2023 Alabama Crimson Tide Position Preview: Tight Ends
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The tight end position has come in all different shapes and sizes throughout the Nick Saban era at Alabama.
In the beginning of Saban's tenure, the Crimson Tide was much more run-heavy, with primarily blocking tight ends such as Colin Peek, Brad Smelley and Brian Vogler.
As the game of college football shifted to a more pass-centric style of offense and Alabama shifted with it, named like OJ Howard, Irv Smith, and briefly Jahleel Billingsley became top receiving targets in the Crimson Tide's passing game.
Now heading into 2023, Alabama is replacing its starting tight end, Cameron Latu, who was the fourth-leading receiver on last year's team and is now a member of the San Francisco 49ers.
Enter, CJ Dippre.
Dippre was Alabama's first addition from the transfer portal in the past cycle, committing to the Crimson Tide in December, before the Sugar Bowl had even been played. Playing for Maryland last season, Dippre caught 30 passes for 314 yards and three touchdowns, almost identical numbers to what Latu vacated.
The other piece of the puzzle is newly-hired offensive coordinator Tommy Rees.
Rees, who came over from Notre Dame, has been hailed by Saban himself as one of the brightest young offensive minds in all of college football. Rees became widely known for his heavy implementation of tight ends with the Fighting Irish, having coached Michael Mayer to a 2,000-yard career before he was selected in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
While Dippre is not quite the level of player that Mayer was, he still has superb athleticism to go along with his 6-foot-5, 260-pound frame. He has soft hands, is a physical blocker, and is a very capable weapon in the open field.
Dippre's athleticism can create mismatches all across the field, and Rees specializes in moving around his weapons to take advantage of matchups.
At Notre Dame, Rees lined his tight ends up anywhere from the slot, to the boundary, to an old school three-point stance right next to the offensive tackle. Dippre has the versatility to be used all over the field, and Rees will be able to exhibit his creativity with pre-snap alignments.
Dippre won't be the only tight end in the offense used, though. Rees ran a significant amount of 12 personnel at Notre Dame, which means using one running back and two tight ends.
As good of a blocker as Dippre is, the best blocking tight end on the team may very well be Robbie Ouzts, a 6-foot-4, 258-pound junior who has just five career receptions, but appeared in every game last season.
It wouldn't be surprising at all to see both Dippre and Ouzts on the field at the same time, with both being strong blockers and the potential to set up play-action passes for Dippre or other receivers on the outside. It's expected that Alabama will get back to running the ball more often without having a quarterback as dynamic as Bryce Young taking snaps in the backfield, so it's safe to assume Ouzts will be greatly utilized to clear the way for Jase McClellan, Roydell Williams and Justice Haynes.
The wildcard of the tight end group is sophomore Amari Niblack. After coming in as a 4-star athlete ranked in the top-100 in the 2022 class, Niblack caught just one pass last season for 15 yards and a touchdown.
Niblack has the highest pass-catching potential of the entire position group, with a 6-foot-4, 233-pound frame who was a high school basketball player and looks like a massive wide receiver.
It's still unknown how good of a blocker Niblack is, but if he continues to develop as a pass catcher the way his measurables suggest he can, he could be a fantastic weapon for Rees to make use of whether it's in 2023 or in the future.
Projected Depth Chart
1. CJ Dippre (Jr.)
2. Robbie Ouzts (Jr.)
3. Amari Niblack (So.)
4. Danny Lewis Jr. (RS Fr.)
5. Miles Kitselman (Jr.)
6. Ty Lockwood (Fr.)
2023-24 Alabama Tight Ends
CJ Dippre
Miles Kitselman
Danny Lewis Jr.
Amari Niblack
Robbie Ouzts
Ty Lockwood
See also:
2023 Alabama Crimson Tide Position Preview: Offensive Line
