The 2022 roster features four returning tight ends and a pair of transfers from the FBS level. While most of the room is returners, it is led by a new tight ends coach in Boone Feldt. The Buda, Texas native, who spent the last three seasons as a graduate assistant on the Texas State staff, moved to the position coach role after last year's coach Brian Hamilton slid over to mentor the offensive line.
 
Check out below for a preview of the Texas State tight ends.
 
Who's Returning

• Austin Groeschel (Redshirt freshman; third year at Texas State)
• Micah Hilts (Junior; fourth year)
• Tyler Huff (Redshirt senior; third year)
• Jackson Lanam (Redshirt junior; fifth year)

 
The tight end position has been a source of stability under head coach Jake Spavital when it comes to attrition as the Bobcats return at least four players at the position for the third year in a row. Lanam's tenure at Texas State predates Spavital as the redshirt junior enters his fifth year in the program. In 19 career games, he has 11 catches for 111 yards and a touchdown.
 
Both Lanam and Hilts led the tight ends in offensive snaps last year, with Lanam appearing in 429 offensive plays and Hilts in 143. The two combined for five catches and 20 yards as they served primarily as blocking options. Lanam pass blocked on 60 percent of his snaps while Hilts pass blocked on 54 percent of his offensive snaps.
 
In terms of targets, Lanam led the way with five (two receptions) while Hilts had four (three receptions).
 
Huff played in seven games while missing the remaining contests due to injury.
 
Who's Departed

• Seth Caillouet
• Blake Simpson

 
Caillouet played in 32 games over his Texas State career, and 144 snaps last season (125 on offense). He had seven career receptions, including three last year, for 85 yards. Simpson, meanwhile, did not appear in any games during his Bobcat career.
 
Who's New

• DJ Johnson (transfer from Coastal Carolina)
• James Palmer (transfer from Tulsa)

 
A pair of FBS transfers make up the newcomer class, with Palmer – a redshirt junior with 785 career snaps in four years at Tulsa – entering with the most experience. The Moore, Okla. native had eight career catches for 117 yards for the Golden Hurricane.
 
Johnson spent the last two years at Coastal Carolina and played in both of his career games last season. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound redshirt freshman had one catch on one target for eight yards.
 
What to Watch For
Last year saw the fewest receptions by Texas State tight ends in the Spavital era. The trio of Caillouet, Hilts and Lanam combined for eight catches. As a percentage of team receptions, it was 3.5 percent. In 2019, in Spavital's first year at the helm of the Bobcats, Texas State tight ends (Caillouet, Hilts and Herbert Hunter) combined for 20 receptions and 7.2 percent of the team receptions.
 
However, while the tight ends may have not been receiving targets in the offense, the group of Huff, Hilts and Lanam were some of the best graded blocking tight ends in the Sun Belt by PFF. Huff was the fourth-best run-blocking tight end in the conference, according to the publication, and fifth-best in pass blocking. Among all FBS tight ends, Huff was 25th-best in run blocking.
 
Other 2022 Position Previews
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
Offensive Line
 
Preseason Camp Information
Texas State started official fall camp practices on August 3 and will participate in 20 days of practices before the first game week in late August. Videos of the weekly press conferences can be found here.
 
Ticket Information
Season tickets and single-game tickets are on sale now for the 2022 Texas State football season. Season tickets for all six home games start as low as $80 while single-game tickets start at $20. Fans can purchase their tickets today at TXST.com/tickets.