Draft class features a bumper crop of tight ends
INDIANAPOLIS >> College football’s spread offenses continue to produce pro players who aren’t quite ready for the NFL: quarterbacks who lack the foundational footwork, tackles who need remedial training on blocking basics.
Tight ends are another story. They’re primed for an immediate impact. They’re the fruit of the spread. And this year features a bumper crop.
“This is the 1983 quarterback class of tight ends,” said Cecil Lammey, NFL draft analyst at 104.3 The Fan in Denver.
An abundance of big, talented tight ends attending the NFL’s annual scouting combine this week is led by Alabama’s O.J. Howard, a traditional combo tight end who’s benefited from the Crimson Tide’s ground game, and Miami’s David Njoku, the vanguard of the pass-catching tight ends with wide receiver roots.
They’re both expected to hear their names called in the first round, but 30 other teams won’t fret if they miss out on the top two.
“I think the beauty of the tight end class this year is it doesn’t have to be” a firstrounder who significantly upgrades a team’s tight end room, NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said. “It can be in the second or third round or maybe in the fourth round.”
Options include Mississippi’s Evan Engram, South Alabama’s Everett Gerald, Clemson’s Jordan Leggett, and Bucky Hodges of Virginia Tech. There’s also Michigan’s Jake Butt, who insists he’s breaking records in his recovery from a torn ACL he suffered in the Orange Bowl, and 277-pound Adam Shaheen of Ashland (Ohio), a freakish athlete and the latest tight end who transitioned from the hardwood to the gridiron, among others.
“I am not testing here,” said Butt, who had surgery on Jan. 10 and resumes running next month. “But it has still been special. I am so far ahead in my rehab. I know where an average man would be at this time, and I am so far ahead of that. But still to be out here and recognized as one of the best players in the country is really special.”
Njoku said many people implored him to stay in school as more and more of these elite tight ends declared for the draft, which only served to motivate him.
“I love competition,” Njoku said. “I was the national high jump champion in high school at like 220 pounds. So, that next jumper was just like 30 pounds lighter. But once I was told that and people told me to stay, that made me (want to) declare even more because I want to go against the greats.”
The competition is impressive this week. Many of the others are former basketball players who transitioned from the hardwood to the gridiron, where they flash some of the same moves they used to showcase in the gym.