PATS, BELICHICK EYE TWO-SPORT STARS
A former volleyball star, Penn St. TE fits Pats’ versatile mold
Bill Belichick has been known to have an affinity for players who stand out in other sports.
Whether it’s Nate Ebner in rugby, Chris Hogan in lacrosse, or Stephen Neal in wrestling, Belichick knows a translatable skill when he sees one.
And when it comes to Penn State tight end Mike Gesicki, one would be hard-pressed to find another player with a more well-rounded experience off the gridiron.
When Gesicki was at Southern Regional High in Stafford Township, N.J., he performed at the highest level in football, basketball and volleyball. An Army All-American in football as a wide receiver, Gesicki was also nominated as a McDonald’s All-American in hoops, and was the state’s player of the year in volleyball.
So when the 6-foot-5, 247-pounder chose to concentrate on football, his athleticism was never an issue. And after a standout career with the Nittany Lions and a blistering NFL combine performance, it became clear that while Gesicki could have gone any number of directions after high school, picking football was a wise choice.
“Just his raw athleticism (stuck out),” Penn State coach James Franklin said about recruiting Gesicki. “If I remember correctly, he was an Army All-American football player. He was
a McDonald’s All-American basketball player. And then he was an all-state volleyball player. Those things stood out to me. I remember going to watch him play basketball. He swears he’s a basketball player, but he’s really more of a dunk contest guy. The whole game was just dunks and alley-oops and that kind of stuff.”
As Penn State was still recovering from the sanctions handed down from the Jerry Sandusky scandal, Gesicki was thrown into the lineup sooner than expected, according to Franklin. That caused growing pains, but in his junior and senior years Gesicki combined to make 105 receptions for 1,242 yards and 14 touchdowns, including nine in 2017.
Then, Gesicki became the talk of the scouting combine when he ran a 4.54 40-yard dash with an astonishing 41.5-inch vertical leap and the oh-so-important-to-thePatriots 6.76-second 3-cone drill.
Those athletic traits come through loud and clear when he straps on the pads. He is excellent when it comes time to high-point the ball on a contested pass, keep his feet inbounds or get his forward momentum going for extra yards. Gesicki even puts his leaping ability to use when he jumps over defenders who try to go low on him to make a tackle, although that might be something he wants to avoid in the NFL.
The one knock on Gesicki’s game is his blocking. There is a reason for that, according to Franklin.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt that he’s a willing blocker. I think early on in his career, he viewed himself more as a receiver,” Franklin said. “He’s really grown in that area in the last year and a half. That’s really why he came back (for his senior season). He was thinking about coming out last year. And I said, ‘Hey, the area you need to show everybody, you need to show everybody the blocking.’ So he understands it. And he’s a prideful guy.
“But it’s just something, he literally never blocked in high school before he got here, not once. So it was a transition for him. I think Mike’s a very prideful guy and wants to have a great career and understands he’s got to do both. I don’t ever think he’s going to be an inline (tight end). He could do it, but he’s more of that Hback tight end or that guy that you’re using truly to create (matchup problems).”