The Arizona Cardinals have not made the tight end position a prominent part of the offense over the past many years. For previous head coach Bruce Arians, they were almost an afterthought. That might change under new coach Kliff Kingsbury.
In particular, he is thrilled to have Charles Clay at the position, whom the team signed two weeks ago.
“Clay is such a versatile player,” Kingsbury said at the NFL combine. “I was at the University of Houston and we played against him in Tulsa and I’ve always been enamored with the different ways he can be used, whether it’s in the backfield blocking or you can hand him the ball. He can be a matchup at wide receiver. He can just do a lot of things.”
He noted the tight ends will “have a prominent role” in the offense, saying they would move around and “do different things.”
Tight ends can have big production. Jace Amaro had 106 catches and 1,352 receiving yards his senior season in 2013, Kingsbury’s first year as head coach at Texas Tech.
Kingsbury, though, doesn’t only see Clay’s value on the field. He believes he will be good in the locker room — “a veteran presence that we feel like could be good for Ricky (Seals-Jones) in that room.”
The top receiving season for a Cardinals tight end in the last decade was Rob Housler’s 45 catches in 2012.
Maybe that will change in 2019 with Clay or with Seals-Jones.
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