University of North Carolina Athletics
Blizzard Making His Mark at Tight End
September 3, 2003 | Football
Sept. 3, 2003
By Adam Lucas, Tar Heel Monthly
Tailback U. is already taken, assigned years ago to the maroon-and-gold of Southern Cal.
Linebacker U. belongs to the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley.
ut if Carolina wants to have a U., Tight End U. might just be the most fitting assessment. The Tar Heels are churning out professional tight ends like Krispy Kreme produces glazed doughnuts.
Not every NFL team uses a tight end, but three pro squads feature Tar Heels on their two-deep depth chart at that position. Alge Crumpler caught 36 passes for the Atlanta Falcons last season (five for touchdowns) and Freddie Jones of the Arizona Cardinals has more catches over the past three seasons than all but three other players at the position.
Jones and Crumpler were both second round NFL Draft picks, but even the undrafted Tar Heels stick in the pros. After surprisingly falling out of the 2003 Draft, Zach Hilton latched on with the New Orleans Saints as a free agent and became the surprise of training camp, eventually squeezing out veteran David Sloan to make the Saints' roster.
Last year, Hilton split time at the position for the Tar Heels with Bobby Blizzard. This year, Blizzard-who was picked as the 11th-best tight end in the country by The Sporting News-has the spot to himself, and there's a good chance he may be the next Carolina tight end to make a professional roster.
lizzard, a native of Hampton, VA, and a former teammate of Ronald Curry, has always been able to catch the football. His 6-foot-3 frame makes him a natural target for quarterbacks, and his soft hands enabled him to start as a freshman at the University of Kentucky.
In those days, the Wildcats employed a pass-happy offense based largely on finesse. Physical play wasn't a UK trademark, and when Blizzard arrived in Chapel Hill in the fall of 2001 as a transfer, he was definitely in shape-it's just that the shape was round.
"Oh man," Blizzard says, and his eyes get wide. "I'm in a whole, whole lot better shape than I was when I got here. I weighed 278 then and now I'm at 255."
Even last season, when he caught 28 passes and led the squad with five touchdown receptions, his conditioning limited him to splitting time with Hilton. So over the summer, while most other tight ends were focusing on improving their hands, Blizzard worked almost exclusively on improving his conditioning and becoming a better blocker, two aspects of the tight end position that go overlooked by most fans.
At Kentucky, Blizzard frequently lined up as a wide receiver, which kept him out of the trenches and away from the hulking linemen and fleet linebackers who make a tight end's life difficult. At the time, his idea of blocking was to find a 180-pound cornerback and get in his way.
Tar Heel tight ends coach Ken Browning knew his pupil was a talented receiver. But in order to make him a successful tight end, he had to mold him into a more physical player who could block blitzing linebackers and open holes in the running game.
"You always make a mistake when you just judge a guy on stats that are measurable," Browning says. "A player can catch seven passes, but if he plays 60 snaps and doesn't block very well on the other 53 plays then he's not a very good tight end. I am very, very pleased with the progress Bobby has made with his blocking. He's a good athlete, he's got courage, and he has the ability to finish blocks."
In fact, Blizzard is so valuable to the Tar Heel offense that coordinator Gary Tranquill is trying to find new ways to use him. Opponents know that Carolina's receivers are untested and that in third-down situations, Blizzard is a likely target. For that reason, the senior spent most of the preseason frequently in motion, whether just switching sides of the line of scrimmage, lining up as an H-back, or even occasionally being positioned as a fullback.
"He creates some problems for the defense when you move him around," Browning says. "It adds more things for the defense to prepare for and he also has some versatility, which helps. He can block, he can pass protect, and he's a pretty good deep guy in certain situations."
Most of his recognition from casual observers, of course, will come from his pass-catching skills. Three of Darian Durant's top five passing targets from 2002 are gone, with only Jarwarski Pollock and Blizzard remaining. Pollock isn't a possession-type receiver, which means Durant will know where big number 89 is on key third-down plays.
The duo has become close friends off the field and frequently done extra workouts together, a partnership that has been beneficial for both of them. At the same time Blizzard has shed those extra Kentucky pounds, Durant has also trimmed into better shape and impressed his teammates with improved conditioning.
The junior quarterback, however, still has one more year after 2003 to impress the professional scouts. At this time next season, it's likely that Blizzard will be wearing a new uniform and pulling down a paycheck along with pass receptions.
If he breaks the two-deep, the Tar Heels will have provided almost 15% of NFL teams with their tight ends. Browning could be forgiven for crediting outstanding coaching with the productivity of Carolina tight ends in the pros. Instead, he credits something else.
"Hard work is the bottom line," he says. "If you had to pick between pure talent or less talent with a better work ethic, you'd pick the latter. These guys have to study hard. You can't be a bad student football-wise and be a good tight end."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly, click here.
