meanwhile, Saunders didn’t even play a down his senior season and my only two memories of Jared Cook are his dropping a pass in the endzone vs. Auburn and be benched in the Clemson loss. Those two guy are hella talented, but their contributions to Carolina football as a function of their potential was… underwhelming.

If DiMarco doesn’t make the All-Decade team at TE, I don’t think he makes the team at all. My vote for FB will go to Andrew Pinnock.

Dum spiro spero - "While I breathe, I hope"
State motto of South Carolina

by The Feathered Warrior on May 18, 2011 11:35 AM EDT up reply actions

I only think of DiMarco as a half-time TE; he mostly played FB, even last year.

For that reason, I don’t see how you can place him as our TE. Plus, as much as I like DiMarco, I think your reasoning attributes too much of our success last year to him. DiMarco made an important contribution to our season, but the difference makers last year were Jeffery, Lattimore, and the offensive line. If those things had been in place from 2006-2008, we’d have won more games those years, and we’d remember Cook differently.

I also think you’re being too hard on Saunders and Cook, especially Cook. Yeah, he had some bad moments, but you’re forgetting all the great games he had, particularly while we were winning in the middle of the 2008 season. I remember him having multiple big catches in the win at Ole Miss that year, which came over a team that ended up finishing in the top 25.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on May 18, 2011 11:46 AM EDT up reply actions

Lastly...

I think it’s worth pointing out here that the FB almost universally gets more credit than he deserves. I love DiMarco, but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves here.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on May 18, 2011 11:48 AM EDT up reply actions

I can't really argue with anything you've said.

It’s all true. It seems to me that DiMarco did everything we asked of him, and did it well. Without an attitude problem, no less.

Dum spiro spero - "While I breathe, I hope"
State motto of South Carolina

by The Feathered Warrior on May 18, 2011 2:30 PM EDT up reply actions

I don't disagree with that. I'm a huge DiMarco fan.

I’m just saying that I don’t think he had as much of an impact as Cook, especially at TE. DiMarco is definitely more of a team player, and he also did more to play to his potential than Cook, who never quite did all he was capable of doing. But Cook is the better player and made a bigger impact, at least IMO.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on May 18, 2011 3:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Hart Turner

I am trying to remember him, but honestly I can’t. I remember hearing has name and seeing him play but don’t know much about him. Anybody got anything on him?

- FOW

by skandrewj62j on May 18, 2011 8:59 AM EDT reply actions

Here's a little info on him...

here. This doesn’t contain a blurb on his senior season. Turner was a pretty steady player, but he never made the kind of impact some of these other guys made.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on May 18, 2011 9:35 AM EDT up reply actions