Five 2023 Tight Ends to Watch

<span style="font-size: 10pt;">As we are another week closer to the 2022-23 high school football season, off-season practices, camps, and 7on7 tournaments are already heating up. The senior class of 2023 is looking to make their final impressions with plenty of opportunities this season to pick up college offers. Over the past few weeks, I have been highlighting some rising seniors to watch in the state of Kentucky at each position. To round out the offensive skill players, my focus this week will be on some talented 2023 tight ends that have caught my eye.</span> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="340044" first="Cole" last="Burch"]</strong>| 6’4", 215 lbs.| Daviess County High School| <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/10064079/6198a8ead2263c075048cce9">Junior Year Film</a> <span style="font-size: 10pt;">Burch is a player that started to find himself a key role in the Daviess County offense as a junior, averaging ten yards per catch and scoring four touchdowns on the season. He is a long, athletic pass catcher who was moved all over the offense as an outside receiver, on the end of the line of scrimmage as a true tight end, and flexed off the line as well. His reliable hands and high catch radius make him a very dangerous threat in jump ball situations and as a deep threat. He has also shown the ability to break tackles in the open field after the catch to pick up extra yards. Burch is also a very strong, physical blocker with a lot of pop/aggression when taking on defenders. He has also shown to be a very versatile athlete as he plays defensive end and also plays basketball. I fully expect the offers to come in for Burch starting this summer as he can definitely play somewhere at the next level.</span> <strong>Benjamin Hayes</strong>| 6’3, 220 lbs.| Butler Traditional High School| <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/12598510/61866301b018f50370d73da8">Junior Year Film</a> <span style="font-size: 10pt;">Benjamin Hayes has a had a very successful past couple of seasons for Butler as he is a two-time First Team All-District selection at tight end. He is a big body tight end that has tremendous athletic ability. Hayes has shown that he can go up and get jump balls in tight coverage. After the catch, he is a very strong runner that runs through defenders and takes an army to bring down. Butler uses him in all three phases of the game as he plays defensive end/outside linebacker on defense and also plays special teams, blocking a punt for a touchdown last year. He also plays basketball at Butler. Hayes currently holds an offer from UT Martin and I fully expect offers to start piling in as I believe he can play at the FCS level at the very least.</span> <strong>Travis Grant</strong>| 6’3, 200 lbs.| Madison Central High School| <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/13276234/61e8cde5bd6ab20bc4dc87c3">Junior Year Film</a> <span style="font-size: 10pt;">Grant hasn’t been your "traditional" tight end at Madison Central as he mainly plays as a big slot type of role due to his ability as a pass catcher. He has reliable hands and isn’t afraid to take on contact while bringing in the ball. Grant has the ability to pick up yards after the catch due to him simply being an aggressor with the ball in his hands, breaking tackles with ease. He shows a lot of promise as a blocker both out of the slot and when on the line of scrimmage as a true tight end as he does a great job of running his feet on contact and finishing blocks. While he doesn’t hold any official offers just yet, Grant can use this summer to take advantage of the 7on7 circuit playing for GHE 7v7 and by showing what he can do at camps. </span> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="339736" first="Bryce" last="Hoskins"]</strong>| 6’6", 250 lbs.| Breathitt County High School| <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/13092636/61e6549a02b16809c42b7d0f">Junior Year Film</a> <span style="font-size: 10pt;">The first thing that stood out to me when watching Hoskins is that he is a massive tight end that can move very well for a young man of his stature. He was used on many occasions in the slot, where they would just throw him a screen and let him run as he doesn’t go down without a fight. Hoskins is used all over the formation in the slot and as an H Back. As a blocker, Hoskins is very physical and is reliable in space. There were many times where he was used as a lead blocker through the gap. He had a very successful junior season as he was named All-District and is a very busy man in the off-season as he plays basketball and throws shotput for the track&amp;field team. I fully expect Hoskins to start picking up some offers as he is already receiving interest from college coaches.</span> <strong>Desmond Davies</strong>| 6’6", 215 lbs.| Campbell County High School| <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/13029996/618dd0c42ab1870a48cb240f">Junior Year Film</a> <span style="font-size: 10pt;">As a junior, Davies played a big role in the Campbell County offense as he was used outside and in the slot as a receiver as well as on the line of scrimmage as a true tight end. He has tremendous athletic ability as he can go up and win one on one jump ball situations, making many highlight-worthy contested catches last season. Davies has very reliable hands, looking in the ball away from his body before making his next move. After the catch, he is very dangerous as he runs through tackles very frequently and can take a short pass for a touchdown at any given moment. Davies is another two-sport athlete on this list as he plays a key role on the Campbell County basketball team. Davies has already begun receiving interest from college coaches and those offers should begin to pile up this summer. </span>