Miami Hurricanes 2018 season review: TE Position Recap

For some, it may be a struggle to find anything positive to say about the Canes’ offense in the 2018 season. One of them, however, was the injury-prone tight end position.

Freshmen Brevin Jordan and Will Mallory highlighted the group, with Sophomore Brian Polendey and Junior Michael Irvin II bringing some experience to the corp. Altogether, Miami had a versatile group of tight ends in 2018 — sadly, they weren’t able to utilize them much.

In the offseason, Michael Irvin II was lost for the season due to a knee injury. In mid-September, Brian Polendey was lost for the remainder of the season — also due to a knee injury. Both Mallory and Jordan missed action but thankfully didn’t suffer any serious injuries.

Brevin Jordan, who missed a game due to injury late in the season, was able to haul in 30 catches for 245 yards and 4 touchdowns in his first season at Miami. Jordan, a 4/5 star recruit from Las Vegas, lived up to the preseason hype, earning Mid-Season Freshman All-American honors and All-ACC Second Team honors. Barring a dramatic turn of events, Jordan has a good shot at being Miami’s next great tight end.

Despite Jordan’s success, the timing of the injuries that the group suffered left Miami without any fully-healthy scholarship tight ends late in the regular season.

The tight end position has always been vital in a Miami offense, yet the lack of a ‘healthy’ one forced former head coach and play caller Mark Richt to fully embrace the ‘spread’ offense. The ‘spread’ was an improvement for Miami’s abysmal offense — although injuries are never a good thing. Moving forward, ‘Cane fans are hopeful that Miami’s next offensive coordinator will be able to utilize the corp without hindering offensive production.

Looking ahead to the 2019 season, “Tight End U” should thrive under a new offensive scheme. If they’re able to avoid injury, Miami could possibly have a ‘Big 3’ at the position group.