Many times, the simplest explanation is the best.
“Albert was doing Albert things,” Missouri quarterback Drew Lock said after the Tigers’ 65-33 Homecoming win against Memphis last weekend.
Lock was talking about his sophomore tight end, Albert Okwuegbunam, who had just caught six passes for 159 yards and three touchdowns in a performance that would earn him John Mackey national tight end of the week honors.
Okwuegbunam had caught just two touchdowns in the Tigers’ first six games of the season. While he had 31 catches for 241 yards—good numbers for most tight ends—he had fallen a little short of the astronomic expectations many had for him coming off a freshman season in which he had caught 11 touchdowns and the eyes of defensive coordinators and NFL scouts across the country.
“I think I’ve done all right. I feel like I could always play better,” Okwuegbunam said. “My standards are really high. I never play up to my standards.”
“I think he played better,” head coach Barry Odom said. “Albert caught more consistently and ran better routes. Take stats out of it, he played his best game up to this point.”
Part of the success against Memphis was simple matchups. Odom said Missouri had seen some things on film that led the coaching staff to believe it would get some favorable matchups with Okwuegbunam. When the game started, those matchups materialized.
But the Tigers also quite obviously adjusted the way they used the 6-foot-5, 265-pound Okwuegbunam. Take a look at the receiving chart for Okwuegbunam from each of the last two seasons.
As a redshirt freshman, much of his success came deep down the middle of the field. On passes thrown ten yards or more down the middle to Okwuegbunam, Mizzou went 10-for-13 for 186 yards and a staggering seven touchdowns. Add in the shorter passes over the middle and the numbers are 17-for-22 for 277 yards and nine scores. The majority of those yards (159) came after the catch.
This season, prior to the Memphis game, Mizzou was 13-for-21 for 125 yards when targeting Okwuegbunam over the middle. The Tigers were 4-for-4 for 113 yards and a score in those scenarios last week. Overall, Lock had a perfect passer rating of 158.3 when targeting his tight end against Memphis.
Perhaps more telling, the Tigers attempted only one short perimeter pass or pass thrown behind the line of scrimmage to Okwuegbunam against Memphis. It was his only target that fell incomplete. They have completed 16-of-18 such passes to Okwuegbunam this season so far, but have gotten just 76 total yards out of them, which translates to just 4.2 yards per attempt. Last year, they attempted 11 short perimeter or behind the line passes to Okwuegbunam all year. They completed nine, but for only 89 yards and no touchdowns.
In other words, Missouri went back to having Albert do Albert things last Saturday. Okwuegbunam’s biggest strength is his speed. Get him in space over the middle and let him run. Tight ends that weigh 260 pounds simply don’t run the way he does (he said his 40 has been timed in the low 4.5s at Mizzou). Opposing defenses have a choice: Match him up with a linebacker who might have the size, but can’t run with him or put a safety who can run with him but is giving up both height and bulk. Neither is ideal. Lock was asked this week which matchup he likes better.
“Probably the linebacker,” he said. “Because even most linebackers probably still aren’t as big as him.”
Okwuegbunam is a little less picky.
“Honestly, I don’t really have a preference,” he said. “In my head, I’m beating them either way. It might just be a different way.”
On Saturday, Missouri fans saw for the first time this year they player they truly expected. Tony Pauline of draftanalyst.com had Okwuegbunam as a projected fourth round NFL Draft pick entering the season and wrote in August “If he has a big 2018 season, it wouldn't be a big surprise if he was a top 100 selection in 2018.”
The possibility of the NFL after just two seasons on the field does loom for Okwuegbunam. Ironically, for Missouri to finish the second half strong, it will need more performances like last week out of its tight end. But the more he plays like he did last Saturday, the more the chances increase he’s playing himself out of college football and into the NFL Draft. Not that you’ll get him to talk about it.
“Not at all,” he said. “Right now, my focus is on helping my team win. Winning out the rest of the season and seeing where that goes. That really hasn’t been on my mind at all.”
And it shouldn’t be on Missouri’s. The Tigers aren’t playing for next year. They're playing for now. And the best recipe for the Tiger offense right now? Have Albert keep doing Albert things.
