For as long as most fans have been observing Alabama football, a question that is asked at a near annual rate involves the use of the tight ends in the passing game.

Last season, four different tight ends hauled in a combined 24 catches over 14 games in the 2017 regular season.

During Wednesday's third segment monologue off The Blitz, former Alabama fullback Martin Houston examined how much involvement we'll see from the tight end position in the passing game over the course of the season.

The former Crimson Tide fullback took listeners on a journey all the way back to his redshirt freshman campaign in 1989. In that season, junior Lamonde Russel reeled in 51 catches while teammate Kevin Turner caught 48 passes in 11 regular season games.

Houston thinks the 2018 season could be the best season for tight ends since 1989.

"If Tua (Tagovailoa) has won the job or if they get Jalen (Hurts) where they want him to be, the tight ends will have the best year they've had Alabama dating all the way back to when I played under Lamonde Russell." Houston said.

The former Alabama fullback went on to discuss how Homer Smith's offense in the 1980s utilized the tight ends in various passing packages, the quickness in which Tua Tagovailoa reads coverages and how the tight ends could benefit from Tua's decisiveness in reading defenses.

The Blitz kicks off live and local coverage of Alabama sports every weekday from 6-7 AM on Tide 102.9/100.9 and the Tide 102.9 app.

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