80 DAYS TO KICKOFF: Travis Tannahill

#80 Travis Tannahill True Senior 6-3 | 253 Overland Park, Kan. Bio

Position: Tight End Previous College: None Projection: Starter Status: On Scholarship

Travis Tannahill (b. Feb. 8, 1990) was one of two freshmen in his class to see immediate playing time under Bill Snyder, the other being Braden Wilson. Tannahill's been one of our top two tight ends ever since.

I was surprised to learn that he never had redshirted, but I guess I confused his grayshirt year (2008) with that.

While he still has a redshirt to use, that obviously won't happen unless he is injured this year (knock on wood).

Hopefully he won't, because Tannahill blossomed as a pass-catching threat in 2010 after catching only two passes in all of 2009. And he's always been a stellar blocker, which is part of the reason Snyder played him so early.

Along with Andre McDonald and Zach Trujillo, Tannahill forms one-half of a potent set of bookends who will continue to provide Collin Klein with downfield options, a release valve or perhaps just more time to pass.

And as is typical of Bill Snyder teams, all three seemed to be criminally underused at times in 2011. In the last two seasons, Tannahill averaged 103.5 yards and 1 TD per season. He should have at least twice that in 2012, IMO.