Why NC State hybrid tight ends Toudle, Pennix are a tough matchup for opponents
Jaylon Scott was used to guarding tight ends, both in practice and during games.
But during the recent fall camp, this was different. Scott is no slouch in the athletic department, bringing a rare combination of size and skill to the linebacker position. However, he quickly noticed he had his work cut out for him.
Scott wasn’t guarding Cary Angeline and Dylan Autenreith in practice anymore. No disrespect to Angeline, who was a huge target at 6-foot-7, or Autenrieth, who basically served as an extra offensive lineman, but the assignment of Trent Pennix and Chris Toudle was a little harder.
“I remember fall camp trying to guard these dudes,” Scott said. “Speed and power all over the depth chart.”
That speed came from Pennix and Toudle’s backgrounds. The power came from their new body types, weight added for their position changes, thanks to offseason work with strength coach Dantonio Burnette. Another tight end, Dylan Parham, also provides a nice punch of power at the point of attack.
What these three have in common is they all arrived at N.C. State playing other positions. Pennix was a high school running back at Sanderson, Toudle played wide receiver at Hoggard and Parham was a quarterback at Southeast Raleigh. Now they all play hybrid tight end/H-back positions for the Wolfpack offense. As quarterback Devin Leary continues to spread the ball around to so many different receivers, people are starting to discover that the trio of Pennix, Parham and Toudle are matchup nightmares.
They all kept the same skills that Doeren liked when he recruited them, yet have embraced the physicality of being a full-time tight end. When it comes to the passing game, it’s hard to find linebackers who can keep up with their speed and agility, or defensive backs who can contend with their size and power, as Scott discovered in fall camp.
“I don’t know other than that if there’s anyone like them in the league, that can block on a defensive end or a linebacker with physicality but then run and get away from guys,” Doeren said. “Get away from safeties, nickels and linebackers. They are definitely a matchup problem for people.”
WHAT TO DO WITH THESE GUYS?
When Doeren recruited Toudle out of high school, he saw something in the athletic kid with the 6-4 frame. He just didn’t know what.
At Hoggard, located in Wilmington, Toudle did a little bit of everything. He was a wide receiver as well as a Wildcat quarterback, an athlete who could get the ball in his hands and make things happen.
Doeren noticed Toudle had a body type where he could potentially make a position switch, not necessarily on offense, either. Doeren and his staff thought that if Toudle put on enough weight, he could possibly become a defensive end. They just knew he would put in the work no matter where he was moved.
But Toudle was caught in the back of a stacked receivers room, with so much talent in front of him it would be hard to crack the rotation. Doeren just wanted to get him on the field and see what he could do with the ball in his hands.
“I think he was at a point where he needed that, too. He was kind of down,” Doeren said. “He had been here a couple years and hadn’t sniffed the field, really. He needed a chance to help us more. It was just a win-win for the tight end room and for him.”
Toudle took a redshirt in 2019 and appeared in eight games with no catches in 2020. Through eight games of the 2021 season, Toudle has become one of Leary’s most reliable targets, with 15 catches for 155 yards and three touchdowns. He’s embraced the blocking, but when the ball is snapped for pass plays and a linebacker tries to cover him, well, it’s almost easy money for Leary.
“I don’t think linebackers can keep up with us with our speed,” Toudle said. “But also when it comes to making fast-breaking moves and stuff, that’s when we separate ourselves from linebackers and safeties.”
Toudle has had a reception in all but one game this season, including a career-day at FSU last weekend with four catches for 42 yards and a touchdown. Pennix saw the field consistently his first two years, but the former running back was playing behind Ricky Person and Zonovan Knight, two potential All-ACC performers.
Pennix has always shown a knack for catching the ball out of the backfield, even before making the official switch. He had three receiving touchdowns coming into the season and has two this year, including a 45-yard catch and run for a score against Florida State.
Pennix caught a short pass from Leary and reverted back to his running back skills and he juked his way through the Seminoles’ secondary.
“You have this guy (Pennix) who can come out of the backfield and run 4.5 (in the 40-yard dash),” Doeren said. “He’s going to be on a linebacker, he’s not going to be covered very often by a corner or safety, it’s a matchup that we like.”
Doeren made this comment after the Louisville game, when Pennix had three catches for 55 yards and a score, all in the fourth quarter. At the time, Doeren expressed how he hoped that the fourth-quarter performance by Pennix would open up the offense more. Against FSU last weekend, Pennix and Toudle combined for seven catches for 139 yards. What that has done — the tough matchups on those two — is open up things for the rest of the receivers.
“They are definitely helping us out a lot,” senior wide receiver C.J. Riley said. “They can’t really focus on (one person) on the field because they are two weapons you have to take into account.”
RECEIVER MINDSET
Even though the position next to his name on the roster says tight end, Toudle still thinks like a receiver.
He can still run, keeping his speed despite adding weight, and has great hands. His understanding of route running has been the difference. On his catches this season, more times than not he has a step or two on the defender. In the red zone, especially, he’s become a safety blanket for Leary, using his 6-4 frame to his advantage.
Toudle, who weighs 240 pounds, wants to add five more pounds to his frame, as well as keep his receiver skills, which he still is in his mind.
“When I put my hand in the dirt, I’m thinking tight end,” Toudle said with a laugh. “But when I flex outside I just love the thought of being a receiver.”
That’s what made practice miserable for the N.C. State linebackers, but also made them better on game day.
“It’s not something that you see often,” Wolfpack freshman linebacker Devon Betty said about covering Pennix and Toudle. “But it also gets you better with them running like that. It’s crazy. It gets the linebackers better, and we appreciate that.”
Not as much as Toudle appreciates looking out at the coverage before tha snap and seeing a linebacker waiting to guard him.
“Sometimes the coverage is hard to read,” Toudle said. “But when we do have those moments, and I can speak for Trent, too, our eyes get big and bright.”
This story was originally published November 10, 2021 at 4:01 PM.
