Texas entered the season with a tight end room that looked built on flexibility, but four games in, the passing-game production is barely there.
The numbers tell the story. Through the first four games, Texas tight ends have totaled just nine catches for 97 yards and no touchdowns.
Projected over a full regular season, that works out to 27 receptions for 388 yards. For a program that, from 2022 through 2024, averaged nearly 800 yards and six touchdowns a year from the position, it’s a sharp drop.
That earlier stretch was driven by Ja’Tavion Sanders and Gunnar Helm, and even last season’s production from Jack Endries still gave the group more punch than what’s showing up now. Endries, the Cal transfer, had a disappointing 2025 season that featured career-low production from the one-time walk on. Texas then entered 2026 with only three receptions for 54 yards returning, plus Michigan State transfer Michael Masunas, who brought 24 catches for 270 yards and three touchdowns in three seasons with the Spartans.
Instead, the current group has produced the lowest passing-game output from Texas tight ends since Steve Sarkisian’s first season in 2021. That year, Cade Brewer had 22 of the position’s 23 catches and all 184 yards and three touchdowns.
Sarkisian, though, wasn’t eager to frame the position strictly through receiving numbers when he talked about it Thursday.
“I think production, we always want to think, did the ball get thrown to them, but are they pass protecting? Are they run blocking?
Are they shifting and moving in a way where we can gain advantages and doing the things that we need to do? And do they understand why we’re doing it?”
Sarkisian said.
That’s the modern tight end job, and Texas does have bodies to mix and match. Senior Spencer Shannon and Masunas are both big in-line options.
Nick Townsend can serve as a move blocker and line up on the edge in certain looks. Emaree Winston gives the group a short-yardage fullback type.
But as a receiving threat, the room just hasn’t shown much.
Shannon spent three years in the program without a target despite playing 265 career snaps, and while he has made some progress as a mover, he’s managed only three catches for 24 yards. He’s also had two drops on five targets.
Masunas was singled out in spring by Sarkisian as a positive pass-catching discovery, but the transfer has played only 41 snaps and still hasn’t been targeted this season.
Townsend has 163 snaps and only four targets, so his role appears headed more toward blocking than anything downfield.
Winston has looked the most complete of the group as a pass catcher. He’s the best route runner and has the best hands in the room, and he came through with a big catch on 4th and 9 against Ohio State, finishing that game with three catches for 38 yards. But he has only two targets and one catch for six yards over the last two games.
That’s left Texas without a seam threat, without much danger on play-action, and without the tight end screen package Sarkisian has leaned on in the past.
Sarkisian said he wants to see the group keep trending upward.
“I think all those guys maybe lacked a little experience, especially playing for us from Michael’s perspective, but I’m watching these guys grow and improve and get better, and they’re not perfect - nobody on offense is right now, nobody on our team is - but I think they’re working at their craft,” Sarkisian said.
There are still ways to deploy the room. Shannon and Masunas give Texas two big-bodied in-line tight ends, Townsend can handle move-blocking duties, and Winston can be used as a short-yardage fullback. Shannon has also flashed as a run blocker and held up well in pass protection.
What Texas hasn’t found yet is the ideal 12-personnel pairing, especially since Townsend’s bone bruise against Ohio State. That matters, because Townsend’s first play from scrimmage this season is still the Longhorns’ longest run of the year.
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