By Trevor Enerson (yaman3), CycloneFanatic.com football recruiting guru
For more on Ernst Brun including quotes from tight end’s coach Courtney Messingham, CLICK HERE.
What he is: All sites are in a agreement that Brun is 6-foot-4 and weighs somewhere in the 220 to 225-pound range. He is originally from Stone Mountain, Ga., but will be coming to Ames via Mount San Antonio Community College in Walnut, Calif. He will have three years to play two once he gets to Ames.
What he does: Through reading comments regarding Brun from the Iowa State coaching staff, I think it is fair to say he will be brought in to catch passes. It would make sense to think this is Iowa State’s replacement in the passing game for Collin Franklin. In passing situations, I could definitely see him split out as a big receiver.
Strengths/Weaknesses: I couldn’t find any video on Ernst but Scout.com did an evaluation of him. They say that despite Ernst being a smaller tight end, he still has good blocking ability. Other strengths listed are hands and toughness. They would like to see him improve his size and speed. Size may not be a problem, but at this point, speed is going to be difficult to improve significantly. Judging from his comments and others, these are likely very fair assessments and without video, I don’t want to make a claim.
What’s in store: I think that Brun was brought in here to play right away. Both Kurt Hammerschmidt and Ricky Howard are said to be more of a blocking tight end and if the staff was content with Pierce Richardsen, I don’t think Brun would be here. Brun seems to fill the pass catching void left by Collin Franklin. If he can block as well as Scout says he can he could sneak himself in even more of the time and could become a very important part of the offense. I think he sees some time this year in passing situations but I think Howard and Hammer will be the ones taking the majority of the reps.
He looks to me like: Marquis Hamilton. I know Marquis played wide receiver but he could have also played the hybrid tight end position that Brun will fill in this system. Both seem to be good blockers with good hands but lack great speed and are a “tweener” in terms of size.
