Wake Forest Athletics
Football Spring Practice #1 - Tight Ends
2/26/2019 2:59:00 PM | Football
As Wake Forest begins its 15 days of spring football practice, GoDeacs.com will take a look at each of the 11 position groups that comprise the team. Our position-by-position breakdown begins with the tight ends.
The role of the tight end has increased greatly during the five years under head coach Dave Clawson and offensive coordinator Warren Ruggiero along with tight ends coach/special teams coach Wayne Lineburg.
In five seasons between 2009 and 2013, Wake Forest tight ends had just seven touchdown catches. In the last five seasons, corresponding with Clawson's arrival, the Demon Deacon tight ends have caught 26 touchdown passes. Cam Serigne contributed the vast majority of those catches but he was ably succeeded by Jack Freudenthal and Brandon Chapman in 2018.
The Deacons return both Freudenthal and Chapman in 2019 and more good things are expected of them in the coming season.
Freudenthal has one of the highest touchdowns per reception ratios in school history. The rising senior has 18 career receptions and five touchdowns, a mark of one touchdown for every 3.4 receptions. No player in school history with 10 or more career catches has a better touchdown-to-reception ratio.
Of Freudenthal's four touchdown catches last year, none was bigger than his 32-yard catch-and-run from Jamie Newman with just 30 seconds left to beat No. 22 NC State on November 8.
Freudenthal started all 13 games in 2018 and was on the field for 751 snaps including his stints on special teams where he led the team with five tackles on punt returns.
Chapman is a rising junior who played in all 13 games a year ago and made 12 receptions. Also a member of Wake Forest's special teams units, Chapman will almost assuredly see increased playing time in 2019 after being on the field for 567 snaps as a redshirt sophomore.
Connor Hebbeler spent his first two seasons at Wake Forest on the defensive line, getting into games against Florida State and Duke and making two tackles. This spring, Hebbeler will convert to tight end, a position where he can utilize his size at 6-2 and 245 pounds. It won't be an unfamiliar position for Hebbeler who had 16 receptions for 190 yards and two touchdowns as a high school senior at Bergen (N.J.) Catholic High School.
Alex Rowan and Blake Whiteheart will both be looking to continue their progress this spring. Rowan walked onto the Deacs last fall after making 84 receptions for 1,118 yards and 18 touchdowns as a senior at Metrolina Christian High. Whiteheart maintained his four years of eligibility under the new redshirt rule. Whiteheart saw action in three games in 2018 and while he did not catch a pass, he gained experience that will prove valuable as he continues to become more familiar with the Deacon offense.
Wake Forest's second scheduled practice of the spring is set for Thursday, February 28 at 8 a.m.
The role of the tight end has increased greatly during the five years under head coach Dave Clawson and offensive coordinator Warren Ruggiero along with tight ends coach/special teams coach Wayne Lineburg.
In five seasons between 2009 and 2013, Wake Forest tight ends had just seven touchdown catches. In the last five seasons, corresponding with Clawson's arrival, the Demon Deacon tight ends have caught 26 touchdown passes. Cam Serigne contributed the vast majority of those catches but he was ably succeeded by Jack Freudenthal and Brandon Chapman in 2018.
The Deacons return both Freudenthal and Chapman in 2019 and more good things are expected of them in the coming season.
Freudenthal has one of the highest touchdowns per reception ratios in school history. The rising senior has 18 career receptions and five touchdowns, a mark of one touchdown for every 3.4 receptions. No player in school history with 10 or more career catches has a better touchdown-to-reception ratio.
Of Freudenthal's four touchdown catches last year, none was bigger than his 32-yard catch-and-run from Jamie Newman with just 30 seconds left to beat No. 22 NC State on November 8.
Freudenthal started all 13 games in 2018 and was on the field for 751 snaps including his stints on special teams where he led the team with five tackles on punt returns.
Chapman is a rising junior who played in all 13 games a year ago and made 12 receptions. Also a member of Wake Forest's special teams units, Chapman will almost assuredly see increased playing time in 2019 after being on the field for 567 snaps as a redshirt sophomore.
Connor Hebbeler spent his first two seasons at Wake Forest on the defensive line, getting into games against Florida State and Duke and making two tackles. This spring, Hebbeler will convert to tight end, a position where he can utilize his size at 6-2 and 245 pounds. It won't be an unfamiliar position for Hebbeler who had 16 receptions for 190 yards and two touchdowns as a high school senior at Bergen (N.J.) Catholic High School.
Alex Rowan and Blake Whiteheart will both be looking to continue their progress this spring. Rowan walked onto the Deacs last fall after making 84 receptions for 1,118 yards and 18 touchdowns as a senior at Metrolina Christian High. Whiteheart maintained his four years of eligibility under the new redshirt rule. Whiteheart saw action in three games in 2018 and while he did not catch a pass, he gained experience that will prove valuable as he continues to become more familiar with the Deacon offense.
Wake Forest's second scheduled practice of the spring is set for Thursday, February 28 at 8 a.m.
Players Mentioned
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