OU Football Regular Season Grades - Tight Ends

Our series continues today with the OU tight ends. To be fair to them, I'm not sure how you cannot take into account how non-existent the TEs were all year in Josh Heupel's offense. It was shocking for a lot of us because OU utilized the TE when he was a QB so often that we all assumed being the play caller he'd do the same. Clearly, that was not the case. And with that, here are your TE grades.

James Hanna: C-

Final stats: 25 catches, 363 yards, 2 TDs

Hanna might have had one of the most disappointing seasons of any OU player given what was expected of him in the preseason. Coming off a strong close to 2010, it was hoped that his senior season this year would be a coming out party of sorts. As we mentioned in the open, a big part of that not happening had to due with Heupel never using the TEs. But it also had to do with repeated drops in some big spots by the senior pass catcher (and yes I recognize the irony in that choice of words).

Trent Ratterree: C

Final stats: 9 catches, 98 yards, 1 TD

Given how little Hanna was used and the fact that the former walk-on was third string for most of the season, his final stats were predictably disappointing. He never really played a huge role in the offense to begin with, but once he fell to third on the depth chart his fate was pretty much sealed. All that said, his 2011 grade be damned! He was a walk-on who grew up a huge OU fan, got to live out his dream, and earned a scholarship in his final season. That's a freaking win in my book every day of the week!

Austin Haywood: F

Final stats: 6 catches, 42 yards, 0 TD

You all pretty much know the story by this point. Haywood was seeing some serious playing time and then inexplicably decides to quit the team. Those close to him are able to convince him he made a terrible mistake and he goes to the coaches to admit his mistake. At this point, he is still working to try and prove to the coaches that he deserves to be let back onto the team. So his future is very much up in the air and we likely won't know anything definitive, unless he quits again, until next summer I'm guessing. Either way, his 2011 season has to be considered a failure.