Heading into the Tennessee game, the stock for Auburn's TEs continues to grow

JJ Pegues, Luke Deal, John Samuel Shenker and new commitment Grant Calcaterra headline what could be a big week for the tight ends.

TE JJ Pegues (Todd Van Emst/Auburn Athletics)

It seems like it’s always a good time to talk about Auburn’s tight ends.

The position group that has had little statistical production since the days of Philip Lutzenkirchen and C.J. Uzomah has been a popular point of discussion for most of the Gus Malzahn era. The promises of throwing the ball to the tight ends more often seemed to fade year after year, even as Auburn started adding more players to the position through recruiting.

Given his track record at Clemson and Arkansas, Chad Morris’ arrival as Malzahn’s new offensive coordinator took that buzz to a new level in 2020.

Now, with the Tigers heading into the final stretch of their SEC-only schedule following two off dates, Tennessee week presented multiple opportunities to talk more about the tight ends.

Let’s start with the context of what we’ve learned so far this season. Through six games, Auburn has doubled its passing target rate to tight ends from 2.12 percent in 2019 to 5.20 percent…