The variety of ways James Madison uses its tight ends make the position so valuable for the Dukes.
Personnel at the spot are asked to run block, pass block, catch the ball, play with a hand in the dirt, split away from the line as a receiver and even align as a H-back behind the line of scrimmage.
Last season, former All-Colonial Athletic Association pick Dylan Stapleton did it well enough for JMU to earn an undrafted free agent rookie contract from the Houston Texans this past April. But heading into this fall there is no proven tight end on an every-down basis on the Dukes’ roster.
Drew Painter earned one start last year and appeared often in multiple tight end formations. But beyond the effort from Painter, the contributions from others were minimal in 2019.
Here’s a closer look at Painter and what to expect from the rest of the position unit this coming season.
Returning Starters: none
Other Returners On Roster: senior Clayton Cheatham, junior Drew Painter, r-freshman Hunter Bullock
Newcomers: r-senior Noah Turner (North Carolina), freshman Kelly Mitchell
Position Coach: Grant Cain (second season)
Synopsis: The decision Dukes coach Curt Cignetti and his staff made to move Painter from defensive tackle to tight end before last season proved to work well, with Painter providing enough aptitude in his first year playing the position in college to become the undoubted second tight end on the depth chart behind Stapleton.
Painter starred as a tight end previously for Hershey (Pa.) High School.
And his role should only be magnified in 2020, considering he’s the only tight end on the roster to play a full season in the offense. Painter played in all 16 games last year, making four catches including an 11-yard touchdown reception against Monmouth in the FCS playoffs.
After Painter is where the pecking order could go any direction.
Cignetti said Clayton Cheatham is healthy. Because of various injuries Cheatham hasn’t played a full season since his freshman year in 2017.
When Cheatham does play, though, he’s typically a red zone threat as he has five career touchdown catches to his name.
But as insurance to Cheatham, the Dukes added North Carolina transfer Noah Turner. He played some tight end, but primarily was used as a special teams player for the Tar Heels, who JMU is scheduled to play against on Sept. 19. Before Turner’s four years with North Carolina, he was three-star prospect by Rivals.com and rated as the 28th best tight end nationally by the recruiting service in the 2016 cycle.
“We’re optimistic that [Cheatham] will be good to go for this fall,” Cignetti said. “But, the only returner there was Drew Painter. Clayton was injured and we didn’t know if he’d come back. So Noah Turner actually has two years of eligibility potentially, with a waiver, because he was injured and missed a year.
“But [Turner is] a tough, hard nosed guy and we kind of had to dig into the practice tape to see what he could do in the pass game, so I’m anxious to see how he can fit in and provide competition. You don’t bring transfers in just to sit the pine, but they’ve got to earn it, too. So we felt like we just needed a guy there at that position and that we needed depth because we play with two tight ends and sometimes three.”
Hunter Bullock redshirted last year in his first season with JMU, and as part of the 2020 recruiting class JMU signed Hidden Valley (Roanoke) tight end Kelly Mitchell. A 6-foot-3, 230-pounder, Mitchell was a first-team All-River Ridge District choice as a sophomore, junior and senior. He had other scholarship offers from Elon, Marshall and Richmond before pledging and inking with JMU.