Tennessee Titans experimenting with UDFA Parker Hesse

The Tennessee Titans have a head coach who knows a thing or two about playing both ways. Parker Hesse could end up doing the same thing.

Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel knows a thing or two about playing on both sides of the ball.

Vrabel was known for his incredible versatility, a linebacker by trade who could double as a red zone player for the Patriots’ offense whenever the situation called for it.

He ended up catching 12 total touchdown passes over the course of his 14 NFL seasons, including two in the playoffs.

He was only targeted 16 times in his career, so his success rate was obviously quite high and it’s no wonder Bill Belichick exploited that.

Well, Vrabel must be thinking like his former head coach with the team’s acquisition of Iowa Hawkeyes UDFA Parker Hesse, in a way. Hesse is no lock to make the Titans’ roster by any means. As a matter of fact, he was signed after a tryout, he wasn’t even one of their priority UDFAs.

With that said, Hesse showed at his Iowa pro day he is an exceptional all-around athlete and he’s no stranger to simply being thrown out onto the field wherever he’s needed.

In high school, Hesse was a quarterback, running back, wide receiver, defensive end, punter, and who knows what else. He probably ended up driving the bus from city to city for the team.

He was also a stud baseball player, basketball player, and track athlete.

Hesse was recruited as a three-star prospect by the Iowa Hawkeyes as an ‘athlete’, a true blank canvas for the coaching staff to find a fit for him.

Oftentimes when Iowa recruits guys without a true position, they turn them into linebackers or tight ends.

Hesse, a 6-foot-3, 205 pound teenager started off his Hawkeyes career there before moving to defensive end.

He grew into a 6-foot-3, 260-pound  impact player for the Hawkeyes from 2015-18, playing in 52 total games and racking up 181 tackles, 30.5 tackles for loss, 13.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, and two interceptions.

Hesse was a playmaker for the Hawkeyes’ defensive line but it wasn’t enough to get him drafted or even signed as a priority free agent.

That’s despite running a solid 4.79 in the 40-yard dash with a very nice 37-inch vertical jump and 6.91 in the three-cone drill.

Hesse is, by NFL standards, a very good athlete with solid enough production, and the Titans liked what they saw from him at their rookie camp as a tight end, apparently.

Should be no big deal for the kid who did pretty much everything else in high school — why not add blocking to his repertoire?

Hesse is going to be a fun player to watch develop as an NFL player. He’s one of three Iowa players at the tight end position coming into the NFL this year along with first-round picks TJ Hockenson and Noah Fant.

No school has ever had two players at tight end taken in the first round of the same draft in NFL history.

Hesse was the most important player on his high school team, and he was one of Kirk Ferentz’ most valuable players at Iowa on defense.

Now, he enters the NFL having to start from scratch on the other side of the ball.

Sometimes it pays to be versatile.