Could former QB Dylan Parham have a breakout season at tight end for NC State?
There aren’t many positions where N.C. State has to replace a starter.
One of those places on offense is at tight end, where a former 210-pound quarterback is left to do the job of two men. Dylan Autenrieth was the blocker, basically in the game for running plays, serving as an extra offensive lineman. Cary Angeline was the pass catcher, snagging 27 catches and six scores a year ago.
Autenrieth and Angeline aren’t walking through that door. The person walking through that door is sixth-year senior Dylan Parham.
Parham arrived at NC State in 2016 out of Southeast Raleigh as a three-star, pro-style quarterback. However, he never took a snap under center for the Wolfpack. After redshirting in 2016, Parham made the switch to tight end before the 2017 season. That meant learning a new spot for the first time and reshaping his body; from extra sessions in the weight room to extra meals throughout the day. Parham, who always had the height for the position, standing 6 feet, 5 inches, is now 245 pounds, a veteran in a room full of unproven players, and ready to be the go-to guy.
“Dylan Parham is a guy we’re really excited for,” head coach Dave Doeren said at ACC Kickoff. “He’s been injured a lot in his career. He’s worked really hard. He’s in a position to excel at that spot.”
Parham has played in 32 games since the 2017 season, making him one of the most experienced players on the roster. In that span, though, he hasn’t exactly been a main target of the quarterbacks. He’s only caught seven passes. The four he caught in 2020 all came in the first three games. Parham saw most of his snaps early in his career on special teams. One of the main reasons he returned for an extra year was a chance to go out on his own terms. He played in one game in 2018 and five in 2019 because of various injuries.
“I’ve been hurt a lot throughout my career and I felt like a lot of guys don’t get the opportunity to be able to actually play out their eligibility,” Parham said. “With Cary, Dylan and Thomas (Ruocchio) leaving, they were going to need an older guy in the room to show how things were done, like what it takes to prepare for games.”
Making the switch
Parham is the only person in his position room who has actually taken snaps at tight end before. But he’s not the top pass catcher in the group. Newly converted tight end/H-back Trent Pennix has 16 career catches and three receiving touchdowns. Pennix made the switch from running back in the spring, but is still learning the ropes.
None of the other true tight ends in the room have caught a collegiate pass before. Andrew Jayne and Kameron Walker both saw action on special teams in 2020. The rest of the group are freshmen.
So a lot of the work, at least early on, will fall on the shoulders of Parham, who thought he would be using his shoulder to throw passes, not blocks a few years back.
Parham came to Raleigh to play quarterback after throwing for over 2,000 yards with 20 touchdowns as a senior. In 2016 Ryan Finley was on the roster with two more years of eligibility in front of him. When it became clear that snaps at QB would be hard to come by, Parham met with Doeren about a position switch. It was either tight end or defensive end for Parham, who just wanted to get on the field. Parham also met with strength and conditioning coach Dantonio Burnette and got to work on changing his body. Parham decided on tight end and entered the position room weighing in at 210 pounds. Not quite big enough to block defensive ends and linebackers 30 or more pounds heavier. Getting bigger wasn’t as fun as one would think.
“Gaining weight like that isn’t really comfortable,” Parham said, adding that he ate up to six times a day. “Snacking basically when I wasn’t even hungry. But I knew if I was going to be what I needed to be then I needed to get outside of my comfort zone.”
Now he carries the weight well and it’s helped him turn into one of the more physical blockers on the team, according to Doeren. Blocking was Autenrieth’s calling card and has been the main job of Parham most of his career. His work this summer to be a hybrid between Autenrieth and Angeline in 2021.
“This offseason you know I put a lot of work in on the jugs (jug machine),” Parham said. “Cary was one of the best pass catchers I’ve ever been around. I’m not saying I’m Cary Angeline by any means, but at the same time I knew what I needed to work on this offseason, I attacked it and I’m definitely probably the most confident I’ve ever been.”
