Top TE Prospects in NFL Draft

[turtle28]

‪https://www.si.com/.amp/nfl/2020/03/27/nfl-draft-top-tight-end-prospects-bryant-kmet?__twitter_impression=true

I'm not sure I agree 100% w/ this article but it's a good article to start a discussion on TEs that we can and should draft. It’d be nice to get away from the discussion of what to do with the #2 pick & what we haven't done in free agency that people were hoping we'd do.

Quote

TE Colby Parkinson, Stanford

Over the last two seasons at Stanford, Parkinson picked up 77 combined catches for 1,074 yards and eight touchdowns. His game improved in 2019 (48/589), but he posted only one touchdown compared to seven the previous year on 29 catches.

He wins the battle among tight ends this year as far as height (6’7”) but trails the top options in speed (4.77 forty yard dash) and quickness.

Parkinson has the look of a jump ball specialist in one-on-one coverage, especially in the red zone. His release and route running look viable, but I don’t see much damage after the catch unless he breaks a tackle or slips free after a defender blew his assignment. Parkinson offers strong hands and the ability to catch the ball at the high point.

I don’t expect him to develop in the blocking game unless he commits to getting stronger, adding more bulk, and improving his foundation skill set. At the same time, this change in his frame may lower some of his value and explosiveness in the overall passing game.

Parkinson is an up and down player who will have matchup value at the goal line in the right system early in his career.

Prediction: Washington (4.2)

I don't really want to wait until the 4th round I go TE but as E has said there will probably be a better WR prospect for us there are the top of the 3rd like Michael Pittman or others and so that means we’ll be going TE the top of round 4, w/ our 4th round comp pick or our 5th round pick.

I also don't like taking Coby Parkinson before Hunter Bryant in this scenario but I guess I could go either way. I'd really love to draft Harrison Bryant or Cole Kmet in round 3 but I don't think we should take either over a more talented WR like @e16bballhas been saying.

Edited March 29, 2020 by turtle28

[taylor made]

The SI link doesn't work

[turtle28]

11 minutes ago, taylor made said:

The SI link doesn't work

Thanks, let me look at that. I must not have copied it right.

[turtle28]

 Personally I still like Albert Okwuegbunam, TE, Missouri in round 3 too and I’m not sure why he isn’t mentioned in this article. 

[taylor made]

Good idea for a thread. These are my thoughts:

Cole Kmet, TE Notre Dame - 2nd round - I think Kmet is the best in the Tight End class. Or at least the safest. He has plus athleticism and just seems like a natural TE out there. He was highly recruited coming out of high school. His play style reminds me of Jason Witten. Will he turn out as good as Witten? Probably not. He most likely won't be there with our 3rd round draft pick, and I think this team runs to the podium if he is there unless someone like Denzel Sims,Michael Pittman, Jr. or Malik Harrison are there.

Adam Trautman, TE Dayton - 2nd round - Trautman is a hard evaulation. His competition is minor league and he is a former QB. He has a lot of hype right now, but is it  justified? He seems to have all the intangibles as well. He is a plus athlete and did well at the Senior Bowl.  He reminds me of Chris Cooley. He is on the shortlist of our 3rd round pick, but he could be easily be picked in the 2nd round.

Albert O, TE Missouri - 2nd-3rd round - He might have the biggest frame in the tight end class. He can create yards after contact which besides Cole Kmet it doesn't seem like many tight ends in this class can do. He splits out to the slot but I don't see him being a big threat there in the NFL. He's an above average blocker out there with that huge frame but I'm not sure he has that killer mentality to be feared there. He ran a great forty time,  but he opted out of the other drills and probably for good reason. I'm not sure if I ever see Albert having the upside to be a dominant tight end. I don't have a comp for him. His production dropped after Drew Lock left and that's a concern. I would consider him with our 3rd round pick but I'd be hoping a better player would drop to us.

Edited March 29, 2020 by taylor made

[taylor made]

Brycen Hopkins, TE Purdue - 3rd-4th round - Hopkins is my sleeper Tight end. He has NFL lineage with his dad playing for the Titans. His frame is somewhat slight and he could bulk about perhaps 5 more pounds. His RAC is up there with anyone in this class and his speed is his greatest asset. But he's not really gonna run over guys. He tested as an elite athlete as well. He does well tracking the ball out of the air, but then has some issues with the easy drops. Which is frustrating. He gets knocked for not being a good blocker but I think he does an alright job. He had great production his Senior year compared to his others. I think if the team doesn't select a tight end in the third round, they might have to in the 4th round and Hopkins could be our guy. Hopkins can play in the slot as good as anyone in this draft class, which would nice for this team.

Dalton Keene, TE Virginia Tech - 5th round. Why not double dip at the Tight End position? Especially on a local guy. I think Keene is the perfect guy to do that. He tested as an elite athlete and perhaps this team could mold him. I haven't watched too much of him, but it seems like they moved him around some. Here's a guy that I think that could go much earlier than people think- like the third round. Production is an issue however. This team has done well with Virginia Tech guys but mostly on defense. Why not try an offensive guy?

Edited March 29, 2020 by taylor made

[turtle28]

12 minutes ago, taylor made said:

Brycen Hopkins, TE Purdue - 3rd-4th round - Hopkins is my sleeper Tight end. He has NFL lineage with his dad playing for the Titans. His frame is somewhat slight and he could bulk about perhaps 5 more pounds. His RAC is up there with anyone in this class and his speed is his greatest asset. But he's not really gonna run over guys. He tested as an elite athlete as well. He does well tracking the ball out of the air, but then has some issues with the easy drops. Which is frustrating. He gets knocked for not being a good blocker but I think he does an alright job. He had great production his Senior year compared to his others. I think if the team doesn't select a tight end in the third round, they might have to in the 4th round and Hopkins could be our guy. Hopkins can play in the slot as well, which would nice for this team.

Dalton Keene, TE Virginia Tech - 5th round. Why not double dip at the Tight End position? Especially on a local guy. I think Keene is the perfect guy to do that. He tested as an elite athlete and perhaps this team could mold him. I haven't watched too much of him, but it seems like they moved him around some. Here's a guy that I think that could go much earlier than people think- like the third round. Production is an issue however. This team has done well with Virginia Tech guys but mostly on defense. Why not try an offensive guy?

I like Hopkins’ potential as well.  I wouldn’t double up at the TE position unless we are talking about a 3rd/4th round guy and the a 7th round guy.

We have Sprinkle and Henteges returning -who flashed the last month of last year - and will be battling to be one of the last players to earn a roster spot. 
 

As much as I know people don’t like to hear it, I think Richard Rogers or Logan Thomas will be our starting TE unless we do get Kmet, Trautman or Albert O and they really, really impress in training camp/the preseason if we have one.

Rogers has started a lot of games in this league and was pretty reliable for Aaron Rodgers in GB before they signed Jimmy Graham. Rogers had 58 recs, 510 yds & 8 TDs in 2015 the last time he was a starter when he started 12 games that year.

At this point outside of Logan Thomas or Sprinkle totally shocking everyone by breaking out/looking great in camp/preseason. I would be kind of shocked looking at the current roster if Rogers isn’t the starter. At this point he has to be the front runner to be the starting TE. He’s jag/serviceable player but it is what it is. 
 

As I’ve said in other threads, it’s not likely that Logan Thomas breaks out but he does have the size and athleticism to do so, he just has to put it all together.

Then, there’s always Marcus Baugh who came from Carolina but hasn’t done anything in the pros yet but he did have 5 TDs in an offense that didn’t throw much or well w/ JT Barrett at QB at Ohio State in 2017. It’s the longest of long shots but maybe he does something. It’s really hard to imagine though.

[turtle28]

52 minutes ago, taylor made said:

Good idea for a thread. These are my thoughts:

Cole Kmet, TE Notre Dame - 2nd round - I think Kmet is the best in the Tight End class. Or at least the safest. He has plus athleticism and just seems like a natural TE out there. He was highly recruited coming out of high school. His play style reminds me of Jason Witten. Will he turn out as good as Witten? Probably not. He probably won't be there with our 3rd round draft pick, and I think this team runs to the podium if he is there unless someone like Denzel Sims,Michael Pittman, Jr. or Malik Harrison are there.

Adam Trautman, TE Dayton - 2nd round - Trautman is a hard evaulation. His competition is minor league and he is a former QB. He has a lot of hype right now, but is it  justified? He seems to have all the intangibles as well. He is a plus athlete and did well at the Senior Bowl.  He reminds me of Chris Cooley. He is on the shortlist of our 3rd round pick, but he could be easily be picked in the 2nd round.

Albert O, TE Missouri - 2nd-3rd round - He might have the biggest frame in the tight end class. He can create yards after contact which besides Cole Kmet it doesn't seem like many tight ends in this class can do. He splits out to the slot but I don't see him being a big threat there in the NFL. He's an okay blocker out there with that huge frame but I'm not sure he has that killer mentality to be feared there. He ran a great forty time,  but he opted out of the other drills and probably for good reason. I'm not sure if I ever see Albert having the upside to be a dominant tight end. I don't have a comp for him. His production dropped after Drew Lock left and that's a concern. I would consider him with our 3rd round pick but I'd be hoping a better player would drop to us.

Would you trade up in the 2nd round to get in front of teams like the Patriots to make sure you got a guy like Kmet, Trautman or Albert O? 
 

Or would you just wait until round 3 to see which/if one of them fell to us there?

I’m open to trading up to make sure we get the TE we think that could start like Kmet but it depends on the cost. 
 

Of course if we are finally able to trade Trent we could have a 2nd where we could draft one of them there also.

[taylor made]

50 minutes ago, turtle28 said:

Would you trade up in the 2nd round to get in front of teams like the Patriots to make sure you got a guy like Kmet, Trautman or Albert O? 
 

Or would you just wait until round 3 to see which/if one of them fell to us there?

I’m open to trading up to make sure we get the TE we think that could start like Kmet but it depends on the cost. 
 

Of course if we are finally able to trade Trent we could have a 2nd where we could draft one of them there also.

I guess it just depends on who is available but I'd be hesitate to trade up. From what I'm reading, the Patriots don't have a 2nd round pick. A lot of the teams in the bottom of the 2nd round don't need Tight ends.

[turtle28]

8 minutes ago, taylor made said:

I guess it just depends on who is available but I'd be hesitate to trade up. From what I'm reading, the Patriots don't have a 2nd round pick. A lot of the teams in the bottom of the 2nd round don't need Tight ends.

Oh ok, I didn't even look. I could go either way. I wouldn’t care if they traded up for Kmet but I’d rather see if any of the top ones fall to us.

[Umbaugh21]

I actually really like Colby Parkinson. 

[turtle28]

1 hour ago, Umbaugh21 said:

I actually really like Colby Parkinson. 

I like his height, just worried about his lack of athleticism but, since he is 6’7, I think he needs to add weight to be a better blocker bc he’s only 252 despite being 6’7. At 6’7 though he’s going to be a great red zone/jump ball target anywhere on the field for Haskins.

[Canuck]

I actually clicked on this link with Parkinson being my first thought. He could provide Haskins with some Jimmy Graham-esque size over the middle

[ripsean21]

9 hours ago, turtle28 said:

 Personally I still like Albert Okwuegbunam, TE, Missouri in round 3 too and I’m not sure why he isn’t mentioned in this article. 

Character. I think he was amazing with Lock I think teams fear Lock made him better after a down year as well.

[ripsean21]

3 hours ago, Canuck said:

I actually clicked on this link with Parkinson being my first thought. He could provide Haskins with some Jimmy Graham-esque size over the middle

I’m not very high on him. I can’t remeber his name the colts took him Fleener I think very similar player from Stanford as well. I think he’s 1 dimensional. I like him just not for us. While it would be great having a super y’all redzone weapon we need a 3 phase TE. That is why I’m super high on Trautman. But I also think if your going one dimensional with a guy then Albert O or Kolemet are the two strictly pass catcher guys