Panther rookie tight end wants to make opponents Tremble. He’s about to get a chance
Tommy Tremble has one of those great NFL names, the kind that is both fun to say and seems to evoke football. Have you ever known a guy named Tommy who wasn’t likable? This one is, too — but he’ll also hit you hard enough to make you tremble.
Tommy Tremble, in fact, has already joined my unofficial list of all-time great NFL names. Fullback Mack Strong, cornerback Quentin Jammer, wide receiver Fair Hooker, edge rusher Whitney Mercilus and wide receiver Moose Muhammad are all on it, too.
The rookie tight end has been an alliterative asset to the 3-0 Carolina Panthers so far in this young season. Tremble scored a 7-yard rush touchdown on a rare tight end reverse the first time he touched the ball in an NFL game against Houston on Sept. 23, and he followed that with a 30-yard reception on his only catch.
But Tremble is about to have to do more, starting Sunday at Dallas when the 3-0 Panthers take on their most difficult opponent yet in the Cowboys (1 p.m., Fox).
The Panthers traded veteran tight end Dan Arnold away to Jacksonville this week for some defensive help at cornerback, meaning Tremble will see more snaps for an offense that has struggled to consistently get the ball to the tight end ever since Greg Olsen left the building.
Tremble has been one of my favorite rookies ever since his press conference at the draft, when he proclaimed: “The mentality that I have every time … is to try and be the most violent and versatile guy on the field.”
Violent versatility — now that’s an NFL trait worth savoring.
The Panthers’ third-round pick in 2021 out of Notre Dame, Tremble was used mostly a blocking tight end for the Fighting Irish (although, in an odd parallel, he scored the first time he ever touched the ball for Notre Dame). But the Panthers got Tremble to Charlotte and realized he could catch, too, and that he might even be further along in that aspect of his game.
Arnold was like that, too — most valuable as a pass-catcher — so his departure should definitely send more targets toward the 6-4, 250-pound Tremble. The rookie will still split time with starter Ian Thomas and blocking specialist Colin Thompson at tight end, but he’s under-the-radar enough that the Cowboys defense will undoubtedly defend him one-on-one. And in certain situations the Panthers treat Tremble more like a wide receiver, believing in his ability to run and catch.
“Tommy Tremble, when you talk about the draft, was like this year’s Jeremy Chinn,” Carolina head coach Matt Rhule said recently.
That’s high praise, because Chinn was a hybrid linebacker/safety in 2020 who ended up second in the NFL in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.
Tremble hasn’t made a Chinn-esque sort of consistent impact yet, but it’s early. He’s playing around 20-25 snaps per game on offense — sometimes blocking, sometimes running a route.
His worst play of the season also came in that Thursday night game against Houston. Tasked with staying in to block Houston defensive end Jonathan Greenard on a pass play, Tremble instead couldn’t anchor and allowed himself to be pushed nearly into quarterback Sam Darnold’s lap. Greenard reached out and got a strip-sack by clawing the ball away from a surprised Darnold, with the Panthers fortunately recovering the fumble.
“On that one, it was totally on me,” Tremble said when I asked him about the play later in a press conference. “I took a poor angle on my block and that’s the reason that all happened. … So I’m totally at fault for that one, and it’s something I have to make sure never happens again.”
It was not long after that when Tremble scored his rushing TD, which made him the owner of an obscure NFL record. At 21 years and 113 days old on the day of the game, Tremble was the youngest tight end to ever score an NFL rushing TD. Rob Gronkowski had previously held the record, set in 2011.
“Of course, when Gronk scored that touchdown, I was 11 years old,” Tremble pointed out.
Olsen, who along with Wesley Walls comprises a two-man list of Carolina’s best tight ends ever, has watched the rookie closely as he prepares to broadcast Panthers-Cowboys on Sunday for Fox Sports.
“He’s definitely an intriguing young kid,” Olsen said of Tremble. “He’s versatile. I don’t know when was the last time a tight end was ever handed the ball around here. It sure wasn’t me.”
Olsen, in fact, never carried the ball once on a running play in his 14-year NFL career. But Tremble will eventually need to make his mark as a receiver, which as Olsen pointed out will be somewhat difficult to do with veterans like DJ Moore, Robby Anderson and Christian McCaffrey (once he’s healthy again) clamoring for the ball.
“If Tremble can continue to carve out a role, especially in the passing game, I think he is capable,” Olsen said. “Definitely capable. He just happens to be sharing a huddle with some other really good players.”
Tommy Tremble could be a really good player, too. And I hope he becomes one, because then we’ll all get to say his name more often.
