UH football junior Christian Trahan was Houston’s top target at tight end in 2020. | Courtesy of UH athletics
The Houston football team’s 2020 season was defined by inconsistency. Outside of the game against South Florida, the Cougars never seemed to string together multiple series of strong performances.
Having examined the UH football team’s quarterback and running back play in 2020, it is now time to go back and evaluate the Cougars’ tight end performance.
Here is a closer look at how the UH tight ends performed in 2020:
An emerging No.1 target
With the Cougars’ receiving core dealing with injuries and COVID-19 issues all season, junior quarterback Clayton Tune found a new favorite target in junior tight end Christian Trahan.
While Trahan did not play a huge role for the UH offense early in the season, the 6-foot-3-inch tight end established himself as Tune’s most reliable target over the latter stages of the 2020 season.
In the Cougars’ final four games of the season, Trahan hauled in 17 catches for 216 yards and two touchdowns.
Trahan’s big build and ability pull in any ball in his general vicinity made him one of the Cougars’ most trusted targets, and should help him play an even bigger role for the UH offense in 2021.
No depth in 2020
While Trahan put together a solid 2020 campaign, none of the other four tight ends on the UH football roster recorded a reception.
The fact that only one of UH’s five tight ends was involved in the offense is a little troubling considering how many new bodies the Cougars played during the season due to all the program’s COVID-19 issues and injury problems.
Performance grade
Trahan was one of the bright spots for a Cougars offense that struggled with consistency all season long.
Trahan took a big step forward in 2020, establishing himself as a vital piece on the offense, and should be near the top of the leaderboard in receiving statistics for UH in 2021.
With that being said, depth at the tight end position must be an offseason focus for Dana Holgorsen and his staff. UH must have another tight end or two to be able to take some of the load off of Trahan, as well as step up into a bigger role if Trahan goes down with an injury sometime in 2021.
Overall Grade: C
For more of The Cougar’s 2020 UH football offseason grades, click here
