Going into 2003, many Gopher fans had the expectation that tight end Ben Utecht would be an All-American candidate. Injuries never allowed Utecht to achieve such a status. One positive outcome of Utecht’s injuries was that it allowed redshirt freshman Matt Spaeth to gain valuable experience in 2003. Now a third year sophomore, Spaeth should be expected to play an integral part in the Gopher offense as both a blocker and receiver.

Matt was recruited to Minnesota as a defensive player and practiced on that side of the ball during his redshirt season. With very little depth behind Ben Utecht in 2003, Matt was moved to tight end. He played in 12 of the 13 games last year and caught 12 passes for 98 yards. He started games against Wisconsin, Iowa, and Oregon while Utecht was nursing a pulled stomach muscle. While not blessed with the same speed as Utecht, he is bigger, stronger, a better blocker, and manages to catch the passes that are thrown to him. Some have theorized that he might eventually outgrow the tight end position and move to offensive tackle. However, that is extremely unlikely anytime soon due to the lack of numbers behind him.

Jared was recruited to Minnesota as a quarterback, but was switched to tight end prior to the 2002 season. He played in all 13 games in 2003 and caught 2 passes for 21 yards and 1 touchdown. While not as good of a blocker as Spaeth, Jared is a little bit faster and has fairly good hands. Unfortunately for Jared, the main thing that many Gopher fans remember him for was his fumble on the opening kickoff of the loss to Michigan State. In 2004, Jared will likely be counted on to give Spaeth an occasional breather and also as a third-down receiver.

Also looking for playing time at tight end will be Chad Redmann (6-foot-3, 250 pounds, Burnsville, MN), Kevin Salmen (Junior, 6-foot-5, 245 pounds, Saint Paul, MN), and Jack Simmons (Freshman, 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, Libertyville, IL). Neither Salmen nor Redmann caught a pass in 2003. Simmons comes to Minnesota as a highly recruited player, whose father Terry once played for the Gophers.

At this time last year, I was disappointed when I heard that Spaeth was moving to tight end. I had the pleasure of watching him several times in high school, where he played middle linebacker. To say that he was a hard hitter is an understatement. On one play in the 2002 state quarterfinal against Duluth Denfeld, Spaeth hit the opposing quarterback so hard that he called the play “Purple Fence 48” in the following huddle. The trouble is that there was no such play in the Denfeld playbook. Now that he has played tight end for a year, I am glad that he made the move. Without him, there would be a major void at this position. He will not be the receiving threat Utecht was, but he is more durable and there are already enough weapons in the Gopher offense. While Posthumus is a decent situational receiver, he is not an every down player. Unless there are injury problems or he is extremely impressive in fall practice, Simmons will likely redshirt in 2004