I'm starting to think there was a blood pact between the tight ends to occupy the high- to mid-80s on the roster. You're getting another one today (and possibly tomorrow, but I don't want to ruin the surprise).
We've got 86 days until kickoff...so today we'll be taking a look at number 86 on the Bronco roster—Kyle Sosnowski
#86, Kyle Sosnowski, Sophomore, TE
Stats
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 223 lbs.
High School: Capital High School, Boise, ID
How'd he get to The Blue™?
Sosnowski was a dominant force on the Capital High School squad virtually from day one. The lanky safety recorded 156 tackles, 17 INTs (a school record), and 6 forced fumbles in 3 years on the varsity. For his efforts, Kyle was named first-team All-SIC as a sophomore, junior, and senior and was named first-team All-Idaho as a junior and senior. As Sosnowski was recruited to play tight end, I should also probably mention that he had 9 TD grabs in 2009 on just 19 catches. Sosnowski was also offered by Idaho. Copycats.
Nickname
"Sauce"
This one works if you pronounce his last name "Sauce Now Ski". If you pronounce it the other way, I feel bad for you.
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Look-a-like
I still maintain that Sosnowski is a dead ringer for Schou.
Career highlights
3 time All-SIC and two time All-Idaho while at Capital. School record number of interceptions. Played in 12 games as a redshirt freshman in 2011, including 2 starts (against Tulsa and Wyoming). Made 2 catches on the year for 11 yards.
2012 prospectus
It's been interesting the last few days to look at the ridiculous amount of depth at tight end on the Bronco roster and try to establish a pecking order. Given that Sosnowski played in 12 games last year as a redshirt freshman and that his skill set closely mimics Kyle Efaw's, it's probably safe to say that he's no worse than 2nd on the post-Spring chart. I can see he and Chandler Koch being in a 2a/2b type scenario, but I think that Sosnowski definitely represents a bigger receiving threat than Koch, so we may just see him lined up more often. I also stand by my claim that Gabe Linehan is probably the current king of the TE mountain, but I think that Sosnowski probably isn't that far behind. He was given a lot of opportunities last season, and while he didn't haul in a ton of passes (just 2, by everyone's count), he did see action in 12 Bronco games—giving him a definite leg up, experience-wise. Now that we're virtually at our last tight end highlightee outside of FB hybrid Armand Nance and walk-on Jake Hardee, I'd be comfortable with throwing out next year's TE depth chart as I see it. 1) Gabe Linehan 2A) Kyle Sosnowski 2B) Chandler Koch 3) Connor Peters 4) Holden Huff 5) Jake Hardee, Redshirts: Armand Nance, Hayden Plinke. Your top 3 (four, really) will probably all factor into this year's passing game and blocking schemes quite heavily, with 4 and 5 likely fulfilling mop-up duty. Sosnowski should easily double or triple last year's offensive output and I think start to remind people a bit of his lookalike Schou. The only real difference being that Schou had the limelight nearly all to himself (Ryan Putnam was around, but was a blocking specialist), while Sosnowski will have to share for a couple more years.
Completely made up fact
At season's end, Sosnowski has vowed to donate his goatee to Locks of Love.