NFL Stock Exchange: An NFL Draft Podcast - 243. Tight End Rankings For 2024 NFL Draft

Episode Date: March 22, 2024

Trevor Sikkema and Connor Rogers give you their top 10 tight end rankings for the 2024 NFL Draft. The two dig into each of their different lists, where they could see these guys drafted, and how big of an impact they could have.

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It's awesome. Sign up now at youtube.com slash BS, device and content restrictions apply. Local and national games on YouTube TV NFL Sunday ticket for out-of-market games excludes digital only games welcome to the NFL Stock Exchange podcast in this episode another positional ranking this time we're hitting the tight end class all right so maybe we're not gonna have multiple tight ends going the first round of this class but it's a lot of guys to like a lot of versatile players they could play in a lot of different

offensive systems and we'll tell you the guys that we liked, the guys that we don't, and where we could see them end up being drafted. I'm Trevor Sycamore. With me, as always, is Connor Rogers. Let's ring the bell. Welcome to the Opening Bell of the NFL Stock Exchange Podcast. I'm Trevor Sikama. That is Connor Rogers joining you for another positional ranking episode here on the show.

Earlier this week, we did running backs. We just had a lot of takes on those, a lot of comments, a lot of things that we tried to respond to, which is great. Obviously, like running back, it's a fantasy football relevant position. So I feel like anytime that's the case, people got takes. Oh, yes. You got takes on. You got the Devy community. You got people who are just looking a little bit farther ahead.

I think running back is one of those where I think everybody gets a lot of takes in. And we appreciate you. I loved reading all the comments on that. Today, we're doing tight ends. So not as glamorous of a position this year, but we're still going to give you our top tens. We're each going to give you our top tens. Y'all will at least still enjoy the entertainment value

of me finding out Conor's list for the first time, him seeing my top 10 guys for the first time. So at least you guys will get that with the entertainment. And then obviously we'll get to talk about the guys who are in the top two, maybe top one that we'll gush about at the top but it'll be interesting we'll get into where we think these guys end up fitting where they could be drafted what we think overall but connor how you doing my friend i'm good dude uh it's been a fun week whenever we get to like you said do one

of those episodes that brings in not just the draft addicts but you know like you said different communities obviously everybody that's very into dynasty is really studying the depth of the wide receiver, the running back class, and everything along the lines of that. It's a little bit of extra fun. Back to the nitty-gritty. That's what this is. This is the nitty-gritty. You know what?

I will say this. Going into the running back watches, I knew a little bit about every guy before even watching them because you just naturally watch college football or you keep up throughout the season. Right. This process of tight ends, there's, let's say, at least four in my top 10 that I hadn't watched any of this year, really. So I think that there is a sicko part of the process that is really enjoyable in that way. A really enjoyable part of the process. So this is, like you said, this is for the real draft nuts. Yes.

Why you and I literally birthed this show that I really enjoy. No, and it'll be, it will be a fun conversation. And like I said, you know, I think a lot of people have talked about the player who will be named very much later in this show as like oh how high do you take this guy overall you know like where it's exhausting right now and it is kind of exhausting there's no doubt i i want to talk about the rest of these guys because you do look at some of the top tight ends in the nfl like they're not first round players like they're guys that went either you know somewhere in the middle of day two maybe even like day three range and it's just you can always break out as a tight end so even though it's not the most notable tight end class in the world it's not like what was it 2017 where we had

oj howard and david joku and evan ingram and there's like three first round tight ends we'd love it's it's nothing like that but it is going to be an enjoyable kind of conversation of guys that we think could be impact players whether it's in multi-tight end sets or maybe guys would be thinking breakout it midway through their rookie careers maybe into their second contract things like that so connor we'll go same format we did last time you know keep it similar for the people uh not spook them too much by changing things up and we'll go 10 through six give me your 10 through six and then i'll kind of respond to it i'll have some questions for it and then i'll give you my through 10 through six

as well then we'll get into the top fives all right so let's jump into this like you said going from 10 to 6 and i'm gonna start at number 10 with a guy that caught my eye during the regular season right out of the gate in the opening of college football and that's jared wiley from tcu he is my number 10 uh tight end throughout this exercise number nine is a guy that has been a part of this show for a very long time he has been on summer scouting i believe with two different teams now he finished his college career at florida state and the senior bowl as well and that's jaheim bell number, so that's number nine. Number eight is a player, one of these guys that I had not watched any of until the Senior

Bowl actually focused on. I've only seen him play because this team was on TV rightfully all the time. That's A.J. Barner, the transfer tight end that finished his career at Michigan. Then number seven, a guy in a similar mold in terms of transferring from Michigan to Iowa is Eric Aul. He's another guy, actually.

He was in the same Jaheim Bell mold. I remember talking about him on Summer Scouting two years ago from his Michigan tape, and he's had back-to-back season-ending injuries that led to him. Yeah, he's actually one of the-back season ending injuries that led to him so you know yeah it's he's in it he's actually one of the more interesting ones we'll probably talk about and then six this one might be i would call this the surprise of the 10 to 6 and that is

tanner mclaughlin oh okay i full transparency have not watched mclaughlin yet i know i need to people have told me i got to watch him. So I didn't watch him before this show. So you're going to, you're going to, he was six for you? He was six. And I mean, he's one of the last guys I watched. I was so intrigued because he's a converted wide receiver. So I was like, I'm going to be honest with you folks.

We were starving for some athleticism when watching this group. So when i saw how he tested i'm like please give me something and uh i was i was thoroughly impressed uh thoroughly impressed with tanner mccloughlin for what you know reputation versus what actually existed on tape so it'll be fun when we get to him so unless you want to start there yeah you might i mean you might as well start there let's let's start at six and then we've got a couple of guys that naturally overlap um and we can kind of get into those conversations a little bit later but like i said i've had a handful of people shout out tanner mclaughlin to me i have not been able to watch him yet you mentioned some of the

testing though measured in just over six foot five 244 pounds, had a 86th percentile 10 yard split. So nice acceleration, 88th percentile, 40 yard dash, a four, six, one 40 yard dash. So good stuff there. 35 inch vert. That was 72nd percentile. So like you said, a really good athlete. What'd you think of his tape? So what do you think about him overall? Yeah. So I'll read off and you did a great job kind of breaking down where he stands out from the athleticism standpoint. I'll read out the exact scouting report I've written for him, the summarized version. I put converted from wide receiver to tight end. McLaughlin brought a lot of those qualities to his new position.

He's an excellent pass catcher that is straight line speed to run by linebackers, but also a good understanding of how to sit in the soft areas of zone coverage. McLaughlin is an urgent creative runner after the catch that can leap over tacklers or run right through them. It's hard to project if he will get bigger and strong enough to play on the line of scrimmage at the next level, but at a minimum, he could be moved around as an intriguing depth pass catcher. A couple strengths. He went from four drops in 2022 to zero drops in 2023.

Love that. Yeah, the body control and adjustments in very tight areas is wildly impressive. He holds onto the ball after getting absolutely devoured by defenders. There's a couple times where he had to jump, leap, stretch out, catch the ball, and he gets destroyed, and he held on. I just love how he goes to work right after the catch. The tough running, the hurtling, the stiff arms. He just wants to make shit happen after the catch. know you get to some of the weaknesses he's got very short arms and and you could see him pass blocking he has no you know radius in terms

of how to use he can't he doesn't have arm length so he can't really use that in pass blocking so his hands are kind of a little all over the place because he doesn't have the natural gifts. When did he convert to tight end? How long was he a wide receiver? Do you know? Let me check that one. I can actually pull up this. Yeah, if you want to take a look at that. Yeah.

If it's here. Okay, so he's been an inline tight end the last two years. Two years? Okay. When he was at Southern Utahah was he a wide receiver yeah it must have been um because this is 2019 and 2020 he didn't play a lot ah but he didn't play tons of wide receiver he played a lot in line so i'm sure interesting yeah i'm actually not sure all i see is that he did play wide receiver at Southern Utah, but that could also be like a, you know, a stretch in terms of.

Like he was listed as a wide receiver. Yeah, you know, kind of lined up there. I feel like he definitely played wide receiver in high school. Because he won. The like an award coming out of Canada. He's Canadian. He's from Alberta. Yes, he is.

The Lethbridge Collegiate Institute, which is where he went to school, all Canadian award as a wide receiver. Yeah, so he played wide receiver and tight end when he was at Southern Utah. And he's just gotten bigger. Yeah. Yeah.

I think that was, you know, I think that that was it. So late bloomer size wise. There we go. And he's undersized on the line of scrimmage. And he doesn't have the like his straight line speeds very good. I didn't see the agility to match that. I ultimately I gave him a fifth round grade. He was my sixth tight end in this class.

I think if you're a team kind of look at what Miami does. And they just signed John New Smith for this purpose. And they've tried this with a couple of tight ends. They like to have a tight end that, you know, they can move around a little bit. And they're not going to ask him to sit on the line of scrimmage and sink his hips and block. It's more like you're going to be an athlete out there. We might ask you in split zone and different move blocking mechanics but you're a bigger wide receiver in our offense I kind of think that's what McLaughlin is going to be pigeonholed to at the

NFL but I still found it more intriguing than a lot of the other guys in this group for sure yeah so then Wiley is your number 10 guy so Wiley is also somebody that I have to watch for the draft guide coming up soon. So tell me about Wiley. He barely makes your top 10. He makes it at that number 10 spot. There's a couple of other names that I have in my top 10 that I'll ask, you know, if you've watched and you still got these guys over. But what'd you think of Wiley then?

Yeah, Wiley's huge. I mean, he's, he did stand out of the senior bowl. Like just a giant, giant. I do remember watching him on the field and I was like, all right, this dude just truly built different. But he's a really good athlete. You're talking about someone that's 6 feet 6 inches tall and an eighth. He's a hair over 6 foot 6.

Going to play at true 250, 255. Obviously, decent enough arm length, 33 and a quarter. 4'6", 240 40 37 inch vert and you see those things on tape when TCU just asked him to run in a straight line and kind of go up and climb the ladder and grab the ball he can he can reach points that you know other defenders simply cannot and I think that'll play in the red zone at the next level i mean this dude caught eight touchdowns this year and it just felt like nobody cared um over 500 yards so he's not somebody as much as he can actually run and it's not you know like insane acceleration but good enough build-up speed you could throw it to him up the seam you could throw it to him in the red zone he's really

really big where if he starts to play with really good leverage, like he can play on the line of scrimmage as a true wide tight end. So Wiley, yeah, Wiley has physical ability and the actual production to match that. I liked him at 10 better than, you know, Tip Ryman was somebody like kind of from Illinois was in this area. I didn't have him. I watched the Washington guys and Brevin span forward from Minnesota. Like he,

I was just, I just thought Wiley's combination of size, athleticism and production outmatched all of those guys. Yeah. Yeah. I know people are going to ask because Brevin span forward is also not in my top 10. I wonder if people are going to ask about it.

I just didn't see, dude, I don't know if he'd be my top 15. Yeah. I just did not see a difference making player. And if you go back to our summer scouting, I think we talked about him a little bit because he's huge. And a lot of people really liked him because of his size going into the season. But you and I were pretty cool on him going into the year. And I don't really think that he had the kind of season to really change our minds there. So he is not in my top 10 either I'm not even joking if I was him and I guess you feel this out from teams I might legitimately try to gain like 30 pounds and play tackle I'm not I'm not even

kidding because what's he at he at the combine so think about this he had to run so this is a low weight he came in at six six and a half 260 okay with an 80 inch wingspan 33 and 3 8 inch arm length big hands 10 and a quarter and he ran a 477 he probably played at 275 he looks he looks gigantic they use him as a sixth offensive line he's huge he's massive he is. Here's what I want to know. Did he play D-end in high school? Okay. Switch. Because, like, can you just be a heavy-handed 5-tech? Maybe.

I know he played basketball in high school. I'm looking up the bio now on him. I don't see defensive end anywhere feels like he's always been a tight end yeah i yeah the problem i mean the thing for him is like i don't care if you're you know not a great athlete and you're this really big guy he just didn't catch the ball this year and at that point it6 6 to 30 tight end slash wide receiver. Oh, my goodness. Did you?

I don't think you play on defense at all. No. I don't think he's I don't think my plan to convert to tackle is in the car. Yeah, that's probably not working. Look, my my plan is even more bold. I want you to switch sides of the ball like I'm I'm like Petey and remember the Titans, right? Where he doesn't work at one spot. It's going to be crazy,

but listen here, go play for the other coach. So I don't know, man, if he wants to make it, he's either going to be a depth tight end and a special teams player, or shoot, maybe you can just go on a nice little winter bowl.

Can we play offensive tackle? So, all right, I'll do, I'll do my, yeah, I want to hear your 10 to six. Yeah. We can talk about some of the similarities that we have, because there are a handful of players that we have that are similar. And then maybe some of the differences, play offensive tackle so all right i'll do i'll do my yeah i want to hear your 10 to 6 yeah we

can talk about some of the similarities that we have because there are a handful of players that we have that are similar and then maybe some of the differences 10 i have aj barner from michigan um we both have him in there i assume that we're probably going to see him very similar and it's like okay this isn't a player who's going to give you a ton in the receiving game but if you are a team that likes to use multiple tight ends heavier personnel more frequently if you are a team that likes to use multiple tight ends, heavier personnel more frequently, if you're a 12 personnel team, if you even like to get into 13 personnel stuff, he's somebody who can. You know you're going to carry more tight ends on the roster just naturally. He is somebody who can be a nice special teams player for you.

He can be that 13th personnel type of a guy. If somebody gets hurt, you need him to be more of a blocker for you. I think that you can do that. He's just slow to change direction, limited in the routes. I think he's a below average NFL athlete in basically all facets. So I didn't see him as a difference maker there. But I could see a path for him starting at the NFL level. Well, I should say contributing at the NFL level in a rotational role

as a blocky tight end. I do have Tip Ryman at number nine from Illinois. I like him, man. He was nice. blocky tight end i do have tip ryman at number nine from illinois i i like him man he was night and kind of the same thing like not a very agile athlete but i thought he was a good linear athlete and he tested that way at the combine he tested pretty well he's got some good size to him i think he could be pretty decent on the line of scrimmage but you know we're talking about fifth sixth round pick something like that for him so uh he's number nine for me at that range i have dalen holker at eight did you did dalen holker

make your top 10 not somebody that i got eyes on okay all right so man i well all right i'll talk about holker in a second yeah i would love to hear this jaheim bell i have at seven uh and then theo johnson from penn state i have at six cool we could we could talk about theo because i haven't met five okay so we'll talk about theo in a second um dalen holker so tight end at at colorado state this past year the incredible holker the incredible holker yes i already love him and I haven't watched any of the tape. So he was a former three-star recruit, started his career at BYU. He was at BYU from 2019 to 2020. So he was there for four years.

But that also included in 2019 and 2020 when he was on a mission in Chile. All right. So he did not play while he was there. Played 13 games of the true freshman season in 2019 before he went on his mission. Then he kind of came back in 2021, 2022. Didn't really play a ton. Transfers over to Colorado State, and I think he had his best season yet. He really did.

There's a quote from one of his coaches that I found. Actually, this is just from an article. It's Holker who is caught by the coaching staff jumping the fence to CSU's practice facility after hours trespassing, which was eventually a weekly occurrence and that's how they found out that he was doing it. And he would go there to have his wife

load up the jugs machine and fire footballs at him so he could just catch footballs after practice so our guys or die you gotta you gotta you gotta find a guy who's not just a hard worker this guy will trespass for you to get better that's the kind of player that we're talking about here um i like him as a really nice what'd you say with wifey that's i mean she's also right which i found out um she's also a great athlete tay raymond is her name uh i just found it in his like bio also transferred from byu uh to go on the colorado state track and field team as a sprinter and a jumper won a pair of mountain

west championships in 2022 and 2023 so quite the athletic family we got here with the hulkers so just wanted to shout that out as well i gotta get eyes on him now i mean that three cones jarring the 6833 cone 94th percentile so here's the thing man i have the very first the very first bullet point that i have in his strengths category is he's a natural mover not not an elite athlete, although the number is very good, but just a really well-rounded one. Colorado state used them on the line of scrimmage and also off the line of scrimmage. There's a lot of work that he gets as that wing back to have that ultimate

flexibility to go behind the line of scrimmage, to get moved in motion, all that kinds of stuff. So they used him in a lot of different ways there. He's not super imposing as a blocker. And I remember watching him at the East-West Shrine Bowl practices. And when I saw him in person, I was like, man, he looks bigger on film. And I was kind of surprised that he was a little bit smaller in the legs and the calves.

Because I thought that he was bigger at Colorado State. Maybe he'd lost a little bit of weight since the season to maybe get faster, play practice, to participate in practice a little bit better, maybe test better at the combine, all that kinds of stuff. But on the tape, I'm not really that worried about the weight. Sure, he's a little bit lighter. I think he's right around 240 for the combine, but he'll take on defenders. He'll take on blocks. He'll be a lead blocker, like I said, in those split zone responsibilities. So he's a little bit older of a prospect because he had that church mission that he went on. But even that 2023 tape, this is somebody who I would draft somewhere on day three, and he's just a very versatile tight end piece for you.

And versatile is going to be a common word that we use here on this show for tight ends, because there aren't a lot of tight ends here in this class that are dominant at something. But there are a handful that are very nice, versatile players that you could get out of the, on the field in a variety of different ways. Like I even think that this dude could be a fullback. Like if you wanted an off eye formation or a regular eye formation, you could put them in as a fullback if teams are still doing that here in 2024. But overall, I thought that he was, like I said, a natural mover, a decent receiver, somebody who had some nice blocks on tape. He just wasn't imposing in any

particular category. So I'm at number seven because I think he is a all around good player, but he wasn't one that I just thought like, yes, this is a trait that I know you're going to stand out at at the next level. Instead, I just thought he was a good all around player and that's kind of this exercise right I kept running into that with a lot of guys where there aren't a ton of you know elite you know you like to say calling cards these high end ability in this area um it was just a lot of guys where it's like okay he's adequate in a lot of areas and let's see where he goes and how they use him how they develop him yeah yeah so that's where i had him uh i like him as like an early day three pick type of a player um jaheim bell thoughts before we get to where'd you have him seven okay i had him at nine so it's been a long road with Jaheim Bell. Yes.

Jaheim is obviously a very good athlete. You know, he was, he showed off really great athleticism when he was at South Carolina. Yeah. So much so that, I mean, they put him in the backfield at running back. He was supposed to be Johnnie Smith. They just straight, you're right. They just straight keep him carries. And he was an on the line of scrimmage, a tight end.

He was a wing back. He was a running back he was a running back for them he was a slot receiver they lined him up at Exit South Carolina as well goes to Florida State has somewhat similar versatility but the thing the thing with with Bell is that the the part that really held me back because even if I could just say to myself okay he's a receiving tight end like it's just what he is he's an athlete he's a receiving tight end and that's fine I don't really have a problem with that but even with that being said there was nuances of being a receiving tight end that i still did not see from him even at florida

state when it came to zone coverages there were times where he was running horizontal routes whether it was right after the line scrimmage or a little bit further maybe past the first down yard marker where it's it's zone and yet he just he won't find the soft spot like he just keeps running running into coverage right running making throws a little bit tighter or more difficult for jordan travis and he's like man you gotta you gotta understand kind of like where the play is you gotta you understand that you you found the open space here you found the open grass you gotta sit down a little bit right it's what makes travis Travis Kelsey the best in the game is like every single Travis Kelsey route

is basically just like a choice option route. And he's just getting open. And him and Mahomes have that fantastic chemistry. That's why you see that fantastic production from them. But that's kind of what you need if you are just receiving tight end. And I didn't see, I saw a really nice athlete, but I didn't see i saw a really nice athlete but i didn't see that

nuance for just getting and staying open for separation and bigger throwing windows than i thought i was going to see from gene bell i mean i agree i agree with you with bell it's weird right he is small he is six foot two 241 that's fourth percentile and eighth percentile at the position. Right. Arm length is fine. Thirty three inches. It's right in the middle. Big hands, you know, good speed, explosive enough. But if you're there's no way you're putting him on the line of scrimmage at the next level. But if you go, well, I'm going to use him, you know, in the backfield and in the slot, he's not even that big for a power slot at that point where he's just a weird player that it's very low-hanging fruit but how arthur smith you know because john who has followed arthur feels like everywhere besides when he was in

new england like that's the role for jane. That's what you hope he becomes. Right. And that is a very unique role that doesn't exist across 85% of NFL teams. Yeah. So that's the tough part trying to project him. Yeah, I have, shoot, lost the tab here. What I said about Bell is like a bottom line that I have in the draft guide is Bell. Bell is an easy roster depth piece because of how many roles that he can fill for your team, especially if you believe he could play special teams. But he needs to have a better field for zone coverage as a receiver and must maintain blocks better to get on the field and be a consistent rotational player when it comes to offensive formation. So, again, like this is somebody that I think NFL teams

can look at. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with what you said of specific coaching staffs that utilize that. It may be because specific coaching staffs that emphasize those types of in-between players. But in terms of a depth roster piece, I think he can do a lot for you. So I don't feel like he'll have a tough time making a roster. He's got to play special teams. But cracking a starting lineup is probably a different story. Yeah, he 100% needs to play special teams if he's going to stay on an NFL roster.

Sick visor game, though. Great aesthetic. unreal aesthetic he looks like when you create a tight end 100 percent in Madden or you know NCAA's coming back but that's what you do you're like oh this tight end's gonna look different than every tight end yep yep yep jacked athletic dark colorful visor can't even see the eyes yeah that's the creative player you know and through four years 21 snaps on the punt coverage team 10 snaps on the kick coverage team 39 on the kick return team a lot of that was his first two years at south carolina so that's going to be important for his process when i get to theo Yes. Yes. So six for you, five for me. A, I mean, let's just get the obvious out of the way.

One of the greatest athletes to ever test at the tight end position. I mean, when you put it that way. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's insane. Six foot six and an eighth inch. 92nd percentile. 92nd percentile 92nd percentile 259 pounds 75th percentile and then this is where it just turns into like absolute banana land he's got 11 inch hands that's 98th percentile 155 10 yard split 91st percentile same with his 40 yard

dash at a 457 vertical 39 and5 inches, 96th percentile. Broad jump, 125 inches, 93rd percentile. 20-yard shuttle, 4.19, 87th percentile. He is, I mean, just once again, I cannot say this enough. And it's not like, yes, this surprised me because, wow, this just doesn't happen. But when you watch Theo Johnson, I was going to say, it surprised me because, wow, this just doesn't happen. But when you watch Theo Johnson. I was going to say, it surprised you a lot.

I mean, this is extreme. But when he does get the ball, and he caught seven touchdowns this year. On only 34 catches. So, I mean, you're talking about what? One out of every five of his catches? Yes, right, right. One out of every five of his catches? Yes, right, right. One out of every five of his catches was a touchdown. Catch radius is huge.

Great adjustments to the ball. Slot DBs, it's very hard to press him. Sure. But, you know, the routes are a little all over the place. He doesn't play this fast without the ball there's a reason he didn't run the three cone right sluggish is the word i had written down holy cow this guy turns like a submarine yeah that's that's the very which sucks because i i and i look i i've i think there are some draft analysts that really love Theo Johnson.

And very clearly you preface this whole conversation by saying he's one of the best testing tight ends that we've ever seen. And you're not wrong. I mean, these numbers for the size of this player are insane. But I don't see that on tape. It's not this. It's not this. It's not that. There are some plays where you could tell they're just telling him to go long and he can get into it. But like.

Oh, yes. Even coming off the line of scrimmage on a play-by-play basis. He's not exploding like a 91st percentile tight end off the line of scrimmage. He builds up too. He's a build-up guy. Now, I want to be fair. He's not Zach Kuntzons because a lot of people are probably listening to this like oh here we go again and coons was a seventh round pick johnson he's gonna be an earlier pick than that i mean what was what was coons numbers coons was another one of those guys that was just out of this world

alien zach coons um six six and five eighths so about the same size 94th percentile yeah dude these numbers are almost scary similar he i'm telling you theo johnson is is number two on his comparison percentile yeah but i thought theo to theo's credit and he deserves a lot of credit for this because another guy we watched over summer scouting. I don't think it's perfect, but I think the run blocking is getting better. It is absolutely getting better. Koontz, you are not asking Koontz to block a safety. You're not asking him to block a safety. Theo can come across a lot of scrimmage sometimes and blow people up where it's like, OK, the green light is slowly.

Sometimes. sometimes and blow people up where it's like okay the the green light is slowly sometimes it's listen it is not better it is not in a place where you're like sign me up yeah but it's way better than coots there's a lot of there's a lot of obvious like potential with theo johnson and i said shout out canada we'll get another one on here windsor ontario canada's having a day shout a big shout out. Big shout out Canada. Shout out to Canada just owning the tight end episode. Yeah. When's the Canadian top 10 rankings? That'd be an interesting algorithm on YouTube.

Our top 10 Canadian prospects. It might go off. It kind of might go off because I feel like there are not. I don't feel like I know there are just some diehard football fans in Canada that probably keep their eye on that particular thing. If you're listening to this show right now in the great land of Canada, the beautiful land, make sure you smash comment and let us know where you're listening from. We would actually want the top 10 canadian prospect before the draft

because if your comment gets 100 likes we will do it or you could give us your top 10 canadians in the draft right i like that strategy as well so yeah honestly no in all seriousness if you're listening from canada watch of canada we absolutely love you shout out where you're from. Put on for the city. Put on for the country. So yeah, Theo. I got him at six. I'm not going to lie. I had him lower before the combine. I had him like.

That's okay. I had him like tight in eight, tight in nine. And it was because I watched him. I saw the potential. You know, there are a couple of vertical routes and I have this in the scouting report. It's like, hey, if you want to tell this guy to either sit on the line of scrimmage or play in the slot and just run a seam route,

boom, go straight forward, try to moss the smaller DB that's going to be on you who's got no prayer to get up to where the ball is, where your arms can get up to. Fine, that's fine. I did think the blocking was getting a little bit better i didn't think that it was as dominant as it could have been with a player of his size and unfortunately when i watched the route tree he is so slow to turn that the route tree is so

limited because even though he has greater size than these guys they will always be able to be in his hip because he does not separate nearly well enough. His separation percentile, where was it? Against single coverage, it was 68th percentile, which isn't the worst. Which isn't the worst. I thought it would be worse, actually. But I just, I don't know. I think Theo Johnson is good, but I don't know how much more you're actually going to get from him than what we're seeing right now. And I think there's a lot of people who like Theo Johnson a lot thinking that he is going to be much more than he is right now.

Has it gotten there? I'm not privy to it. Are people now because of this combine? I think there's some people who have Theo Johnson in his top five tight ends and their top five tight ends. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean like you got them five, but I think, look,

let's all right. We'll just say the names. So you have Brock Bowers and you have Jatavian Sanders at the top. I think you're onto something. I think that's all folks. Appreciate you listening to the show. You can move on to the top 10 Canadian prospects. Coming up next on the show.

It's just a silhouette with a question mark, but the Canadian flag behind it. I mean, I'd click. I'm curious. See, you'd click. All right. Maybe we got to do it. Maybe we got to do it. So a lot of people are asking the question, who's tight end three then? I think it's pretty consensus at this point that Sanders and Bowers are going to be tight end one and two. Who's tight end three?

And I think a lot of people are going to, because of what we talked about earlier, there's this lack of certainty in this group to where do you just take a chance on Theo Johnson? And I get it, but I'm just not as bullish on watching him, especially even this past season, and thinking we're definitely getting more out of this guy. I kind of think he's more of a what you see is what you get, which is fine. Again, not trying to discount it too much because he's really great size, obviously a good athlete, somebody who if you play in a vertical offense, you're running a lot of

9-8-9s, you're running a lot of stuff up the middle of the seam. This guy's for you. Draft him in the mid-rounds. That's fine. But the people who are like, yeah, third round pick, easy top 75 pick kind of a thing,'m like i'm just not there this goes back to last year where i i cannot understand luke musgrave being a of the 42nd overall pick in the draft you this is the same exact you were lower on musgrave too right yes very low i mean i do need to pull up my... Where is it? Because, Theo, what is the difference? I mean... I think Musgrave's a more fluid athlete. That's fair, but...

For sure. I mean, Theo was significantly more productive in college. I had Musgrave as the 80th overall player in last year's draft. Where did I have Musgrave? Let's see. These guys are so big and gifted and athletic and so rare that the NFL will take them in the top 100. I had him,

I had him, uh, 65 third round. I mean, he went 42nd overall. Yeah. Either way. I think Theo Johnson's going in the top 75 picks,

which is once again, this is a little rich for us. I mean, it was a little rich, but yeah, interesting. Definitely an interesting player because of the athleticism is so unique. You want to jump into the top five?

I already started. So you, you go with your number five. My number five is Ben Sinatra from Kansas state. Okay. He's number four for me. So this is very easy all right i think that we're good so i think we're going to be pretty similar

except for we're going to have a different tight end three yeah yeah i'm we're gonna have very there's a there's a there's a guy that you are much lower on than i am but i think when we have the conversation we will both glowingly of this. I think I know where we're going. So we're playing like a game for the listeners right now. We really are. It's a riddle. It's an absolute riddle. Yes.

So not man. Another summer scouting legend. That's true. Yeah. He had himself a pretty good combine from what I remember. Let me pull it up for sure. Yeah. I mean,

smaller in terms of height. He's a shade under 6'4". And short arms, 32 and 3 eighths, 23rd percentile. Very explosive athlete. Very explosive athlete. Oh, the three cone drill. I mean, the three cone was bananas. 96th percentile, 6'8", 2.

40 inch vert, 97th percentile. See, give me this dude over Theo Johnson. that's why we both have him right here good ranking trev and connor that's why we have him right here good job so not gonna fall victim to and we aren't doing this but he's gonna fall victim to being labeled as the next sam laporta that's what's gonna happen to someone Sam. Oh, no. After he tested like this, how he's built, how he plays, how he was used, all over the place. Oh, no. Sam Laporta is his, wait, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. He's his number eight closest comparison on Mondraftable.com.

There you go. Now, Dallas Clark is six, by the way. If he's the king of no gloves no gloves wait TJ Hawkins is one which is interesting I mean it's just athletic test I feel like Hawkinson looks so much bigger but he's not Hawkinson is six foot four and three fourths 251 pounds Ben Sinat was 6'3 and 7'8, 250 pounds. Crazy. I mean, with Sinat, insanely productive. He, this year at 48, catches for 669 yards and six touchdowns. They play him everywhere.

I mean, here's his snap counts from 2021 to 2023. Yeah, let's hear it. 214 in the backfield.23 in line 338 in the slot 33 out wide they're just like once again how iowa use the port like you're playing everywhere because we're going to find creative ways to get you the ball and have you block on the move yep so i i do want to hear your thoughts on him but um there's a if he's even a poor man supporter like that's a very effective player and i i do see that with him yeah so i i like ben's not a good amount um i really do i think he is that swiss army knife kind of jack of all trades type of a player um to give people a reminder of

a little bit of background that we've got here on him, he was a zero-star recruit. So he had to work his ass off to get to where he is at Kansas State. Heck of an athletic background and heck of an athletic family, okay? Played both tight end and defensive end in high school. His mother was a four-sport athlete. His sister played volleyball and soccer. Ben himself played six sports growing up. He played hockey. He played football. He played played six sports growing up. He played hockey.

He played football. He played baseball. He ran track. He played golf. He played tennis. Dude was all over it. The man had an athletic childhood if I've ever seen one. And it's just that versatile athleticism, natural athleticism is is so obvious in how he

plays the game you mentioned all the different places that he lines up um it's all right there and so many great pff numbers as well he had over the last two years this is a two-year sample size the yards per route run which kind of shows like how much you're emphasized in in the passing game 1.07 it was 76th percentile averaged up the target for a tight end over 10 yards that's 70th percentile the yards after catch per reception almost six which is 59th percentile positively graded run blocking plays despite being 250 pounds 13.4 that's 88th percentile folks. He's all over the field.

That's what you want. You can use them so many different places. So some of the negatives that I have on him, you can get a little overpowered somewhat easily by these bigger defensive ends played a lot in line, but you're not necessarily going to want him to play in line by himself at the next level. It's not going to be something where it's like, Oh,

this is a next, like an extra offensive lineman on the field. You're going to use this guy much more as a move tight end. Somebody who's much more of a receiver. He can certainly get by playing on the line of scrimmage, but if he's playing on the line of scrimmage, you better have him combo blocking with whatever tackle he's lined up next to. Good call.

You can't sit here and say, all right we're gonna shift protection one way ben you one-on-one block cam jordan over here it's like that's that's not gonna work out well for him and so that's the kind of stuff that you're not going to be able to do that's where you're a little bit limited but the overall thoughts on him this is again my bottom line for him so not as a true jack of all trades tight end who could line up in the backfield on the line of scrimmage or at receiver his game lacks lacks a true trump card, but he's the type of football player that every team is going to want in their tight end room for as much as he could do with so many different versatile roles. So this is again, I think that he's a good natural athlete. The strength portions

of his game, a little bit smaller of a player, a little bit shorter of arms. That's really the only thing that's glaring to me the rest of it i just think he's a he's just such a smooth good productive football player so that's why i gotta be my top five yeah i think we saw him exactly the same probably an underappreciated player in this draft at this point yes i agree so you had you had him at five five five who do you have a four stover i have stover a four i have st? I have Stover a four. I have Stover a three. So I guess we'll have the Stover conversation. Yes.

That's why I was like, we're going to have the next guys that we talk about are going to be the same until the player that you had in your six through 10 that we did not talk about that I purposely waited to talk about. That's fun. Until this point.

So you go ahead. Tell me about Cabe Stover. You really liked him over summer. He's a good football player, man. He is a good football player. You were all over this point. So you go ahead. Tell me about Caves over. You really liked him over summer and he's a good football player. He's a good football player. You were all over this one. Stover is one of the most high floor players at his position in this draft. I agree. I agree. You know what you're getting with Cade Stover. This is somebody that's caught 10 touchdowns over the last two years, five and five. He had a career high 576 receiving yards

this year, big catch radius, tons of experience run blocking. He gets off the line of scrimmage with physicality, and that's just his brand of football. Everything is physical, physical, physical, which is not surprising from a guy that's a converted linebacker, like legitimately played linebacker at Ohio State. He carries over the linebacker mentality at the tight end position. When he catch, when he gets the ball thrown to him, he's looking to run through everybody. Um, you know, not a lot of opportunities there, but definitely can run through tacklers. He's just Trevor. He's just a guy that's going to have to win with craft and kind of being a pinball rather than an athlete. He's not going to run away from a lot of people,

you know, with them, without the ball, he's got average speed, which is fine at his size. He's about six, four to 47. So he's see the difference with him is he's at that size.

So much more physical than the McLaughlin. So not like he gets in guys' pads and looks to crush them and does not, like plays with zero fear. I mean, just zero fear. Does not give a shit that, hey, I play with every superstar wide receiver in the world. The ball's not coming my way for the next three quarters.

The mentality is exactly the same for the next 30 snaps. Yep. And that is a DNA that carries over to the NFL time and time again. So Stover for me was a comfort selection as my third tight end because I think he's going to be in the NFL for eight years. I really do. Comfort for him is chicken pot pie because it's just comfort, dude. Just comfort.

Just comfort. Like a home-cooked meal. You know what you're getting? High floor, enjoyable every Just comfort. Just comfort. Like a home-cooked meal. You know where you're getting? High floor. Enjoyable every time. Chicken pot pie. No, I really like Stover. Obviously, like you said, going back to summer scouting,

I was pretty high on him. Felt like, did I have him tight end three, I think, going into the season? I thought so. Yeah, I think. Fowers, Sanders, and him, which is my exact tight end rankings at the end of the season. All right, so good to know you're plagiarizing.

I finally caught up. I finally caught up to you while I am playing checkers. You have been playing chess. So which is funny because we both had like we both had Trey Benson's RB one going into the season and then you stuck with it. And then I did. I've been really stubborn this year. Do you know I have the same quarterback running back wide receiver,

tight end. I defensive lineman. Like I have a lot of the same. And safety, I think all still. Yeah. Cause you had Nubin. You were,

you were Nubin over kitchens and I like kitchens over Nubin. And you, you were very, very stubborn. I'm going to tell Cade that you don't like him anymore because he takes these things very personal as we saw the combine we've already talked about this on the show blocking we've already okay all right just i i didn't want to like reference it and then not talk about it never already talked me you and kate stover against the watt family in a three-on-three hardcore text and i said i get derrick you guys get jj and tj

you know what it's fine you know what i believe in kate enough again i think that's fine so people that might not know about kate stover's background because we talked about it um over summer scouting but for those of you who are new listening to the podcast watching the podcast kate stover who's a tight end for Ohio State, four-star linebacker recruit when he came to Ohio State. He was this kind of like linebacker, tight end, hybrid type of a player. He was named Ohio's Mr. Football and the Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year his senior season when he was in high school.

He committed to play for Ohio State over teams like Michigan, Oklahoma, Penn State, Texas, some pretty good schools right there. Stover initially was recruited to play for Ohio State over teams like Michigan, Oklahoma, Penn State, Texas. Some pretty good schools right there. Stover initially was recruited to play linebacker at OSU, but moved to defensive end before the start of his freshman season. So he's going the wrong way. He didn't switch the opposite side of the ball yet. He's going the wrong way. They moved from linebacker to defensive end.

Played four games there before redshirting that first season. Then he moved to tight end during spring practice in 2020, returned back to linebacker during the season when it actually started. Then he was moved back to tight end again for his redshirt junior season. However, he did play linebacker in one game, the 2022 Rose Bowl game, because there was a shortage of players at the position. That's the kind of football dude we're talking about, all right? He's got experience at linebacker, tight end, the defensive line football dude we're talking about. All right. He's got experience linebacker, tight end, the defensive line. He gets it, man. He wants to be physical. He loves

to play this game because it's a physical game. And I think you see that in his tape. I think the athleticism you mentioned, it's never going to blow anybody away. Honestly, if I had some weaknesses in his game, I've got two bullet points. Really? The route tree is pretty diverse from him, but separation via lateral movements won't be a big strength of his when he gets to the NFL level. And he's just not going to win with top speed. The rest of it is there. High blocking IQ, really good nuance with his route running. He can hand fight. He's got good tempo to speed up, speed down. He's got good head and shoulder fakes. The first step is adequate to get up the field. Nice balance through contact. He's a well-built athlete that carries his weight really well and that leads to some nice balance got good combo blocks when he's blocking with the offensive lineman as well

the hands are super strong for him it's just he is he's chicken pot pie he's so reliable you know what you're getting it's that home-cooked meal that's what i like the most about kate's gravy and biscuits something man whatever is out there for you fried chicken like whatever is out there for you your comfort food that's your comp for kate stover in my opinion so we're gonna get to my tight end three who is a little bit lower for connor but we'll have that conversation here i think it'll be a good conversation but before we get to get got a shout out our friends uh over at fabric by gerber life if you guys before we get to get, got to shout out our friends over at Fabric by Gerber Life. If you guys got a family out there, you got to give them term life insurance policies. Okay. It is one of the smartest financial decisions you guys can make this time of year. It is perfect

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using promo code 30MDS. All right, who do you think it is? Who do you think it is? Who do you think it is? Okay. Wow, you're really pressing me on this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's Eric Hall. It is indeed Eric Hall.

Yeah, I knew. You goddamn right it's Eric Hall, baby. I saw the new bullshit, yeah. It's absolutely Eric Hall, baby. Yes. Where did you have him? I had him at tight end seven. Seven, right? Seven. right okay that's what i thought you had him at very talented human being so eric back-to-back season-ending injuries look that's why i thought

that we were going to probably have a similar conversation of how we saw the football player right i'm just not necessarily taking the injuries into account. If anybody out there is, I get it. I understand. Okay. This is somebody who four-star tight end prospect, played four years at Michigan before transferring over to Iowa for the 2023 season. He had a back injury that he suffered in 2022, which forced him to miss most of the season with Michigan,

his last season with michigan yeah three games and then he kind of like had a cryptic tweet afterwards or maybe it was like an interview no i think it was a tweet where he was basically like you kind of learn who's there for you and who isn't i don't want to botch it but it was kind of like essentially like all right maybe michigan wasn't giving me the best advice or maybe it sounded like he was insinuating that somebody in the michigan program or somebody while he was in michigan it wasn't exactly who they thought they were and maybe that went into his total decision to transfer maybe it was something that happened with his injury that

maybe he didn't get good advice for but whatever the reason he leaves michigan he had surgery right yeah no i had back surgery yeah the biosiospine Institute in Florida specializes in minimally invasive spine surgery. Yeah. Yeah. So not great for playing football. However, got cleared, played for Iowa, was playing really damn well. He was. And then he tears his ACL.

So you've got a back injury you've got an ACL injury and you can say to yourself all right I don't love the injuries sure neither do I but it's not like he tore his ACL and then he tore his knee again and it's like something that I've really got to worry about these are kind of two very separate injuries if you ask me and if he had the back surgery and it was successful and he got back on the field at Iowa and he was looking really good then I think I'm going to kind of say all right he should be good to go so now it's more of a you rehab from the knee the ACL is all right I think we got a really dang good football player here all right he is what do you show up at six four and three eight two fifty two two, okay? Here are my strengths and weaknesses for Eric Hall.

Now, this is mostly the Iowa tape, although I did watch a game of the Michigan tape as well. A willing blocker with a good understanding of leverage and angles to wall off blockers without holding them. So I think that this is a true player who can actually be a good, reliable in-line tight end. Conscious hand usage and placement for not only initiating blocks, but also holding

onto them. Functional movement skills for both blocking and receiving. Nice change of direction ability to flip the hips for a bigger receiver. He's got high separation scores. Connor, get this. 2023, small sample size. I get it. I know I've preached on this show. Bigger sample sizes matter. We don't have that. All right, get over it. The separation versus single coverage, 81.3%, which is 98th percentile for the tight end position, baby. This dude knows how to create a throwing window with athletic ability and also with nuance. He gets it. Weaknesses for him. Routes can look a little slow at times, but that doesn't stem from a lack of explosiveness. It's just kind of a little inconsistent at times for him.

Could use a bit more of a nastiness in the blocking game on a consistent basis. He's shown it. I've seen it in his tape. I know it's there. I just want to see it more from him on a more consistent basis. And then, of course, the limited game action over the last two years due to injury, I think, is a weakness. But, Connor, I think this is a really talented football player, man.

When I watched Eric Hall in the couple of games that I watched for him at Iowa, I said to myself, this is my favorite non-Jutavian Sanders Brock Bowers tied into this class. And if he is fully healthy, I'll take this dude as a difference maker at the NFL level. I don't think you're wrong at all i really don't this is someone that and i don't really even care that much about the acl honestly because everybody comes back from an acl these days you just hope that the back slash spine

surgery there's a lack of clarity there right is that a place that specializes with the spine? Isn't a long-term issue? I mean, because the flashes of Eric Hall, he is very twitchy for his size. And that is something that just doesn't exist with players like this. My exact write-up on him was, All's movement skills, flashes of receiving ability, and blocking on the move show the ideal skill set

of an NFL tight end too. Digging deeper, his prospect profile comes with significant injury risk and a history of drops. All his 2022 season ended after a handful of games due to a back injury that required surgery. He found instant success when he transferred to Iowa for his final season, but that was cut short due to a torn ACL. Beyond the health is health history, his short area quickness and change of direction is routes make him an intriguing player to roster as his blocking will continue to develop the only, uh, you know, I don't want to say

necessarily negative, but I think he's had, I need to pull this up. I have written this out. I'm pretty sure he's dropped four passes in three of his seasons. It's like, he just like he has odd drops at odd times so he had four drops on 34 targets this year and he had eight drops on 75 targets back-to-back years at michigan so like that's just part of it like he's just going to drop layups at a pretty decent rate not like an alarming rate where he's four drops in the limited game action that he has is obviously not ideal he basically drops four passes out of every 35 ish targets not like yeah just targets which is what you have to deal with which is not good it's not good but this guy needs to trespass on colorado he needs to be the incredible hulk style with the wife he needs to find a wife a jugs machine and a fence to jump over he does yes and eric all

will turn into my tight end three like you there you go that's all we're that's all we're missing definitely an interesting player i thought one thing too we didn't talk about he is very angry after the catch which i loved and that's the thing man i've watched him be nasty like i've watched him have that chip on his shoulder there are times when he blocks a dude into oblivion and i'm like oh yeah that's doing his shoulder. There are times when he blocks a dude into oblivion and I'm like, Oh yeah, that's doing sick. And there are other times where he'll make contact and it's just not that

same fire. You play with that fire, Eric all man, you're going to be good in this league. So yeah, that's all. That's I mean, I like him a lot.

I really do. All right. So you want to talk about the two at the top? Let's do it. Jatavian Sanders from Texas is the first guy that we're going to talk about here. His combine was not as good as I thought it was going to be. It was disappointing. There's no way around it.

Yeah, but it's like it wasn't that bad still. No, not bad, just disappointing. His 40-yard dash was 4. 469 which is 70th percentile the 10 yard split was 159 which is 81st percentile the 20 yard shuttle 432 63rd percentile so it's like these are good but i i i thought they'd be way better like i thought they'd be way better. Like I thought they'd be way better because I see that on his tape, which matters more. But what'd you think about Sanders? So Sanders is obviously a pretty gifted pass catcher.

I mean, he uses his size and his actual on-field speed to make tough plays in the middle of the field. And I think what he knows how to do so well, that's a little more advanced for his age and as a prospect is he knows how to shield these defenders while going up for the ball it's not like a ball and he just sticks his hands out he understands body positioning how to use the frame he doesn't really get thrown around on contact he still stays in position for the ball i know the 40 time was just a slightly bit above average but I think the straight line speed on tape is very good uh he's been really productive

I mean 54 catches for over 600 yards and five touchdowns in 2022 and then he followed that up and didn't disappoint this year with 45 catches but 682 yards and two touchdowns in an offense that you're sharing targets with Xavier Worthy. You're sharing targets with Adonai Mitchell. You're sharing targets with Jordan Whittington. Jonathan Brooks was in that backfield for a while. Honestly, I didn't think Quinn yours was great this year.

So no. And the biggest improvement Sanders didn't drop a pass this year. He dropped for the year before he didn't drop a pass this year so no and the biggest improvement sanders didn't drop a pass this year he dropped four the year before he didn't drop a pass this year his hands were insanely reliable he's not a great blocker i think there's times where i see him pancake undersized defenders in the box and i'm like oh like it's you have the mentality right right? But it's just not. You're not having him sit in line and be able to really pass, protect or drive guys off the ball. I think when they kind of scheme him up and let him catch and run like he looks like a guy you want to design getting the ball to. I don't think he was. I don't think he was great after the catch, though.

Trevor, what did you think about that? Like, I didn't think he was like some of catch, though, Trevor. What did you think about that? I didn't think he was... Some of these other guys were more creative, in my opinion. So he had an average of 6.4 yards after the catch. It was his 74th percentile for tight ends. It's a good number. Right, it's a good number. I have him graded decently well.

Yeah, I have him graded decently well yards after the catch stuff but maybe not as creative like catch and get up the field though with my yes i would eat it's it's not you know i'm jumping over someone i'm stiff arming someone i'm yeah someone yeah he didn't turn into a true playmaker i mean so this is somebody who was former five-star tight end he played wide receiver he played also defensive end in high school he actually even played a little bit of defensive end when he got to texas as well so he was like okay we don't we still aren't sure which one you would be better at tight end or defensive end it was like the uh the nick harbour thing for south carolina the former the guy who was the number one overall

recruit this past year who they're like i mean you could be a defensive end you could be a wide receiver he's now wide receiver so that kind of answered that question at Sanders, obviously focused on his, his talents at tight end. So for his weaknesses, I have, I wish he approached blocking with more violence. Although I did see that improve from 2022 to 2023. And I felt like he was still a bit clunky with the nuances of the position, footwork as a split zone blocker lining guys up in space things like that i believe that he is still learning as well but you know what impressed me the most about jatavian sanders is he he his tape is just like he's a giant wide receiver and i just took his

mock draftable numbers and i compared them to tight ends his weight at 245 would obviously be 99th percentile for any wide receiver. And then his height would be 88th percentile. And I remember just turning on Sanders tape initially, and I'm like half a game in and he's cutting on a dime for comeback routes. And I'm like, whoa, what? Like tight end should not be able to do this. The most impressive part of Sanders film to me is the change of direction ability. I mean, this dude can start and stop extremely well. His routes are his, well, not always, but they can be very sudden. Like, you know how you watch some wide receivers that whether it's a post route or just some sort of in breaker, maybe it's a slant, whatever, they can set you up a little bit

and then boom, they put that foot in the ground and they go the other direction or they really break on that route. Sanders does that at 245, which is extremely impressive. So even if you said, all right, not the best blocker, probably not going to have him in line a ton, good usable football player, no question about it. I think the route tree for what he has flexibility wise, agility wise, he is somebody who can run the whole route tree in my opinion,

which is extremely impressive for a tight end. He's got much better, I think, long speed than his 40 suggests. I think he's a better athlete than what we saw at the combine. That's why it was disappointing. And there's just not many tight ends whether they're sub 250 or not that can run routes the way that jatavian sanders runs them especially in this class sure right and i think i i think sanders just isn't talked about enough as a top 50 type of player and yeah if somebody drafted sanders in the 40s of this draft i'd be like all right yeah great great pick i'm 49th and i just i don't think he just i just don't think

he gets talked about enough in that area i can't remember if i have him just outside of my top 50 or not but he's been in my top 50 throughout the draft season and i i think he's a really good football player i'm with you all the way. So number one. Yeah. I mean, you want to talk about really good football player. I'll let you kick this one off since you toss Sanders to me. Number one,

obviously for both of us is Brock Bowers. One of the best tight end prospects we've ever seen. Brock Bowers. Brock Bowers is sick. He's awesome. Now, the concerns that i will say i brought up to these good people listening to this podcast and summer scouting are real he is a 23rd percentile tight end in height

and he is a 12th percentile tight end in weight He is just straight up small for the tight end position. But basically everything that he did when he was actually on the football field did not matter. If you're sitting here like, oh, I'm not going to draft the guy because of the measurables. That's fine. Just watch him play football. He overcomes a lot of those measurables so much, including the 12th percentile weight, because pound for pound, I think Brock Bauer is a pretty dang strong blocker. Again, are you going to want him at 243 one-on-one with defensive ends at the next level? No, you're probably not going to want to do that very often. But he's somebody who is an effective combo blocker. And I rewatched some of his film recently, knowing that we were

going to have this episode. And I purposely looked at a lot of the blocking stuff. This dude climbs to the second level and handles linebackers. Just completely walls these guys off. So can he handle a 265-pound, 275-pound defensive end? It's going to be a little bit of a struggle for him. He's given up 30 pounds of strength against these NFL guys. But I also watched the Georgia tape when they went up against Ohio State and he's going up against Jack Sawyer, who's listed at 265 and he's handling

Jack Sawyer pretty well. So I can even see some times when maybe you might be able to get away with it after the catch. He's a monster, man. When it comes to that power slot role that you brought up, that term that you brought up, I think that this is perfect for him. You're going to use him a lot as a slot receiver. You're going to use him as a move tight end off the line of scrimmage. You're going to put him in after the catch situations, wheel routes out of the backfield if he's off the line of scrimmage. You'll use him plenty over the middle, trying to find the soft spot in the zone.

You'll like to get him in motion for those quick dig routes or slants or things like that because the guy will bounce off of tackles. He's got great balance. He's got really nice speed for a tight end. There's so much to like about his all-around game. Now, I think the big question with Brock Bowers isn't, do you like him? I think everybody unanimously is going to have Brock Bowers as their tight end one in this class. The question is, how much do you like him? Where are you drafting him? Do you draft him in the top five? Do you draft him in the top 10? Do you draft him in the top 20? Where do you feel comfortable taking a player like this who's got really great tape, basically the most consistent elite grading that we may have had in pff certainly for any tight end but

maybe any offensive player over the last three years which includes his true freshman year and we've talked about this before on this show you get on the field and you're young at georgia you're a damn good football player and brock bowers is able to do that and sustain that for three years when he whenever he's been healthy the sustained greatness from him, it's so encouraging to the next level. But Connor, is there anything that I said or didn't say about Brock Bowers? And then what do you think about where he's going to land on your final big board and where you might take him in the draft? So I'll start there. I've missed the fifth overall player in the draft. He'll land somewhere between seven to four i mean he'll probably stay right there to be honest with you the only guys i have ahead of him are marvin harrison jr caleb williams joe

all and malik neighbors drake may is six that's the one that's a little fluid i just depending on the vibe of the day is drake may go to five just drake may stay at six in all seriousness with bowers which you covered really really well and a guy we have talked about a lot i mean my thing is treb for the nitpicking of well can he be on the line of scrimmage and block matt judon right why the fuck are you drafting brock bowers if that's what you want him to do i mean have you watched any of them for three years? And I'm not directing this, obviously, at you at all. I'm directing this at the narrative.

Go off, King. The narrative of just how, and you're 100% right. He is an absolute dog of a blocker when they just shoot him out of a cannon and say, get to the second level. Get on the move. I mean, he scraps, he fights fights he just turned 21 in december i think he's getting bigger i think this guy i think ultimately he will be 250 pounds at the

nfl level i don't know you don't okay if you told me if you told me he'd be 250 i think we're even having a different conversation i think he's gonna play it like. Okay. Yeah, he's 243 at the combine. He probably was playing at 235. Because he was 243 at the combine. He didn't run. Yeah. You know? That's true.

But he didn't really need to. I bet he played at 235 at Georgia. I think so too. So I think he's going to play as close to 240 as he can. Which, by the way, the most important thing you brought up, the pound-for-pound strength. He is running through everybody in the SEC. No, it's true. It's true.

For three years. 100%. What do you think the NFL... What, is Brock Bowers coming out of the FCS? And he's like, oh man, the NFL's big and scary. These guys tackle. He saw Kamari Lassiter in practice every day? Yeah.

Nolan Smith. I mean, like, what are we doing? Yeah. So he catches everything. He's got the best hands in the draft. Yeah. I mean, the best hands in the draft plays. How many drops did he have?

Did you look it up? The last time I had five drops on 153 targets. I wonder if that didn't factor in this year. I'm pretty deep in the... I'll pull this up right now. Obviously, the bloodlines. We've talked about, you know, mom, All-American softball player, Utah State.

Dad, two-time All-Big West center, Utah State. So Bowers, and I've watched these drops and they were they were not fully really like on him not to make excuses tough catches like borderline impossible catches he's dropped eight passes yeah across three years on 100 and 224 targets. Pretty good. I mean, and I'm telling you, when you watch him, you're like... He caught 13 of 17 contested catches in 2022. In traffic, he's a nightmare.

Yeah. The thing is, he is so good with him without the ball. He can climb the ladder and catch anything in traffic without the ball. When they throw him a screen everybody's like oh geez like this again really yards after catch perception by the way 94th percentile i believe every bit of it i would have taken the over if you said it at you know 90 easily it's this dude yeah um now and i get the the blowback of teams picking the top 10. I don't want to take... He's more than a tight end,

but I don't want to take the tight end in the top 10. I'm not saying you're wrong. You're an idiot. You can't do it. In this class with great wide receivers, great tackles, great quarterbacks, I get it. I totally get it.

But in a vacuum, Brock Bowers is an elite prospect. Let's pick a random football team. I don get it. But in a vacuum, Brock Bowers is an elite prospect. Let's just, you know, let's pick a random football team. I don't know, just coming to mind at the New York Jets, picking the number 10. I knew it was coming. I knew it was coming. Man, it's the classic, like, dessert before your vegetables. Oh, that's good.

Right? Like, they... Tyron Smith, and I love that they signed him morgan moses i love that they traded for him the guy plays through a torn peck and everything like the chance of those guys playing 17 games this year is almost non-existent low they still have to take a tackle i think but if you do if you go get your ice cream and skip your broccoli it's you know it's the sugar high is fun. That's what it's like. Yeah.

Yeah. Look, I think that Brock could still go anywhere from. I think I don't know if it starts to pick five. I really don't anymore. I think, you know, Harbaugh's though is going to be like, oh, I don't know. I don't know if he will. Yeah. No, I don't know. I don't know if he will. Yeah, no,

I don't think, I don't think he can, but I think there's part of him that, you know, ice cream before vegetables. Once again, who's Tennessee's tight end. Chig,

a conco. Okay. Cause does, is there a chance that like, does the range for Bowers actually start at seven? Cause if it doesn't start at seven, then I it probably starts at ten i think there's i wouldn't put a zero percent next to the giants oh really i wouldn't put a zero next to it i mean let's be realistic there was waller their pro waller might retire oh is he that close to retiring he's been talking

about it for months and has last i looked still hadn't given the team an official answer. Mm. Interesting. Okay, I think the pick points for Bowers are six for the Giants, seven for the Titans, ten for the Jets. Sure. Twelve for the Broncos. Fifteen for the Colts.

Is it true, Sicko? And I'll put this at like 1% because Cole commits there. But for the Bears to be like, yeah, our 11 personnel is Keenan Allen, DJ Moore, and Brock Bauer's in the slot. I mean, it'd be sick. But they also signed Gerald Everett, too. They did. Good call. They signed Gerald Everett, so that's not happening.

Right. Right. Right. Yeah. No, like I said, pretty much non-existent chance, but it's just kind of playing a little Madden franchise mode. I will say about Brock, when it comes to, I think he's a really good athlete. He's not even Sanders type of change of direction type of athlete. I think he's a little stiff to change direction,

but he's a really good linear athlete. He's a really good yards have to catch dude. He's somebody who you want him on mesh concepts. You want them on horizontal routes. You want them on vertical routes. You don't want him like, okay, I'm setting you up as a lion scrimmage, you know, like, oh, like I'm breaking one way now breaking the other, like just get the dude going. And I think he's going to create enough separation on his own in

that regard. So, right. I, I, I do think he is, he's a little bit stiff in his routes, but it's nothing where I'm, I'm really knocking him as a prospect because of it, because the production for what he does do as an athlete is so good. Like you mentioned, uh, there we go. Those are our top 10 tight ends. We is so good, like you mentioned. There we go. Those are our top 10 tight ends. We would love to hear from you guys. Let us know what you thought of our takes of this tight end class, as well as maybe some tight ends that we didn't mention,

that we could go through the comments as well and respond like we did for the last episode. Best way to do that is YouTube comment section, youtube.com backslash at NFL Stock Exchange. If you're listening on audio only, you can hit us up at TavaBetraynor j rogers on both x and instagram i think that's it connor you got anything else before we get out of here you want to shout out any other tight ends anything like that no i'm impressed we did an hour and 13 minutes on the tight end class i know that's pretty good stuff for considering what we were working with. That's pretty, that's, that's sicko stuff.

Like I dare, is there another channel that's doing this on the top 10 tight ends? Is there a, is there someone brave enough? Will anyone take the challenge? It's like a game of Thrones when, uh, Oberyn tells Tyrion,

I will be your champion. That's what I feel like right now. Us for the tight end group. I'm at my trial. Yeahrian i will be your champion that's what i feel like right now us for the tight end group my trial yes we will be your champion incredible hulkin hulker hulker the incredible you need to watch it and i gotta watch uh wiley and then who's the other one who's the other tanner mclaughlin tanner mclaughlin all right i'll watch those guys and obviously when we get to our you know final big boards we'll be able to shout out those dudes. And I'll tell you my thoughts on them. Plus I'll put them in the draft guide.

You just tweet at me with a trash can. The flaming trash can. It's just like some sort of meme. And it's like, I want my hour back that you robbed from me. You Venmo me. Yeah, it's a Venmo request. Your hourly rate this is for wasting my time this is what i cost for our okay this is actually a good bit we might need to do this like on

twitter like for it if one of us tells us to watch another prospect and the other person thinks his thinks it's cheeks just taking a screenshot of the venmo request of what the hourly rate oh it's good i'm gonna start this that's all right so well the bit was born it took us to the final seconds of the podcast but uh but the bit was born we love you guys thank you so much for watching and listening to the show i'm trevor sick of it that is connor rogers thank y'all so much for watching and listening to the nfl Exchange Podcast. We'll see you guys next week. Bye.