Oklahoma's Jermaine Gresham, Wisconsin's Travis Beckum: 2008's Best TE

However, Beckum suffers mightily in the blocking game, as he's not powerful enough to move defenders, rarely altering their route enough to prove beneficial.  He comes off the field in a lot of running downs due to this liability in the ground game.

Another drawback to the slightly built tight end is his lack of red zone production.  A 6'4", 235 pound target is gold in the end zone and Beckum needs to become a factor to truly up his status.  Six touchdowns on 75 catches for a tight end is a paltry number that needs to improve in 2008.

Jermaine Gresham (6'5", 264 pounds)

Gresham is the prototypical tight end—a wide body with great feet, soft hands, and a mean streak in the run game.  Although he only ranked third in catches for the Sooners with 37 catches for 518 yards, Gresham finished 14th in the nation in touchdown receptions, hauling in eleven scores.

In the run game, Gresham is a surprisingly aggressive blocker who is capable of stoning defensive ends, washing down defensive tackles, and engaging linebackers and defensive backs in space.  He shows a propensity for blocking downfield on long gains, something lacking in a large number of college and professional players.

Jermaine Gresham is capable of operating from motion, the flex position, or out of the backfield as well as the traditional on-line position.  The junior has ample speed to be a factor in OU's screen game, and has shown the ability to take the ball to the house from distance.

Under Stoops, Gresham fulfills his role in extraordinary fashion, being an every-down tight end capable of stretching the defense vertically.  He makes tremendous catches in traffic, and at the seams of a cover-2 or cover-3 he is a nightmare to defend because of his deceptive speed.

From twenty to twenty, Gresham is a pretty good football player, with blocking and receiving abilities that score quite high.  However, once the team hits the red area, he becomes an elite force deserving of special defensive attention.  Neglecting to focus on Gresham from the twenty in is an automatic six points for the boys in Norman.

The Texas Longhorns can attest to this fact, as Gresham punished them by scoring two wide-open touchdowns in the red zone during the Red River Shootout.  Against divisional foe A&M, Gresham rang up just five catches for 86 yards but torched the Aggies with four scores.

Without Malcolm Kelly to open the field, Gresham should expect more attention entering 2008, and the added pressure will truly test the twenty-year-old.  His biggest hurdle entering the season will be the expectations heaped upon him by Sooner nation and the national press.

The Verdict

Jermaine Gresham is the traditional tight end—a red zone threat who blocks well and understands his role on the team.

Travis Beckum is a new, hybrid tight end—Wisconsin's primary receiver who poses mismatches across the board and punishes defenses with his speed and athleticism.

While Beckum's numbers are gaudy in general, his lack of scoring production and inability to be a quality blocker leaves much to be desired.  He lacks the tenacious, aggressive approach to blocking that solidifies a tight end and would be better suited losing weight and playing full time at wideout away from the chaos of trenches. 

Gresham is the nation's best tight end, without a doubt.  He blocks, he catches, and he is the most dangerous red zone threat in the nation.  As a player, he's a guy who seems to be as happy stymieing defensive ends at the goal line as he is skying over safeties to score six.

Sam Bradford has a security blanket most of the nation's quarterbacks envy in Jermaine Gresham, and I fully expect the junior TE to improve upon his already impressive numbers. 

With the absence of an established deep threat opposite Joaquin Iglesia, don't be surprised if Gresham takes on a larger role in the passing game and again leads the Sooners in touchdown receptions.

Jermaine Gresham, college football's best tight end for 2008.

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