'14 CA TE Tyler Luatua (Back in Blue)

[Wingman Ray]

Good news is it opens up another recruit slot or 5th year. Wasnt ever sold on the kid. Good blocker, bricks for hands. Was never going to be an endzone threat pass catcher and DCs knew it. Might as well just load up another OT or OG to roadgrind.

 

[T Town Tommy]

Best of luck to the young man. Hope everything works out for him wherever he lands.

 

[gkIrish]

Transferring is not the right decision 95% of the time, and it's definitely not the right decision when you have a defined role as an underclassman.

 

[ThePiombino]

Great, now we have zero online blocking TE presence.

 

[Henges24]

Great, now we have zero online blocking TE presence.

He wasn't exactly a passing threat. ND can't just put another OL in his place if need be? He never even went out for a pass it seems like.

 

[Wingman Ray]

Great, now we have zero online blocking TE presence.

Can someone please explain to me why ND couldnt use an OG in place of a blocking only TE that ND would never throw to in a million years anyhow? Most guards can move decently well in short burst (pulling guards) which I would imagine goal line wise would suffice.

To me this seems win/win. ND gets a scholarship back that it can use on a better use prospect (hopefully better than BVG's son) and Tyler gets a fresh start at a school where he can get more PT.

 

[dang227]

Who do we have at TE now other than Smythe, Jones and Wishar?

 

[Circa]

Seems our offence is moving away from the Weis, pre Weis era of play. I hope he can find the other end of the spectrum to be more suitable.

 

[#1rish]

Who do we have at TE now other than Smythe, Jones and Wishar?

Hounshell possibly, as I believe he is eligible for a 6th. As long as they stay healthy, depth shouldn't be much of an issue since we have Wright and Kmet coming in '17.

 

[ulukinatme]

Seems our offence is moving away from the Weis, pre Weis era of play. I hope he can find the other end of the spectrum to be more suitable.

Michigan really will be the next "Tight End U" if we continue to underutilize the position like we have been.

 

[ND NYC]

cali curse continues...nuts and flakes

 

[BGIF]

Good news is it opens up another recruit slot or 5th year. Wasnt ever sold on the kid. Good blocker, bricks for hands. Was never going to be an endzone threat pass catcher and DCs knew it. Might as well just load up another OT or OG to roadgrind.

Interesting reading assessments now contrasted to posters dying to get him here as a recruit.

Highly rated TE selected for The Opening among other honors.

4*TE Tyler luatua good size&speed,very good ball skills, good blocker,will engage defenders,soft hands,catches in traffic

How man passees were targeted at him? With this year's WR Corps and Prosise how many TE balls were throw at all?

 

[irishff1014]

He wasn't exactly a passing threat. ND can't just put another OL in his place if need be? He never even went out for a pass it seems like.

No Oline is going to be able to move like he did. This is going to effect the running game. He was under used in a the passing game. When you have him that can go in motion and block the way he could it helped the run game. This is a shame he was over rated when he was a prospect but was a good fit here for our style of running. Good Luck Tyler.

 

[zelezo vlk]

Good luck, Tyler.

 

[Redbar]

Like others here have said, he had a defined role as an underclassman, I believe he even played as a freshman. There is no one else on the team that does what he could do at the level that he could do it. Also agree that the likelihood of the NFL is slim for most college football players, they need to think about the degree value in most instances, but I understand someone wanting to be in the best possible situation to maximize their chance whether it is likely or not. If the NFL is their ultimate goal, at least they can be sure they gave it 100%. I wish Tyler all the best on whatever path he chooses.

 

[BobbyMac]

Maybe he'll be more comfortable at BYU with other Polynesians & LDS kids? Best of luck to you Tyler!

As far as no one being able to do what he did... If Doug Randolph is still buried in the depth chart, cross train him at H Back. Same exact size and probably more athletic.

Also, would love to see PWO Ryan Kilander as a short yardage specialist. 6-0, 310+... looks like a Marvel Comic character in person.

 

[johnnycando]

I haz a sad.

 

[GoldenToTheGrave]

We got a lot more out of him than a lot of recruits we've had over the years, and he only took up two scholarship/years, so I'd say he was a positive addition in his time here. It was nice having an elite blocking H-back while we had him.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Damn this is sucks. Best of luck Tyler.

If Hounshell doesn't come back we have serious depth problems in 2016 at TE, but not 2017.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[NDRock]

Best of luck. On the plus side, it's one less player Booker has to coach.

 

[johnnycando]

It also allows us to sign a 26th amirite?

 

[yankeeND]

I hate to see this, but I completely understand. Will never forget his efforts against LSU among others. Best of luck to ya big fella!

 

[stlnd01]

Thing is he could probably have a very good career in the NFL as a blocker/h-back type. But if he wants to be Tyler Eifert that wasn't going to happen here. Probably won't at BYU either. Good luck to him out there though.

We're gonna need Hounshell.

 

[GBdomer]

I totally understand the transfer and thanks for giving it everything you had Tyler. Good luck moving forward and God bless

 

[dublinirish]

any grad transfer TE's floating around? Stanford always has plenty right?

 

[kmoose]

Thing is he could probably have a very good career in the NFL as a blocker/h-back type. But if he wants to be Tyler Eifert that wasn't going to happen here. Probably won't at BYU either. Good luck to him out there though.

We're gonna need Hounshell.

He's got 0 shot at the NFL if he can't manage to get open for even ONE regular season reception in 24 games in college. He played in all 13 games in 2014, and 10 games in 2015, and the game he has any catches in was the bowl game against LSU. Maybe he was just one step faster than the LBs in High School and that was good enough, but couldn't separate from them in college?

 

[stlnd01]

He's got 0 shot at the NFL if he can't manage to get open for even ONE regular season reception in 24 games in college. He played in all 13 games in 2014, and 10 games in 2015, and the game he has any catches in was the bowl game against LSU. Maybe he was just one step faster than the LBs in High School and that was good enough, but couldn't separate from them in college?

I haven't graded out Luatua's game-by-game performance or anything, but I'm not sure I'd put it entirely on him. I remember a drop or two, but how often did we really send him out on pass routes? And frankly the short pass/tight end game was not Kizer's strength this year.
I agree if Luatua was a better receiver he'd probably have had a bigger role in our offense - especially after Smythe went down - but there's value to a guy like him.

 

[dublinirish]

After visit to BYU, Notre Dame's Tyler Luatua makes transfer official - Notre Dame Insider: Notre Dame Football

 

[DONTH8]

I'll be interested in how much he is used here at BYU. I can't remember ever hearing of a tight end that's ever been any good come through this system, and especially this last year, i can't even remember more than maybe 10 passes to TE's all year. That being said, Ty Detmer has made some comments on how important the TE will be in the coming years. Couple that with the fact that BYU is so low on TE's that they convinced our First Baseman on the Baseball team to quit and join the football team, he'll have little--to no competition. I wish him the best, but I still hope BYU struggles.

 

[GATTACA!]

Damn how did I miss this?