Texas Football: 4 overreactions from Longhorns demolition of Baylor

Ja’Tavion Sanders is the best tight end in the Power Five

One of the stars of the game on offense for the Longhorns in the win over Baylor is easily junior All-Big 12 tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders. The future NFL Draft pick had his second 100-yard receiving game of the season and second in the last three games.

This was quite the response from Sark to get Sanders more involved in the offense against Baylor after he didn’t have any catches in the Week 3 win at home over the Wyoming Cowboys.

The Longhorns targeted Sanders seven times in this game, resulting in five receptions for 110 receiving yards and 22 yards per catch. Sanders was impossible for any single Baylor defender to bring down on their own. He was outrunning Baylor defenders, hurdling them, and running them over after the catch.

Sanders had 67 yards after the catch and 13.4 yards after the catch per reception in this game.

The crazy part is those numbers aren’t even season highs for Sanders.

After huge outings against Alabama and Baylor on the road this season, Sanders has the most impressive stat sheet of any tight end in the FBS. He leads the FBS in receiving yards and ranks in the top two in the FBS in yards per catch, yards after the catch, and yards after the catch per reception.

Sanders is also a very reliable target for Ewers in the passing game. He has no drops on the season while reeling in 12 catches.

The 6-foot-4 and 245-pound Sanders continues to be a matchup nightmare for opposing defensive coordinators. He attacked the seems and couldn’t be stopped against the Baylor defense this weekend.

As a result, Sanders was the highest-graded tight end in the FBS in Week 4.

Sark can move Sanders around to almost every alignment pre-snap, and he threatens opposing defenses in the passing game. A bonus is that he’s been solid in run blocking. Sanders ranks among the top three tight ends in the Big 12 in run-blocking grade this season.

Between his tremendous production, versatility, and blocking ability, Sanders has proven to be the best tight end in the FBS this season. Some might say that title belongs to Georgia’s Brock Bowers. But Sanders has outproduced Bowers in receiving and blocking this fall.