The tight end position should look much different when Texas hits the field for spring practice No. 1 than it did at the end of the 2017 regular season.

Kendall Moore is gone, out of eligibility after transferring from Syracuse as a graduate student.

Chris Warren III left the program before the Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl following what amounted to a three-game experiment at tight end.

Garrett Gray, who missed the final 11 games of the season after starting the season opener against Maryland, has opted not to return for what would have been his fifth year in the program.

With the need for bodies and only Andrew Beck returning as a fifth-year senior following a preseason foot injury that cost him all of the 2017 season, the staff decided to move Max Cummins from the defensive line to tight end for spring practice.

While the position appears to be in a state of flux for at least another year with Cade Brewer coming off an ACL injury in November and Malcolm Epps not arriving on campus until the summer, the start of spring drills on March 20 means Reese Leitao will finally get to show what made him the talk of last offseason behind the scenes.

Leiato spent most of 2017 with the scout team following a winter and spring where it was far from a given that he would even be a member of the Texas program. It wasn’t until May 30 of last year when then-Texas Men’s Athletics Director Mike Perrin announced he was allowing Leitao to enroll, an enrollment that carried with it a two-game suspension to start the season following Leitao’s arrest more than a year ago on drug-related charges in Oklahoma.

Having redshirted and spent days where he otherwise would have been a part of the travel squad getting extra work in the with strength staff, the 6-foot-4-inch Leitao will enter spring practice listed at 245 pounds on the school’s official spring roster. Though size is important, Tim Beck said following a bowl practice in Houston what Leitao showed the staff during the postseason wasn’t so much the physicality he played with along the line of scrimmage.

The coaches knew Leitao could handle his own at the point of attack. What Beck and the offensive staff were impressed by, and what they’ll look for Leitao to continue to show, is his ability to be the well-rounded type of tight end the Texas program has lacked for far too long.

“He runs well and he really catches the ball well,” Beck said. “I thought he was more of a guy that would just slobberknock you down inside there, but he can move pretty good.”

A two-way all-state performer for Oklahoma powerhouse Jenks, Leitao came to Texas with the ability to be the long-awaited answer at the position. Last spring when talking about how the tight end fits into Herman’s pro-spread offense, Corby Meekins, who has since moved to out to coaching wide receivers with Derek Warehime handling tight ends, detailed what makes the tight end position such a vital element of Herman’s offense.

“When you take a tight end off the field you lose a running lane that the defense has to account for gap-wise,” Meekins said. “We have that same philosophy. We can do it all. That’s why that position, in our opinion, is one of the most important. It ties the passing game and the running game together, and having that special guy that can blow the top off and stretch the field vertically, also be able to work the underneath stuff and create separation and get open, then go put his hand on the ground or move around the box and be able to block, that gives you the best of both worlds.”

Texas will be looking for Leitao to help improve all of the aforementioned areas. Not only did the Longhorns finish 95th nationally in rushing offense (139.6 yards per game), Texas tight ends combined for just 18 receptions for 170 yards in 2017.

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