Who has the most talent in the SEC at TE?

Tight end isn’t a feature position in the SEC, but several teams still leverage it to great affect. (We’re looking at you, Arkansas, Georgia and Vanderbilt.)

Alabama’s O.J. Howard is the only five-star tight end in the SEC. It’s puzzling why Howard only caught 31 passes his first two seasons in Tuscaloosa, as he’s 6-foot-6, 242 pounds and athletic for his size.

RELATED: Who has the best talent in the SEC at LB?

The SEC contains 17 four-star tight ends at the moment.

Here’s a look at the team-by-team tight end talent, followed by a few observations:

• Three SEC teams claim a trio of “quality” tight ends: Alabama, Georgia and Arkansas. Texas A&M (with just two four-star tight ends) is the only other SEC school with an average recruiting rating above 3.3 at the position.
• The number of scholarship tight ends varies significantly from roster to roster. LSU and Arkansas feature seven, while Texas A&M and Auburn feature just two. The Razorbacks run two-tight end sets almost exclusively. The Aggies often operate with four wide receivers, while the Auburn Tigers deploy H-backs who share a lot of overlap with those labeled “tight end” on their roster.
• The collection of two- and three-star tight ends should be every bit as productive as the four- and five-star players at the position. Evan Engram (Ole Miss), Steven Scheu (Vanderbilt), Jake McGee (Florida), Sean Culkin (Missouri) and Jeremy Sprinkle (Arkansas) all are set for important roles.
• Georgia (3) and South Carolina (2) account for 71.4 percent of the “quality” tight ends in the SEC East.
• Mississippi State, Missouri and Vanderbilt only have three-star tight ends on their roster. Ole Miss and Tennessee would be members of that group as well, but the Rebels and Vols claim one tight end who didn’t earn a star rating out of high school.

Here’s a team-by-team breakdown of the scholarship tight ends in the SEC. Star ratings listed below are based on the 247Sports composite rankings.

ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE

5: O.J. Howard
4: Brandon Greene, Hale Hentges
3: Dakota Ball, Ty Flournoy-Smith

ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS

4: Will Gragg, Hunter Henry, C.J. O’Grady
3: Jack Kraus, Jeremy Sprinkle, Austin Cantrell
N/A: Alex Voelzke

AUBURN TIGERS

3: Chris Laye, Jalen Harris

FLORIDA GATORS

4: DeAndre Goolsby
3: C’yontai Lewis, Camrin Knight*
2: Jake McGee

*Waiting on a test score to qualify and did not enroll this summer.

GEORGIA BULLDOGS

4: Jeb Blazevich, Jackson Harris, Jay Rome
3: Jordan Davis

KENTUCKY WILDCATS

4: C.J. Conrad
3: Greg Hart, Darryl Long

LSU TIGERS

4: Jacory Washington, DeSean Smith
3: Foster Moreau, Bry’Keithon Mouton, Hanner Shipley, Dillon Gordon
N/A: Colin Jeter

MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS

3: Gus Walley, Darrion Hutcherson, Rashun Dixon, B.J. Hammond, Lawrence Brown

MISSOURI TIGERS

3: Kendall Blanton, Sean Culkin, Austin Ray, Jason Reese, Josh Moore

OLE MISS REBELS

3: Evan Engram, Willie Hibbler
N/A: Dillon Barrett

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS

4: Jerell Adams, Kevin Crosby
3: Kyle Markway, Connor Redmond
2: Jacob August

TENNESSEE VOLS

3: Kyle Oliver, Ethan Wolf, A.J. Branisel, Neiko Creamer
N/A: Alex Ellis

TEXAS A&M AGGIES

4: Brandon Alexander, Jordan Davis

VANDERBILT COMMODORES

3: Sean Dowling, Nathan Marcus, Steven Scheu, Sam Dobbs, Kyle Anderton

Christopher Smith

An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.