Tight Show

"This CANNOT be right."

That was my first reaction when I spotted a note on tight ends in Florida State's official game notes prior to the NC State game on Thursday. On page six, there's a chart listing "Recent Tight End Leaders" that dates back to 2001 - mysteriously ambiguous, I should think. Leaders how? In catches? Yards? Didn't say. Just "Recent Tight End Leaders."

And on that chart, we find zero touchdown passes thrown to a Florida State tight end from 2001 through 2005. Like I said, that CANNOT be right.

I mentioned the stat a couple of times on the live Seminole Postgame show on Thursday night, after FSU freshman Brandon Warren broke the apparent schneid by catching a TD pass. Later that night, I noticed that a few viewers had picked up on it, and repeated the stat on the FSU message boards. Nobody seemed too surprised, either.

Then, Friday morning, I received an e-mail from Florida sportswriter Corey Long, who claimed that the stat was incorrect - he wrote that Matt Henshaw did indeed catch a touchdown pass against Florida in 2003.

The print version of the FSU media guide was no help. The recent NCAA rules that prohibit schools from using media guides as 500-page recruiting bibles have severely reduced the amount of historical information available in those guides. So, I went to the NCAA's official statistics website, which archives Division I football stats back to 1999.

Lo and behold, Corey was right. Matt Henshaw not only caught a touchdown pass against Florida in 2003 - his first career TD catch at Florida State - he also caught one against Miami in the Orange Bowl game at the end of that season. Furthermore, there's a record of Paul Irons catching one against Virginia in 2001. As best as I could find, those three TD passes - only two of which were in the regular season - were the only three scoring passes thrown to a Florida State tight end from 2001 through the first four games of 2006, with Warren's catch on Thursday raising the total to four.

Again, I went back to the FSU game notes for an umpteenth time. Nope, I didn't mis-read it: all zeroes in the "TD" column among "Recent Tight End Leaders" from '01 to '05. Now I'm REALLY confused.

Mentioned this to someone in the studio here at Sun Sports, and he suggested that perhaps Henshaw wasn't lined up at tight end in the '03 Florida game.

Great. How the hell am I supposed to figure THAT out?

Turns out, I didn't have to. Instead, I found Florida State's 2004 Media Guide online, and read Henshaw's bio. According to that source, Henshaw's two 2003 touchdown catches, against Florida and Miami, were both from the tight end position. Which means, the table in this week's FSU game notes was incorrect, or just titled in such a way as to bumfuzzle the talking heads. Regardless, the stat I threw out on the air was incorrect.

Shoulda trusted my instincts. I knew it couldn't be right.

Still - four touchdown passes to a tight end in five-plus seasons? Are the FSU coaches aware that under current NCAA rules, the tight end is, in fact, an eligible receiver?

Bubba Franks had 12 touchdown catches by himself at Miami. Jeremy Shockey had ten, and he only played two years. Warren could have half that many by the end of his freshman season. He should, anyway - he's the Seminoles' most reliable receiver at the moment.

Given that Jeff Bowden took over as Florida State's offensive coordinator in February of 2001 - coinciding with the table in the game notes from this week - the knee-jerk reaction would be to assume that he just doesn't use tight ends as pass-catchers. Curious - and still online - I checked Florida State's history in the NFL Draft.

No, it's not the most accurate barometer of anything, but it's interesting: the last Florida State tight end to get drafted, in any round, was Lonnie Johnson in 1994 (2nd round to Buffalo). Before Johnson, there were only two more - Reggie Johnson to Denver in the 2nd round in '91, and Pat Carter to Detroit in the 2nd round in '88. That's three Florida State tight ends drafted to the NFL in the 24-year history of the modern draft.

For reference, Miami has sent 10 tight ends to the NFL Draft, starting with Glenn Dennison in 1984 (2nd round, Jets) and including Kevin Everett last year (3rd round, Buffalo). You know the names - Shockey, Franks, Winslow, et al. Florida, a school known more for wideouts than tight ends, has nonetheless sent five TE's into the draft, most recently Ben Troupe in 2004 (2nd round, Tennessee) and including two in one year: Chris Faulkner and Mike Mularkey in 1983. (Total number of Florida wide receivers drafted in 24 years: 21.)

Conclusion: it ain't just JEFF Bowden who avoids the tight end. But, on the bright side, maybe they're on to something with Brandon Warren.