He is in a developmental position, but Alabama football has a special player for the future at tight end.
Bryan Ellis, a former quarterback at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, was an offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, and wide receivers coach at Western Kentucky (2019-21) and Georgia Southern (2022-23). The 35-year-old from Macon (Ga.) is now the Crimson Tide’s tight ends coach. Ellis has a talented room that needs to be involved in the passing game.
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CJ Dippre is the leader in the room and Josh Cuevas will quickly show how talented he is, but the Tide has a second-year player that Ellis says has the ‘best hands’ in the room. Ty Lockwood, a redshirt freshman, excelled at Independence High School in Tennessee as a blocker and receiver. An injury caused the former four-star to total just seven catches for 88 yards in his senior season; however, he recorded 85 receptions for 1,068 yards and seven touchdowns combined as a sophomore and junior.
The 6-foot-5, 239-pounder is developing, but Ellis likes what he has in Lockwood.
“Ty is a big kid, he’s talented, he’s probably got the best hands in our room,” Ellis said Wednesday.
“He is able to pluck the ball out the air and catch it with his hands. We got to continue to grow and get him stronger. The tight end position is a developmental position. When you are a young player competing at 18, 19 years old and you are competing in your own room against 21 and 22 years olds, that can be tough for those kids. He is continuing to grow and get stronger. He is a great kid, and he’s a weapon in the passing game as well.”
It is not certain how many reps Lockwood will see versus Western Kentucky, but Ellis knows what he has in the rotation.
Lockwood will be a player to watch in the future.
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Stephen M. Smith is the senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
