Tight End

Hands

• Natural hands catcher. Rarely cradle catches

• Impressive catch radius. Solid adjustments to the ball

• Would like to see better hands through contact

• Needs to attack the ball better. Allows the defender back to the catch radius waiting on the ball

• Unimpressive catch radius 

Mismatch

• Rare speed for the position

• Needs to use his size advantage better against smaller assignments. He is plenty fast but not fast enough to simply outrun DBs. If you can stay with him stride-for-stride, he can’t make you pay on 50/50 balls 

Separation

• Good long speed and strength to get on top of the LB and create space

• Nice instincts in zone coverage to find the open spot on the field

• Need to work through traffic a bit better. Runs his route right into the defense

• A little passive on jump balls. Needs to assert his size advantage against DBs

• Need to see him use his leverage better and box out the defender to keep him from undercutting his route

• Limited route tree 

Run After Catch

• Tons of speed with the ball in his hands for maximum yards after the catch

• Shifty in space and can run through arm tackles. Don’t go high on him. Keeps legs churning

• Can be chopped down at the legs in space 

Release

• Tons of burst off the line. Tough for slot CBs to stay with him, especially if they don’t get a jam

• Shifty off the line to elude the jam and get into his stem 

Football Instincts

• Nice understanding of leverage and where the run will be to take his man out of the gap

• Would like to see him run the route away from traffic or the defense a bit more often

• Poor angles when blocking at the second level

• Needs to do better getting open on scramble drills 

Play Speed

• Nice agility for quick change of direction off the line

• Incredible long speed to pull away from the cover-man on seam and 9 routes

• Excellent acceleration off the line and quick cuts on his route running makes him hard to cover

• Takes a long time getting into his breaks 

Play Strength

• Can anchor the run lane decently well. Good use of leverage to maintain the run lane

• Slim frame limits him. Can even be bullied a bit by LBs in coverage

• Poor explosion upon contact. Hesitant. 

Pass Block

• Nice base and solid footwork as a face up blocker

• Excellent blitz pickup and quick slide to cover it 

Run Block

• Excellent leg drive after the initial punch to ride defenders to the ground

• Seals well on split zones

• A bit hesitant at the point of attack

• Struggles stepping in front of the defender and cutting him off backside. Struggles to consistently step into his run fits

• Poor sustain 

Production

• 2023: 10 G, 56 Tec, 714 Yds, 6 TDs

• Career (3 seasons): 175 Rec, 2538 Yds, 26 TDs 

Miscellaneous Notes

• Games watched: Auburn, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi (2023) TCU (2022)

• Injury History: Ankle (2023, missed two games and lingered rest of season)

• ST Value: Excellent speed and good motor

• Y (blocking) or H (athletic) TE or both?: H TE. Too small for Y

Hands

• Solid adjustment to balls off his frame. Nice horizontal catch radius

• Excellent concentration in traffic and on tip drills

• Nice hands on contested catches

• Poor hands through contact. Can have the ball jarred out 

Mismatch

• Cannot press-man him with a CB. Uses his strength too well at the top of his route

• Push around off the line 

Separation

• Good power off his break to create space against smaller defenders

• Able to box out his man and present a target for his QB

• Slow into his break on deeper developing routes

• Need to see him work through the jam better

• Limited route tree and will go long spans with no separation 

Run After Catch

• Not agile in space but hard to bring down 1-on-1. Long stiff arm and strong thighs to power through arm tackles

• Gritty runner to fight for extra yards

• Slow catch and turn

• Not elusive in space. Will look to get as many yards as he can before he’s caught 

Release

• Pedestrian burst off the line

• Can get caught up in traffic and delayed in stepping into his route 

Football Instincts

• QB friendly over the middle. Does well to find gaps in the zone

• Typically int he right place with help in pass protection

• Excellent finding his blocking target on the move on toss plays and outside zone

• Can drift on his routes 

Play Speed

• Adequate short-area quickness with the ball in his hands when he finds a lane

• Does not have the straight-line speed to stretch the defense down the middle

• Unimpressive burst

• Inconsistent motor when he’s not playside 

Play Strength

• Ideal frame for a the duel-threat TE

• Able to hold his own against DLs in the run game

• Hard to move off his stem once he’s in space

• Need to see better balance at the point of contact 

Pass Block

• Nice slide and awareness of the pocket to hold the edge well enough

• Patrols the pocket and helps well

• Slides well upfield with speed rushers

• Poor anchor against blitzers. Too easily displaced 

Run Block

• Excellent on down blocks

• Quick enough out of his stance to cut the defender off backside

• Solid hand placement and excellent sustain to hold the run lane and create run lanes himself in outside zone

• Holds his own as an in-line blocker to seal the edge well

• Nice angles at the second level

• Holds when he’s beat

• Bad whiffs on split zones 

Production

• 2023: 12 G, 41 Rec, 576 Yds, 5 TDs

• Career (5 seasons): 82 Rec, 1058 Yds, 10 TDs 

Miscellaneous Notes

•  Games watched: Michigan, Penn State, Indiana, Notre Dame (2023) Notre Dame (2022)

• Injury History: Back (2023)

• ST Value: Above average blocking, solid motor, poor speed

• Y (blocking) or H (athletic) TE or both?: Both

• Misc: LB coming out of high school. Transitioned to TE in 2020 

Hands

• Nice ball tracking. Adjusts to imperfect throws well

• Good concentration through traffic or in a tight window

• 0 drops in 2023

• Not able to get to the ground and dig up catches 

Mismatch

• Needs to impose himself better against DBs and LBs better

• Not able to beat the CB 1-on-1. Struggled against Kool-Aid McKinstry (Alabama, 2023) in his man-up reps

• LBs can bully him off the line and keep him from separating. Just plays too small

• Not a redzone threat 

Separation

• Nice understanding of route combinations to get under the clear out and into space

• Good speed variance to hit a different gear when he sees a lane to open space

• Does well to leverage his man away from the ball and make the contested catch

• Inefficient cutter on his routes. Needs to get into his break quicker

• Need to see him muscle through jams better than he does

• Would like to see him be stronger at the top of the route 

Run After Catch

• Only forced 4 missed tackles in 2023

• Needs to protect the ball better.

• A little slow to get upfield after the catch

• Can beat tackles 1-on-1 in space. Has opportunities to turn a good play into a scoring play but doesn’t convert them as much as he should 

Release

• Accelerates nicely off the line to get on top of the cover man

• Flashes some deceptiveness and variance off the line to get himself open. Able to get his leverage almost immediately

• Can be knocked off his stem with a good jam 

Football Instincts

• Decent angles upfield at the second level

• Locates his blocking assignment well on the move

• Does well to find space underneath 

Play Speed

• Nice acceleration when he sees a lane with the ball in his hands

• Tad slow on change of direction

• Would like to see more elusiveness in space with the ball in his hands

• Not able to pull away from the DB across the middle of the field or deep 

Play Strength

• Able to push around DBs and smaller LBs in space when run blocking

• Completely knocked back by DLs. Little lower body strength to negate them and hold his leverage 

Pass Block

• Slides nicely with the line but lacks the lower body strength to handle any power rush. Not able to face-up 1 on 1 with the rusher 

Run Block

• Works across the formation and locates his target well on split zones and wham blocks

• Good angles in space. Able to flip his hips and seal the lane

• Excellent bump and upfield climb on combo blocks

• Far too passive in his run fits

• Poor anchor in the run lane

• Not able to line up in-line and seal the edge. Too easily stacked

• Can be beat off the line backside 

Production

• 2023: 14 G, 45 Rec, 682 Yds, 2 TDs

• Career (3 seasons): 99 Rec, 1295 Yds, 7 TDs

Miscellaneous Notes

• Games watched: Houston, TCU, Alabama (2023) Kansas State, Iowa State (2022)

• Injury History: Lower body (2023)

• ST Value: Average speed, average motor, below average blocker

• Y (blocking) or H (athletic) TE or both?:

• Misc: