Ryan Cameron, Brother of ‘Bachelorette’ Star Tyler, Trying to Win Starting TE Job at FAU
Ryan Cameron may be the most famous of his Florida Atlantic teammates — and that’s even without playing in a game for the Owls.
A redshirt freshman tight end from nearby Jupiter, Fla., Cameron is the younger brother of Tyler Cameron, the 2019 runner-up on The Bachelorette.
The younger Cameron can now make a name for himself in his own right. With Harrison Bryant, FAU’s previous starting tight end, now playing for the Cleveland Browns, Cameron has a chance to start for FAU this fall.
College football fans need to keep an eye on Cameron and his pursuit of a starting role.
Ryan Cameron is entering his second year at FAU
Ryan Cameron played his high school football 35 miles north of FAU at William T. Dwyer High.
Cameron caught 26 passes for 352 yards and three touchdowns as a senior in 2018. He joined the Owls as a walk-on tight end in August 2019 and redshirted behind Harrison Bryant, the John Mackey Award winner, and John Raine, a versatile tight end who is now at Northwestern.
The Cameron family was already familiar with Florida Atlantic. Tyler Cameron. Ryan’s older brother, caught 41 passes for 509 yards and a touchdown at FAU from 2015-16.
The older Cameron initially played quarterback at Wake Forest.
Tyler Cameron had a workout with the Baltimore Ravens in 2017. He later starred on The Bachelorette and made it to the final round, where he lost to country singer Jed Wyatt.
Cameron has received first-team reps at tight end
Florida Atlantic needed more bodies in the tight end room with Bryant in the NFL and Raine in the Big Ten.
Michael Irvin II, son of the Dallas Cowboys legend, transferred to FAU in June.
Rahmod Smith, a redshirt freshman who was expected to start at tight end, suffered a leg injury in June and is out indefinitely.
Since FAU opened its fall camp on August 5, Cameron has taken advantage of the available reps. Cameron has repeatedly seen action with the first-team offense in his effort to start.
FAU head coach Willie Taggart praised Cameron’s attitude and work ethic in a conference call with reporters.
“He’s really excited about the opportunity in front of him and he’s trying his best to prepare to make sure he can give our football team what we need from him. He’s an athletic kid that we can ask him to block on certain things, but we also get him out on routes to help us in that area as well.”
In a recent practice, Cameron dove and caught a touchdown pass from true freshman quarterback Willie Taggart Jr., the coach’s son.
Similarly, redshirt freshman quarterback Javion Posey connected with Cameron in another practice.
“It’s good to get back to normal — which normal is playing football for me,” Cameron recently told reporters. “I’ve had a lot of lows this year; I’ve taken some hits.
“But being able to get back onto this field has put me only in a positive light, a positive perception of everything.”
Ryan Cameron could become Florida Atlantic’s next star tight end
In the same way that Florida International has become Florida’s ‘QBU,’ FAU could be on the same path at tight end.
Bryant became the first Group of 5 player to win the Mackey Award. Raine ‘transferred up’ and could have raised his NFL draft stock if the Big 10 hadn’t postponed its season.
Ryan Cameron hopes he can follow in their footsteps. Cameron said he learned a great deal from Bryant, a three-year starter.
“Harrison was one of those leaders that you watch him and you can learn so much. I learned a lot of my blocking by watching his steps. When we watch film, it is on Harrison. He has done it to the ‘T,’ so perfectly with everything he has done. We know that if we are watching perfection we can only follow with perfection. He is a great learning point.”
Florida Atlantic is scheduled to open its season on September 19 at Georgia Southern. If FAU hopes to win its eighth straight game dating back to last fall, the Owls may need Cameron to complete his breakout summer in a big way.
