There has been a lot of talk about many of the offensive positions on the Georgia Southern football team. Obviously, everything starts at quarterback and the Eagles feel they have something special with Kyle Vantrease. Running back is arguably one of the strongest positions with Jalen White and Gerald Green anxious to show what they can do in coach Clay Helton’s offense. 

Positions on offense that haven’t been the most productive the past couple of years have also been talked about positively by coaches this preseason as wide receiver could be one of the deeper spots, and the Eagle offensive line has garnered praise from Helton as well as OL coach Richard Owens. 

The one group who have seemed to have flown under the radar has been the Eagle tight ends. The only thing Helton has really said of note so far in the preseason about the tight ends is he feels they need to figure out where they are on the depth chart and who is going to be getting the majority of the reps. 

The tight end position is in the capable hands of coach Ryan Aplin who comes to Georgia Southern from Arkansas State where he coached the running backs with the Red Wolves. Before that was with Bryan Ellis and Helton’s brother Tyson at Western Kentucky where he was the co-offensive coordinator. This year in addition to coaching tight ends Aplin is also the passing game coordinator and coaches the inside receivers. 

Aplin’s jobs entail quite a bit of study, and is pretty wide in scope. The same could be said for the amount of knowledge the tight ends have to have now at Georgia Southern. 

“As a tight end in this offense you are asked to do a lot of things,” said Aplin. “It is a really tough position and you have to be versatile. You have to be able to play in space. Not in the passing game but in the screen game. You have to be able to provide a presence in the run game. You have to run block and then pass protect as well. You have to be a jack of all trades and I have been really pleased by how my guys have performed.” 

Leading the way from an experience factor is the leading returning receiver at tight end in junior Beau Johnson. Johnson started 10 games last year and had 15 receptions for 162 yards and three touchdowns.  

“We are finally starting to get some numbers as far as the tight ends go,” said Johnson. “I’d say outside of quarterback we probably have them most to learn as far as where everyone should be and our schemes. It is a lot different from what I have done before but I feel we are all coming along well and we are really building depth.” 

Receiver Jjay Mcafee makes the transition to tight end for this his senior year. Mcafee has bulked up a little in the off season and comes in at 6-3 and about 225 pounds. 

“It is definitely a challenge but I think I am adapting,” said Mcafee. “You have to know everything that the wide receivers have to know. You also have to know what to do as a member of the offensive line, and where to be in blocking for the running backs on the screen passes and runs. I put on a little weight over the past six months to make sure I could make the move, especially with the wide receiver room becoming so full.” 

Also, in the mix at tight end is 6-3, 225-pound junior Ethan Dirrim who transferred from Mercer and 6-4, 245-pound redshirt freshman Dylan Snyder who transferred from The Citadel. Other tight ends on the roster include senior Chase Hancock, freshman Braxton Slack and redshirt freshman Evan Lester.  

“I think they all bring different levels of play,” said Aplin. “Beau is a guy who is really starting to embrace that role. Things have changed a lot for him since we got here, but he is a very natural route runner. Chase Hancock is a physical guy who has shown us lot he can do in the run game. Jjay is obviously a natural route runner coming from being a wide receiver. Moving him into the box has been an adjustment but he has shown us some physicality and that he can hold his own in the box.”