Two part question:

1.) When the NFL inevitably decides to expand, is there any chance they decide to use one of the existing XFL/UFL markets that doesn’t have a current NFL team, such as STL, for their expansion team? Essentially whoever the owner of the NFL expansion team is would purchase the rights to the Battlehawks name, branding, etc.

2.) Would you support the Battlehawks as an NFL Team?

Looking forward to the fan base thoughts on this.

Many are set on the first 7 or 8 picks of the draft (in varying orders) but beyond that, things start to get a little murky. Obviously draft capital will help clarify the order which certain players might go but before that’s determined, let’s discuss who “your guy” is in this upcoming draft outside of those first 8 picks or so.

Mine is Xavier Legette. I buy into the DK Metcalf comparisons (even if he’s not 6”4) because of his raw explosiveness and long speed. Also a great contested catcher. I may be drafting ahead of current ADP.

Moves that were so ridiculous, bad, or stupid. The Kenny Golladay signing turned out atrocious for the Giants. Golladay signed a four-year, $72 million contract with the Giants in 2021. He totaled 43 receptions, 602 yards and one touchdown on 93 targets during his time there.

.

In our first month of the positional draft breakdown series, we already discussed , , , , , , and . This week, we’ll be taking a look at the tight-ends and safeties, before we finish up with the long-awaited quarterback rankings.

This group is obviously headlined by a player who has dominated college football the last three years and has been destined to sit atop this list ever since he was a true freshman. After that, there’s another player who should be a top-50 pick. From that point onwards, these rankings can look a lot different depending on what you personally value and which type of player you’re looking for. I personally have three other names that belong inside the top-100, along with one more guy who could easily be up there with a clean medical bill. The depth in this class is certainly underwhelming however and I would think we’re looking at 15 or 16 total TEs drafted.

Since I mentioned it just now, these rankings are solely based on film analysis, without taking any injury or off-field concerns into account. And for the purposes of this exercises, a “Y” tight-end refers to a player playing on the ball next to the offensive tackle, an “F” is your more modern move option – which also includes big slot players – and an “H-back” or wing is someone lining up off the ball, either on the hip or just behind the tackle.

Let’s now get into it:

.

.

.

1. Brock Bowers, Georgia

6’3”, 240 pounds; JR

.

Just outside the top-100 overall recruits in 2021, As a true freshman, Bowers caught 58 passes for 882 and 13 touchdowns, along with four carries for 56 and another score, That made him a second-team All-American and first-team All-SEC selection, His follow-up campaign was even better, hauling in 63 balls for 938 yards and rushing for another 109 yards on nine carries, including ten total TDs, winning the John Mackey award for the top TE in the country and just losing out to Michael Mayer for first-team All-American, whilst winning back-to-back national titles. He missed three weeks with a sprained ankle this past season, but still made first-team All-American for turning 62 touches into 742 yards and seven TDs across ten games.

.

Blocking:

+ Routinely used as the H-back and wing-man, while Darnell Washington lined up as the de-facto Y in prior years, before spending nearly 40% of snaps in-line last season

+ Offers a good initial strike and is regularly able to turn guys on the edge further outside, so they don’t affect runs between the tackles

+ Does well to get underneath the chest and/side of C-gap defenders and allowing linemen to pull around, such as on power

+ You like what Bowers gives you leading the way out towards the sideline, lending a help-hand if necessary and snatching up DBs on fly sweeps for example

+ Well-coordinated and fundamentally sound at securing blocks in space when split out, while continuing to re-fit his hands and never stopping his feet from churning

+ Urgently approaches safeties or slot defenders and gives his teammates a clear indication of where to go on perimeter runs and screens

+ Quickly turns himself into a blocker when he sees one of his fellow receivers secure catches and is able to land his hands into the frame of defenders at a high rate

.

Releases & route-running:

+ Provides the vertical push to put off-defenders on their heels and come opens as he breaks off intermediate routes, since he can really drop his weight and make sharp transitions

+ Has the footwork put himself in leverage advantages against press-defenders, leans into and nudges them off effective to create separation at the top of the route

+ Putting Bowers in stacks or bunches with his man in outside leverage becomes dangerous if he runs drag routes

+ You can not allow this guy to zoom up the hashes uncontested or he’ll burn you, yet he also offers the nimble feet to elude ancillary defenders without really getting off track

+ Shows a good understanding for widening his stem in order to create more space for himself as he breaks into voided space of zone coverage

+ Frequently was able to create a favorable target pushing up to depth, rapidly turning around knifing upfield for good yardage on sit-routes over the middle

+ Bockers can truly line up as a single receiver on the backfield and defeat corners

+ Has posted elite PFF grades each of his first two seasons (92.1 and 90.0) with the Bulldogs, with passer ratings above 140 when targets in each of those

.

Approaching the catch & YAC:

+ While tracking the ball early already, Bowers doesn’t reach out or back and lead defenders to initiate contact at the catch-point typically until he needs to

+ Showcases high-level hand-eye coordination and does well on those awkward adjustments, having to reach behind or slow down as he’s running at full speed – only dropped eight of 178 catchable targets these past three years combined (4.4%)

+ Displays strong hands in tight areas and has the frame to deal with contact, while naturally clearing the hands of defenders trying to contest the catch – hauled in 23 of 39 contested targets in his career (59.0%)

+ He’s continued to become more effective at getting past defenders, identifying defenders in pursuit and crossing them up unlike – last season, he forced 18 missed tackles on just 56 catches, which is closer to a top-tier running back in terms of that rate

+ You see Bowers constantly drag tacklers along and make those guys look small – Against TCU in the 2022/23 National Championship, the phrase “man amongst boys” was truly on display, as he hauled in all seven of his targets for 152 yards and a touchdown

+ Pullls those knees up high to not have hie leg cut down from underneath him and racked up at least 479 yards after the catch in each of his three seasons with the Bulldogs – only now-Ravens standout Isaiah Likely had more than 406 in any of those years

+ That’s why the Bulldogs handed him jet sweeps, end-arounds and reverses as actual elements to the rushing offense, along with screens

.

Weaknesses:

– Undersized for an extended in-line role and wasn’t asked to do that a whole lot leading up to 2023

– When bigger edge defenders are able to get into his chest, they can dictate terms to him in the run game, and you see Bowers overextend as a result, which still leads to some unfavorable position

– More of a build-up speed than instant explosion off the line I’d say (with no official timed speed on it)

– After excelling in that area coming into his junior season (70% combined), Bowers was only able to haul in two of nine contested targets in 2023 (22.2%) and he fumbled twice

– Won’t be able to bully defenders after the catch in the pros like he did in college

.

Any argument for Brock Bowers not being a top-ten prospect in this draft revolve around nit-picking and wanting to slap the label of “tight-end” on him, which simply doesn’t encapsulate what role he’ll fulfill. If he was a pure slot receiver, he should probably be a first-round pick anyway. You can line him at basically any of the eligible spots and he can win his matchups vs. man-coverage or work towards space against zone. He tracks the ball and adjusts to it very well, he can secure targets through contact and then once it’s in his hands, he can either make people miss or take them along for the ride on his way towards the end-zone. If you do want to utilize him as more of a traditional in-line option, the lack of raw mass to gain control and sustain blocks will be lesser than some of other guys in this class, but he can get the job done when asked to, especially if you put him on the edge for a wide zone-based scheme, where he can combo up with the tackle to help get the ball out to the perimeter. Positional value and how it compares with the money he’s actually going to be paid relative to a wide receiver in that range will be brought up, but this is a unicorn-like prospect who has absolutely dominated the SEC for the last three years, even if the NFL is still a big step up of course.

.

.

.

2. Ja’Tavion Sanders, Texas

6’4”, 245 pounds; RS SO

.

A five-star recruit in 2021, Sanders redshirted his first year at Texas, before setting a Longhorns single-season record for tight-ends with 54 catches in his actual debut campaign, accounting for 613 yards and five touchdowns. He caught nine fewer passes and only reached the end-zone twice in 2023, but put up 682 yards and helped Texas win the Big 12 along earning a CFP berth, while making first-team all-conference individually.

.

Blocking:

+ Can fire out of a three-point stance, with a former defensive end background (20 TFLs and 11 sacks as a high school senior) and provides great leg-drive

+ Able to dish out powerful drive-blocks on the move and more than just “securing” targets in space – you see him ride DBs out of bounds every once in a while

+ Continues to bring his hips around and is able to reach-block the point-man on perimeter-oriented run concepts

+ The Longhorns put Sanders at H-back a ton and tasked him with a variety of assignments in the run game, whether he was pulled out to the corner or was brought across the formation on split zone or counter, where he’d wrap around for linebackers

+ Reliably lands the near-shoulder into the inside half of edge defenders on kickouts, in order to force them to work around him

+ Excellent at locating and latching onto targets on the move as part of end-arounds, reverses, etc.

+ Has some tremendous showcases of effort, to actually pass his teammates and getting a piece of defenders way down the field

+ You saw Sanders work underneath the formation and pick up legit edge rushers as part of the protection on play-action and holding his own for a few reps against names like Alabama all-world edge rusher Will Anderson Jr.

.

Releases & route-running:

+ Has easy acceleration off the line, with the speed to blow by the second level and split the safeties in two-high looks if you let him release cleanly

+ Could become a nightmare for linebackers in match-coverages when he runs benders and forces them to turn with him

+ His change of direction skills for a guy at his measurements are pretty rare, throwing in hip-shifts

+ Offers the quick feet and ability to turn his shoulders away from defenders to elude press-attempts and put guys in catch-up mode

+ Continues to swipe and swat the near-hand of defenders trying to stick to him across the field

+ Effectively applies pacing on double-moves, baiting defenders to undercut the initial break before bursting away from them

+ Had PFF receiving grades of 76.1 and then 79.0 these past two years

.

Approaching the catch & YAC:

+ Showcases excellent flexibility and sticky hands to deal with suboptimal ball-placement – didn’t drop a single pass (45 receptions) in 2023

+ Can shield the ball with body and seems unbothered by contact as he’s extending for it

+ You see plenty of catches that allow the defender back into the catch window and Sanders being able to bail out the quarterback – posted a 53.6% contested rate in his career

+ Whether he has to embrace an oncoming hit by a safety barreling down on him or turn his body away from shallow zone defenders underneath him as he secures the catch, Sanders avoids opportunities for the ball to be jarred loose regularly

+ Has that instant burst once the ball is in his hands, to challenge the pursuit angles of defenders – Averaged 7.7 yards after the catch this past season

+ Displays splendid lateral quick to side-step or jump-cut defenders in the open field, yet is also capable of running through safeties in his way when he drops the pads on them, converting speed to power effectively

+ Was put on lots of chip-releases and became a dump-off option with RAC opportunities, and Texas also set up screen passes for him

.

Weaknesses:

– His hands do slide outside the frame of front-seven defenders and he ends up holding quite a bit – was penalized ten times over the past two seasons combined

– As a slot receiver. Sanders has room for improvement in terms of breaking down and putting his body in front of DBs on screen passes

– The foot quickness is there, but currently he’s too upright trying to release out of two-point stances and doesn’t counter the initial jam effectively enough

– Needs to work on his ability to freeze the feet of defenders in man-coverage, particularly when he has the advantage by leverage and allows those guys to stay in phase anyway (to disrupt the catch-point)

– Has some balance issues after the catch trying to get up the field when he takes dump-offs underneath

.

Being TE2 in a class with a talent at the top like in this draft is sort of an unenviable position, because the rest of the group is barely being discussed. However, in many other years Sanders would at least get a lot more attention. The urgency out of his stance and the ability to block on the move are excellent. As a receiver, he offers quick acceleration from any alignment, showcases impressive of change-of-direction, catches pretty much anything in his vicinity and offers an impressive blend of speed, agility and power after the catch. He did not test like the athletic freak you were expecting at the combine, running a 4.69 at 245 pounds, and he needs refinement as receiver to avoid contact early and separate from it during the route. Sanders’ best role in the NFL is one as an H-back and big slot, although it will not exclude in-line duties from his task list. So depending on his development, he could land anywhere from a Pro Bowl-level F tight-end to a WR3 with mismatch ability as the baseline. I would be willing to invest a top-50 pick in him.

.

.

.

3. Ben Sinnott, Kansas State

6’4”, 250 pounds; RS SR

.

Once a former zero-star recruit for 2019, Sinnott originally committed to South Dakota, but didn’t see the field until he enrolled at K-State the following season. 2022 is when he finally started getting extended run, catching 31 passes for 447 yards and four touchdowns. However, he basically put up 1.5 times those numbers his final year with the Wildcats (49-676-six) and made first-team All-Big 12.

.

Blocking:

+ Used in a variety of ways, playing in-line, the slot, wing and fullback

+ His natural leverage advantage and powerful lower half allows Sinnott to help dig out C-gap defenders on combos with the tackle

+ K-State shifted him into an offset I-formation and used him as a lead-blocker a few times, where he was able to get under the pads of linebackers and ride them out of the lane

+ Was regularly asked to work out to the corner and clear the way on QB keeps or sweeps, with the light feet to secure targets in space

+ Frequently sifting underneath the O-line, Sinnott shows the ability to not get hung up with bodies in the backfield, but rather to stay tight to the backs of his teammates and wrap around onto force defenders, while the QB reads the unblocked edge defender get too far up the field

+ With his wide base and sticky hands, Sinnott can be relied upon to contribute in pass-pro against edge rushers a few times per game from in-line or wing alignment

+ Received PFF run- and pass-blocking grades well above 70 last season (76.1 and 72.8 respectively)

.

Releases & route-running:

+ Has some pretty snappy hips for more of a tall fullback build, to where he can gain separation on dig routes

+ Navigates around traffic at a very efficient level and you see him fluidly adjusts the steepness of his angles on the fly on deep crossers

+ Even if he gets knocked off track a little bit, Sinnott stays focused on getting back to his landmarks and maintaining a place in the pattern

+ Showcases excellent understanding for how to widen windows for himself with the way he stems and bends vertical routes between the hashes

+ Works to depth and then offers a swift turn back to the quarterback to eat against zone coverage, whether he’s splitting linebackers or curls up in front of deep safeties

+ Realizes when to slow his pace a little bit in order to take advantage of the space between the second and third level in shell coverages

 + Had an average depth of target of over 10 yards each of the past two seasons, yet passer ratings of 127.7 and 105.3 respectively when targeted

.

Approaching the catch & YAC:

+ Has continued to work on tight overhand positions on targets above the belt – only dropped two of 50 catchable targets in 2023

+ Because of that more compact build, it’s tough to really affect the catch-point unless you actually wrap around him – 66.7% contested catch rate in 2022

+ Plus then he has the strong hands to swallow the ball when he has to work to his quarterback with defenders driving on the throw

+ Makes some challenging catches where he has to elevate for the ball and snatch it at full extension and pull it into his body

+ When he catches the ball on the run, you see Sinnott drag along tacklers and force more people to join the party

+ Displays great awareness for pursuit angles and finds solutions in the open field, hitting a well-timed spin move occasionally

+ Has more quicks and wiggle to him as a runner than defenders might anticipate – forced 14 missed tackles and gained 31 first downs across his 48 receptions last season

.

Weaknesses:

– Only having 32.5-inch arms limits his reach as a blocker and his catch-radius

– Earned just a 58.8 PFF run-blocking grade in 2022 and while he did significantly improve on that last season, edge defenders are able to establish first meaningful contact thanks to their length and take control of reps, along with his punch lacking some striking power

– Long, speedy edge rushers are able to turn the corner on him in pass-protection and I wouldn’t want to leave him one-on-one with guys from wide alignments

– Sinnott is quick at getting through his breaks, but the acceleration out of them leaves you wanting a little more

– May be able to gain a step on trailing defenders as a vertical threat, but he’s not going to split safeties or really pull away defensive backs with his long speed

.

I just outlined Sinnott as one of “my guys” as one of my favorite tight-ends/H-backs to watch over the past two seasons. I understand why the scouting community may be underrating him, considering he lacks top-end speed and the length you typically like to see from in-line options. However, you can argue nobody in the country play the position in a more well-rounded manner last season outside of Georgia’s Brock Bowers. Sinnott can take on a varied blocking role in terms of different alignments and assignments. He’s a more sudden route-runner than you might expect, he’s become a highly consistent catcher of the ball and then he’s one of the more effective YAC players at the position, thanks to his awareness for bodies, how quickly he processes information and the physicality of a fullback that he runs the ball with. Looking at his athletic profile, it’s eerily similar to Minnesota Vikings Pro Bowl tight-end T.J. Hockenson and I believe this guy could do a lot of the same damage in the short to intermediate range. His jumps were in the 94th and 97th percentile respective and he was tied for the second-fastest three-cone drill among ALL players at the combine (4.82). I value him as a mid-day two selection, compared to falling to day three based on consensus boards.

.

.

.

4. Cade Stover, Ohio State

6’4”, 250 pounds; RS SR

.

Initially recruited as a linebacker inside the top-100 of the 2019 class, despite being mainly used as a running back in high school, Stover was used in the defensive front-seven as a rotational player his first two years with the Buckeyes before making the switch to tight-end. After catching five passes for 76 yards in 2021, he turned 36 receptions into 406 yards and five touchdowns as a redshirt junior. In 2023, he put up career-highs in catches (41) and yards (576), along with five more TDs, which earned him second- and first-team All-Big Ten recognition by the coaches and media respectively.

.

Blocking:

+ Legit Y tight-end with a heavy workload playing in-line and a linebacker mindset approaching contact

+ Excels at securing the end-man at the line of scrimmage and allowing his tackle to overtake, while cutting off a scraping linebacker on outside zone

+ Does an outstanding job of sealing off guys on the backside, urgently covering ground laterally and swiveling his hips around

+ Capable of displacing C-gap defenders and proving a lot of space for pullers coming around on power/counter etc. towards him

+ Seems comfortable blocking on the move, either on kick-outs or lead-blocks out to the corner, such as on sweep plays

+ With how sturdy he is, Stover doesn’t need to overextend and can take a blow to his chest from safeties without giving them an angle around him on screen passes

+ Has the frame and plays with the sink in his hips to be an effective pass-protector (68.6 PFF grade in that regard last season)

+ Legitimately gets edge defenders airborne when he delivers chips before getting out in his route

.

Releases & route-running:

+ For a converted tight-end with his size, Stover releases pretty easily from a staggered stance or a hand in the ground

+ His burst from a two-point stance to get up the seam is a lot more impressive than out of an in-line alignment

+ Already has shown substantial improvements at setting up intermediate breaks, with a sharp drive step to come out flat and not allow angles to undercut him

+ Can use his size to create openings for the ball as he slightly pushes off at the break-point

+ Light on his feet and reduces the near-shoulder well to evade ancillary zone defenders, yet if they do get a piece of him, Stover typically isn’t pushed off track too far usually

+ Quick to get his head around as he enters voided space and became a safety blanket for an otherwise confidence-lacking Kyle McCord – hauled in 29 of 32 targets of less than ten yards last season

+ Earned PFF receiving grades above 93 for every level of depth (negative, 0-9, 10-19 and 20+ yards) and averaged a career-best 2.02 yards per route run in 2023

.

Approaching the catch & YAC:

+ Attack targets at their earliest available window and with optimal use of his hands – only dropped two passes in 2022 and none last year across 100 combined targets (and 79 catchable ones)

+ Actively works back to the ball with defenders closing on it, to not have passes broken up

+ Strong hands to survive defenders making contact with his backside and raking through the catch-point

+ Showed insane hand-eye coordination in the 2023 Notre Dame game to come down with a passes that got batted around on a prayer from QB Kyle McCord over the middle

+ Catches and pierces on targets where he turns back towards the quarterback, getting vertical immediately and turning his pads away to minimize surface area

+ Becomes a tank to bring down with the ball in his hands, as defenders just slip off him or he drags them along – averaged a substantial 6.9 yards after the catch this past season

+ You see him spin off hits and even hurdles diving attempts occasionally

.

Weaknesses:

– Tends to lead with his pads and could still latch his hands more emphatically to stay connected as a run-blocker

– Doesn’t offer a whole lot of juice vertically or after the catch – Not somebody who’s going to threaten the seams for you, to where you see linebackers catch back up and make plays on the ball

– Still developing his stem work and how to set up eventual breaks as a route-runner

– There’s some stiffness in his upper body trying to adjust and contort for passes without losing speed

– Showed up lighter than expected at the combine (247 pounds), yet his 4.65 in the 40 and the 36.5-inch vertical were both slightly below-average, he finished dead-last among tight-ends with a 9’8” broad jump and he second-to-last in the short shuttle (4.45)

.

Watching Stover with the background knowledge of him being a former linebacker does make you notice a slight difference in the way be moves. Yet, it also shows up in his affinity for contact and battling with front-seven defenders. While there is still room to perfect how he initiates contact, it’s the fact that he doesn’t really play fast or is particularly loose as a receiver that makes you question how much of a difference-maker in that regard. Having said that, he may very well end up as the best blocker from Y or wing alignments from this class and he presents upside to still improve his ability to separate. I feel confident in his ability to get on the field quickly, since on top of what he provides in the run game, he does settle or slows down effectively in open areas and fundamentally sound in how he approaches passes, catching pretty much everything coming his way. If he can grow his route his ability to set up routes and makes flexibility a high priority, he can be a quality starter in the NFL, worthy of a top-100 selection.

.

.

.

5. Theo Johnson, Penn State

6’6”, 260 pounds; RS JR

.

One of the top-100 national recruits in 2020, as a true freshman, Johnson caught four passes (for 56 yards) seeing very limited action across seven games. Over the following two seasons, he started 15 of 24 contests, hauling in 39 combined passes for 541 yards and five touchdowns.

.

Blocking:

+ Highly appealing physical profile with old-school size and new-school athleticism

+ Impressive ability to roll his hips into contact to create momentum as a run-blocker and his 33-inch arms are a major plus at winning the battle with edge defenders to not be out-reached and give up control

+ Excellent initial quickness and lateral agility to reach-block edge defenders lined up to his outside shoulders in order to allow the ball to get out to the perimeter

+ Regularly was utilized as a lead-block on gap and inside zone plays, often times lining up next to the quarterback in shotgun from split backfield looks

+ Happily throws his shoulder into backside edge defenders when sifting across the formation, but will keep them off balance with some effective cut-blocks to mix it up

+ Penn State worked in some misdirection plays, where Johnson would pivot around and basically “pull” out to the corner in order to turn into an effective lead-blocker

+ Does a good job of coming to balance against safeties on swing screens and other perimeter plays when lined up in the slot, yet can also ride people into the boundary when given the chance at a higher pace

+ Shows good fundamentals when asked to stay in protection, shuffling along with his feet and shoulder aligned, paired with a well-timed two-handed punch

.

Releases & route-running:

+ Had a massive average depth of target in 2022 (13.1 yards), yet the passer rating when targeted still ended up at a perfect 158.3

+ This past season with Brenton Strange off the NFL (second-round pick for the Jaguars), he was used more over the middle of the field, hauling in all but one of 19 targets from 0 to 10 yards between the numbers

+ Is able to cleanly get off the line typically from Y-alignments, even as defenders try to knock him or somebody slants his way

+ Packs a solid one-two step and swipe-down to defeat defenders matched up with him from detached alignments

+ Could use some improvement in the way he decelerates and sets up breaks, but the acceleration coming out of them makes you perk up

+ Showcases the sudden explosiveness to peel off the edge or leak underneath the formation out into the flats for RAC opportunities

+ Instantly turns his head as he’s clearing the second level on routes down the seams

.

Approaching the catch & YAC:

+ Showcases the hand-eye coordination to haul in passes put right on his frame just as his head turns back for them

+ Plucks passes from the top shelf on routes over the middle of the field to save his quarterback a few times

+ Makes several underhand catches on throws out to the flats off peel- and leak-routes without showing any issues of securing the ball and turning up the ball

+ The ball just sticks to those 10-and-¼ inch mitts – never dropped more than two passes in any season, including two last year on 36 catchable targets

+ Was only given nine contested catch opportunities, but did haul in six of those, displaying good focus with guys sticking to his hip

+ Instantly turns up the field, with the speed to stride away from and the affinity for contact to go through tacklers for yards after the catch

+ You see defenders race down on him catching a crossing route their way and Johnson has them bounce off his quads before getting upfield

.

Weaknesses:

– Overruns his targets when asked to work across the formation at times, especially when he’s supposed to wrap around and isolate second-level defenders

– Doesn’t always seem like he’s super confident in his route-running (particularly vs. zone-coverage) and sort of paces himself as he’s deciphering the defensive picture

– His footwork against contact early in the route need work and he allows defenders to stay tight in man-coverage more than they should be able to when he has a speed advantage

– Needs to improve how he utilizes his physicality to create separation, nudging instead of being obvious with pushing off defenders

– Lacks creativity with the ball in his hands, not even trying to put moves on people a whole lot – only forced two missed tackles across 34 receptions this past season

.

Johnson has seen an astronomic rise since his legitimately historic combine performance. He finished with a nearly perfect relative athletic score (9.99 out of 10), thanks to the second-best mark among tight-ends in the 40 (at 4.57), along with second in the vertical (at 39.5 inches) and broad jump (10’5”) and posted the best 20-yard shuttle time (4.19). During Senior Bowl week, I thought you also saw the easy burst off the line, along with an improved ability to violently drop his hips and burst out of his breaks, being named the National team’s Tight-end of the Week. He doesn’t always play up to those athletic measurements, even if the flashes may be there. Right now, he’s at his best lining up in the box as a blocker who can take on diverse assignments and then release off play-action to rip off plays where he has room to run and bowl over defenders at the end of it. In order to come close to his potential as a detached receiver, he really needs to work on pairing his hand-swipes with the appropriate step-coordination to gain control of routes early and then be more subtle with creating late separation. If he can do that, he has the potential to turn himself into the second-best TE of this class.

.

.

.

6. Erick All, Iowa

6’4″, 250 pounds; RS SR

.

A four-star recruit for Michigan in 2019, All had less than 100 receiving yards across his first two seasons, before hauling in 38 passes for 437 yards and two touchdowns in 2021. Only three games into the following season (three receptions for 36 yards) he suffered a back injury which required surgery. For the final 2023 season, he transferred in-conference to Iowa, where across seven games he secured 21 receptions for 299 yards and three TDs, before unfortunately tearing his ACL.

.

Blocking:

+ Has quality experience at H-/fullback and then more as in-line TE/wing for two of the most run-heavy pro style offenses in college football

+ Gives you quality effort generally as a blocker and works off combos with the appropriate timing

+ Strikes with forces when he has a bit more of a runway on split-zone or climbing up to the second level

+ Showcases impressive mobility to pull across the formation and become a lead-blocker, where he delivers some oomph on contact

+ Won’t slow down and ultimately finds work if he gets through the second level without anybody being in his path to block

+ Did well to run off coverage from the slot by putting his head down and forcing safeties to open with him

.

Releases & route-running:

+ Capable of dropping the hips and cleanly getting out of square breaks, but also plant and getting through transitions quicker, such as on delayed glances or you can even see it on a few shovel passes or sweeps

+ Runs some impressive angle routes basically, where he widens the stem vs. outside-leveraged defenders and at times actually get them to flip their hips that way before he breaks across their face

+ Effectively bends off the outside foot on quick routes towards the sideline

+ Displays the suddenness with his feet to elude ancillary zone defenders and be efficient with getting to his ultimate landmarks

+ While he was mainly clearing out space, All does provide a vertical component, pushing up the seams with plus acceleration

+ Iowa utilized him more down the field, where he’d run corner-post routes, showing a nice head-fake to get defenders leaning the wrong way

+ Averaged what would be strong mark for wide receivers with 2.62 yards per route run in 2023

.

Approaching the catch & YAC:

+ Does a nice job of high-pointing the ball and turning his body away from contact

+ Tracks the ball over the shoulder and cleanly catches it with his finger-tips on floating passes

+ Shows natural adjustments to back-shoulder placement based on the leverage of the defender and quickly pulls the ball into his frame to not allow it to be knocked out

+ Whether he hesitates or just makes subtle adjustments to his path, All has a knack for not giving defenders in the open field a straight shot at him

+ Has a bit of that bowling ball quality to him with the ball in his hands and plenty of horsepower to churn through wraps

+ All will stutter his feet to make defenders stop theirs, then plant and have his pads and hips aligned to drive through one shoulder of them

+ When he has space to run off crossers or slide routes, you’ll see this guy really pump those arms and be able to turn up the sideline for explosive plays

.

Weaknesses:

– Would more so throw a shoulder into defenders during his time at Michigan instead of latching his hands and sustaining blocks by driving his feet through

– Gets driven into the backfield at times when asked to cut off edge defenders on the backside from crashing through the C-gap

– Needs to play with a more consistent physicality and more active hands against defenders working hard to sticky to him

– Finished his career with a 13.4% drop rate, showcasing a side-by-side clap-attack tendency

– Suffered season-ending injuries in back-to-back seasons, including what is always rather scary with back surgery

.

While I started taking notes on All in 2021 and liked plenty that I saw on broadcasts, considering he only played in ten combined games – and didn’t even finish two of those – over the past two seasons and what an atrocity this Iowa offense has been to watch, he did leave my mind to a certain degree until I actually went back to study him. I was very impressed with his ability to go through different breaks with the appropriate suddenness or haste, some of the tough grabs he was able to hold onto and then how he’d navigate through contact once the ball was in his hands. With that being said, how he approaches more routine catches going forward and works on actually connecting with his hands as a blocker as well will determine how he turns early opportunities into extended ones. He may not ever be a true Y, but as a number two for an offense, who can line up on that guy’s hip or is featured more in the backfield, I really like his ability to get to spots and create that initial displacement on the collision with defenders, even though he doesn’t yet secure those as well as you’d like. His injury history will certainly push him down boards, but with a clean bill or at least confidence from your medical stuff that it won’t affect him going forward, I’d be fine with selecting him early on day three.

.

.

.

7. Jaheim Bell, Florida State

6’2″, 240 pounds; SR

.

.

The rest of the analysis can be found !

.

.

.

8. Tanner McLachlan, Arizona

6’5”, 240 pounds; RS SR

.

.

.

9. Dallin Holker, Colorado State

6’4”, 240 pounds; RS SR

.

.

.

10. Tip Reiman, Illinois

6’5”, 270 pounds; RS JR

.

.

.

The next names up:

Jared Wiley (TCU), Jack Westover & Devin Culp (Washington), McCallan Castles (Tennessee), A.J. Barner (Michigan), Brevyn Spann-Ford (Minnesota) & Trey Knox (South Carolina)

.

.

.

If you enjoyed this article, please visit & feel free to check out my video on the !

.

Twitter: @ halilsfbtalk

Instagram: @ halilsrealfootballtalk

.

12. Denver Broncos Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo

I thought hard again about giving the Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (Oregon), but I talked myself out of it. I just don't think Nix is a first-round signal-caller. I have a Round 2 grade on him based on everything I've seen on tape. He lit up defenses for the Ducks the past two seasons -- he had 74 touchdown passes to just 10 picks -- but there's some risk involved based on what he was asked to do in the Oregon offense. His average pass traveled 6.3 yards downfield last season, which was sixth shortest among 125 qualified FBS quarterbacks, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

Instead, Denver can look to improve a defense that ranked 30th in yards per play allowed (5.8) last season and pair Mitchell with Pat Surtain. Mitchell, my top-ranked cornerback, had 46 pass breakups in four seasons at Toledo, and he ripped off an elite 4.33-second 40-yard dash at the combine. He's ready to play early and often as a rookie.

It happens ever year, you have players that were ranked highly in the draft that turned out to be busts and/or someone who was drafted in the late rounds that are pro bowlers/hall of fame type of players.

What are the main reasons that NFL teams and/or scouts missed or got lucky on a draft pick?