Evaluating TE signee Mike Tyler (and a player comparison)

GamecockCentral.com’s Chris Clark and Kevin Miller recently sat down to break down some game film for South Carolina football’s 2025 signees.

In the latest installment, we dive into TE Mike Tyler.

Check out the video below, plus an edited transcript of Chris’ and Kevin’s comments.

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CHRIS: Gonna check out another Palmetto State product, local product Mike Tyler out of Hammond. Let’s go ahead and, Kev, let’s get this done off the bat. Yes, he’s playing at Hammond, SCISA ball, all that. I think we’ve probably seen enough guys who played SCISA at Hammond go on to do some nice things in college to where we don’t have to say that every single time as a disclaimer.

Mike Tyler’s gonna be obviously stepping up in a big way in terms of competition at the SEC level, but tight end that was formerly committed to LSU. South Carolina flips him. What do you think of him?

KEVIN: I think he’s got a really high upside. He’s not like one of those giant receiving tight ends. He’s not 6-6, he’s not the Jared Cook profile. But he’s really athletic, he’s really comfortable.

If you look at how he’s listed positionally, usually it’s tight end, but sometimes you even see wide receiver. And that wouldn’t happen if he didn’t look like a receiver, right? He moves well, he runs routes well, he’s got really good hands. His game-winning catch in the state championship game was impressive. And I believe he did it wearing Gamecock gloves before the flip as well. So that was something that Gamecock fans appreciated.

But he’s a guy that you look at just the profile as a pass catcher, and you see a guy who is good enough as an athlete where he can take short passes and get yards after the catch.

But he’s also smooth enough as an athlete where he can get by some DBs in certain situations, too. He’s not quite the same exact player as Josh Simon, but there are some similarities to their game in terms of athleticism and route running.

He’s a willing blocker, and that’s a good start. And if you play for Shawn Elliott, you’re only gonna improve as a blocker, you’d have to imagine. So I like his profile a lot.

CHRIS: I don’t think you’re gonna play for Elliott if you’re not willing to block in there. If you’ve ever seen him, you know Elliott had some experience earlier in his career with tight ends. That was a big question—well, this is an offensive line coach, and he played D-line in college.

Obviously, Shawn Elliott’s gonna have that physical mentality. I mean, this guy coaches tight ends like they’re offensive linemen. He can’t help himself.

So that’s kind of a good thing. With Mike Tyler, you look at him, and that’s maybe your question. And I don’t mean even question in a negative sense—it’s just something you’re gonna have to prove in college. That would even be the case for a tight end that you looked at on film, and he’s got a 10-minute blocking reel.

Your question is going to be: can he translate that to college? You’re gonna have to be able to block to see the field. So maybe that’s a little bit more of a question mark for somebody like Mike Tyler, who’s thought of as more of a quote-unquote receiving tight end.

And just playing physical, you mentioned Josh Simon. I do like the comp. Josh Simon is a very physical player with how he ran when he got the ball in space. Yeah, he could run past some guys, but he doesn’t mind running you over either. And he kind of just plays like a grown man.

Obviously, Mike Tyler is going to be a true freshman this year, and with some of the guys that are on the roster, Kev, you’ve got time to develop him. But I do think there are some intriguing tools here, particularly as a pass catcher.

KEVIN: I mentioned his hands earlier, but I want to reiterate the point that, you know, he is a hand catcher. And that might sound silly, but if you’ve watched enough, especially high school ball, you know there aren’t as many hand catchers out there as you might imagine. They’re catching the ball with their shoulders and their chest.

He’s a guy who can snag a ball out of the air. That speaks to his ability to not only make catches but avoid drops down the road. You know, when you see guys at this level make drops on what would normally be routine catches, it’s usually because they’ve messed something up with their catch technique.

They jumped when they didn’t need to jump, or they were trying to see it to the body and catch it like this, and it bounces off the shoulder pads. Things like that are typically why guys have drops on routine catches. I don’t think you’re gonna see too much of that with Mike Tyler.

He’s a guy who seems to work hard, right? And when you see him catch the ball on film, he’s catching it out away from his body. He’s bringing it in, securing it.

He’s doing all of that, but he’s doing it in a way that shows he’s not a guy who’s going to struggle with drops most likely.

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