By David Carducci
Record-Courier staff writer
Kent State is already planning for 2009 as it looks for new ways to encourage more production from its underachieving receiving corps.
Activating promising redshirt freshmen T.J. Williams, Daamon Cooper and Chris Gordon will help. Getting true freshman Kendrick Pressley and Chris Gilbert back from injury will also provide a big boost.
Now KSU head coach Doug Martin is considering moving a veteran to what is essentially a wide receiver position in 2009.
"We'll probably move Jameson Konz from tight end to H-back next year," said Martin. "That would allow us to make Jonathan Simpson our regular tight end."
The potential move assumes the NCAA will grant an additional year of eligibility for Konz, who played in one game this year before being sidelined by a severe ankle sprain. The senior spent his first three years in Kent playing linebacker before being switched to tight end prior to this season.
Konz' size (6-foot-3, 222 pounds) and speed (4.3- to 4.4-second range in the 40-yard dash) had coaches believing he would be a difference-maker in the passing game. Unfortunately, he only caught two passes for 12 yards in the season-opening loss to Boston College before he was injured.
Since taking over as the starting tight end in Week 2, Simpson has flashed potential as a playmaker, catching seven passes for 79 yards and a touchdown. The sophomore has also been an efficient blocker for KSU's Mid-American Conference-leading rushing attack, although his performance in both areas has been slowed in recent weeks by his own nagging shoulder injury.
With Simpson at tight end and Konz either coming out of the backfield or splitting out wide as an H-back, Kent State would line up two big targets for whomever replaces graduating senior Julian Edelman as the Flashes' starting quarterback next season.
Simpson is 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds. He and little-used fellow tight ends Justin Thompson (6-1) and Lester Troutman (6-2) are the only active pass catchers on KSU's current roster who stand taller than 5-11. Thompson has just one catch in his freshman season -- a 1-yard touchdown grab against Akron on Oct. 4 -- and Troutman has yet to catch a pass in his junior campaign.