The projections of the tight end position have shifted as much as this offseason has gone on as any position on the Patriots’ roster. The offseason started with Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith on the roster. Then there were rumors Henry might get traded, but it was Smith who was actually dealt at the start of free agency. The team then added a very different kind of tight end when they signed Mike Gesicki.
So where does that leave the Patriots at the position heading into the draft? There are a couple of variables to keep in mind here.
Top of the class
SOUTH BEND, INDIANA – SEPTEMBER 10: Michael Mayer #87 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in action against the Marshall Thundering Herd during the second half at Notre Dame Stadium on September 10, 2022 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
The top of this tight ends class is really four players deep. But there are two that the Patriots would have to use the 14th pick on if they want to land them.
Michael Mayer from Notre Dame has been the consensus top tight end in this class for most of the pre-draft process, and going back to the fall. A three-year starter for the Fighting Irish, Mayer is a very well-rounded player at the position. Last year he caught 67 passes for 809 yards and nine touchdowns in 12 games, while grading out as PFF’s highest-graded run blocker among all Division-I tight ends.
In what is a down year for receivers in the draft, the Patriots could see Mayer as another way to add a premium pass catcher. In drafting him though, they’d have to square themselves with a few realities. First, they’re using a first-round pick on a player at a position where first-round talents will be available in later rounds.
The other issue is that Mayer spent 60 percent of the time lining up inline, and was rarely used out wide. For a team in the Patriots that has issues with teams stacking the box against them, Mayer doesn’t offer much in terms of stretching the field horizontally, and wouldn’t prevent defenses from loading up the middle of the field. The team could use him with Henry or Gesicki lining up in the slot, but that’s a lot of investment in heavy personnel in a speed-driven league.
If the Patriots want to use the 14th pick on a tight end despite the value later in the draft, Dalton Kincaid may make more sense. The 6-foot-4, 246-pound Utah product has more experience moving around the formation. He was Utah’s leading receiver last year with 70 catches for 890 yards and eight touchdowns in 12 games. However, he’s far from the blocker Mayer is, and that goes back to the redundancy with Henry and Gesicki.
Second round/trading up
STARKVILLE, MISSISSIPPI – NOVEMBER 12: Darnell Washington #0 of the Georgia Bulldogs runs with the ball as Decamerion Richardson #3 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs defends during the second half of the game at Davis Wade Stadium on November 12, 2022 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
Rounding out the top of the tight end class are Darnell Washington of Georgia, and Luke Musgrave of Oregon State. In terms of upside, both players are right around the level Mayer and Kincaid are at, but both of their evaluations do come with key questions.
Washington is one of the most unique prospects to come through the draft at the position in some time. Washington comes out of Georgia at 6-foot-7, 264 pounds, and was mainly used as a blocker during his three years with the Bulldogs. Given his size and experience, many experts tabbed him as a ‘de facto tackle’ when the pre-draft process began.
That narrative quickly went away though, after Washington tested incredibly well at the Combine. He ran a 4.64-second 40 and a tight-end best 4.08-second 20-yard shuttle, and showed soft hands during open field drills. In all, he showed his upside as a pass-catcher is much higher than the original consensus believed, and that his lack of involvement in the passing game may have been impacted more by Georgia’s depth at the position (their other tight end, Brock Bowers, is a projected top-10 pick next year) rather than his overall inability to do so.
That all being said, Washington is still raw as a receiver. In 2022 he caught 28 passes of 43 targets in 15 games, going for 454 yards and two touchdowns. All of those numbers were career highs. But if a team could find a way to use him as a blocker initially while letting him further develop as a pass-catcher – like the Patriots would be able to do – he could end up being a very rewarding pick.
Musgrave profiles somewhat similarly to Kincaid, as a receiving-first tight end at 6-foot-6, 252 pounds. However, his evaluation is mostly based on upside. In 2021, he seemed to be building towards something when he caught 22 passes for 304 yards and a touchdown in 10 games. He never hit that next level in the college ranks though, as his season ended after just two games last year due to an undisclosed knee injury. That injury was reportedly medically cleared at the Combine, but it is a factor teams will have to consider.
Rest of Day 2
Iowa tight end Sam LaPorta (84) runs after a catch as the Wildcats take on the Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022. (Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register/USA Today Network)
There are two other tight ends expected to go on Day 2. They’d likely be available around the Patriots’ third-round pick, 76th overall.
Sam LaPorta comes from an Iowa program that is a tight end factory. At 6-foot-3, 245 pounds, LaPorta plays more like a big slot receiver than a true tight end. He’s a great route runner for the position (especially at the top of the route) and excels after the catch. However, his blocking will need to improve at the next level.
The final projected top-100 tight end is Tucker Kraft from South Dakota State. A two-time FCS All-American, Kraft is a well-rounded tight end who is good at using his size (6-foot-5, 254) both as a pass-catcher and blocker. While his 40 time of 4.69 seconds trailed behind what is an impressive athletic class at the position, his 7.08-second 3-cone ranked third, and his 23 reps on the bench paced all tight ends. The Patriots have reportedly met with Kraft.
Early Day 3
Sep 10, 2022; Greenville, North Carolina, USA; Old Dominion Monarchs tight end Zack Kuntz (80) looks on against the East Carolina Pirates during the first half at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
Now we get to one of the most exciting players in this draft – Zack Kuntz from Old Dominion. Even by draft prospect standards, Kuntz is a relative unknown. He appeared in just three total games his first three seasons in college at Penn State, then transferred to Old Dominion in 2021. That fall he had a breakout performance, catching 73 passes for 692 yards and five touchdowns in 13 games. He was expected to grow his profile even more in 2022, but a dislocated kneecap (an injury from which he’s since been cleared) limited him to just five games.
Athletically, Kuntz is in rare company. He’s 6-foot-7, 255 pounds and ran a 4.55-second 40-yard dash at this year’s Combine. He also had the best 3-cone time (6.87 seconds) and second-best short shuttle time (4.12 seconds). He also led the ‘explosiveness’ drills with a 40-inch vertical and 10-foot-8 broad jump. He is the tallest player since at least 2003 (when the data began being tracked) to record a 40-plus-inch verticals.
How Kuntz’ size and athleticism will translate to the NFL game is the big question – one that is even harder to answer given the limited tape on him. The one other knock on him is his blocking ability. In fact, he’s been compared to Gesicki throughout the pre-draft process, as a big slot receiver rather than a tight end.
If a team is willing to be patient with Kuntz and put him in a position to succeed, his upside is tremendous. In that sense, he could be a great fit for the Patriots early on Day 3, to ‘redshirt’ behind Henry and Gesicki this year, then take the role over next year.
Two other early Day 3 tight ends project as much more traditional fits for the Patriots. Cameron Latu from Alabama is a converted defensive end who made the switch to the offensive side of the ball under Bill O’Brien in Tuscaloosa. At 6-foot-4, 242 pounds Latu is still developing as a route runner but is good at finding holes in the defense and creating easy throws for his quarterback. He’s also a capable blocker.
Luke Schoonmaker from Michigan also projects as a fit. He can make plays as a pass-catcher, mainly from in-line alignments, and was trusted with significant blocking responsibilities in Michigan’s run-heavy offense last year. The Patriots got to work with the 6-foot-5, 251 pound tight end in the meeting room at the Shrine Bowl, but he didn’t take part in any on-field activities as he was recovering from a shoulder injury suffered during the College Football Playoff.
Late Day 3 tight ends
Oct 8, 2022; College Park, Maryland, USA; Purdue Boilermakers tight end Payne Durham (87) runs after the catch during the first half against the Maryland Terrapins at SECU Stadium. Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
This is where the positions star to deviate, but we’ll stick with tight ends for now. We’ve got three more Patriots targets to round out this class.
The first is Payne Durham from Purdue. Durham projects primarily as a blocker right away at 6-foot-6, 253 pounds. Part of the reason he’s raw as a receiver is he didn’t start playing football until his senior year of high school, having previously played lacrosse. Still he worked his way onto the roster at Purdue and has made marked improvement every year. That suggests he may have more upside as a receiver than some other players expected to go in this range.
With his ability to win on 50-50 balls, Clemson’s Davis Allen is a true red zone threat at 6-foot-6, 245 pounds. He’ll need to either improve as a route-runner and expand his route tree or improve as a blocker to be able to fill more reps in between the 20s, but for a team that struggled in the red zone last year, Allen could be forth a flier to the Patriots late on Day 3.
Brayden Willis from Oklahoma begins the hybrid conversation. Officially listed as a tight end, Oklahoma used him almost evenly between the slot (318 snaps) and inline (314) positions, while also having him line up in the backfield over 100 times. He also was a big part of their kick coverage units. If the Patriots are looking for a true blocking tight end who can also fill multiple roles, Willis would be a fit. While he projects mainly as a blocker in the NFL he did show flashes of difference-making ability as a pass-catcher last year, recording 39 receptions for 503 yards and seven touchdowns in 13 games.
Day 3 fullbacks
TUCSON, ARIZONA – SEPTEMBER 17: Fullback Hunter Luepke #44 of the North Dakota State Bison scores a touchdown during the second half of the NCAA football game against the Arizona Wildcats at Arizona Stadium on September 17, 2022 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
Bill O’Brien’s offenses haven’t used a traditional fullback over his last few stops. While there have been players labeled as fullbacks on the roster, those players are probably better described as H-backs or move tight ends.
The good news there is the top ‘fullbacks’ in this class all fit that description. At the top of the class is Hunter Luepke from North Dakota State. A four-year starter for the Bison, Luekpe was mainly used as a lead blocker from an upback position, but also got involved more in the passing game as his career went on. Whether it’s attacking a defense as a route-runner or trying to open up a hole for a running back, he has a good understanding of what opposing defenses are trying to take away, and executes his assignments with an explosive step. He’s also played in all four phases of the kicking game.
Then there are the real hybrid players in this class – Jack Colletto from Oregon State and Derek Parish from Houston. Both are two-ways players, playing fullback on offense and in the front seven on defense in college.
Colletto the reigning winner of the Paul Hornung Award, which is given annually to the ‘most versatile’ player in college football. 2022 Patriots draft pick Marcus Jones won the award the year prior. In addition to his role as the team’s fullback, Colletto was a rotational pass-rusher for the Beavers last season.
At the Shrine Bowl, the Patriots got to work with Colletto directly. He spent most of the week on the offensive side of the ball. As a fullback he was used almost exclusively as a blocker, targeted just three times last season. Yet he said before the week his goal was to prove to teams he can contribute in the NFL as a pass catcher as well and he seemed to do just that, displaying solid route running ability and soft hands, especially for a player who wasn’t called on for either of those traits in college.
Parish played fullback his first few years at Houston in addition to his defensive responsibilities, but only lined up at defensive end last season. Still, he worked at fullback at the Shrine Bowl.
UDFAs
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – SEPTEMBER 18: Jahleel Billingsley #19 of the Alabama Crimson Tide scores a touchdown during the first quarter of a game against the Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on September 18, 2021 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
With it being such a deep tight end class, there will be players who don’t get drafted that will have a chance to make rosters as UDFAs. Even if they draft a tight end, look for the Patriots to be active in this market.
One interesting name to track will be Jahleel Billingsley. Billingsley was a four-star recruit coming out of high school, and in his sophomore year showed some serious flashes of ability at Alabama in a limited role. In 2021 under Bill O’Brien he once again impressed with his opportunities, with his size-speed combination leading to some first-round projections had he entered the draft. Instead, Billingsley transferred to Texas, and struggled. He failed to win the starting job in camp, and was suspended at one point during the season.
Billingsley was at his best when playing for O’Brien. Would the Patriots give him a UDFA contract to see if O’Brien can maximize his skillset once again? That could be a good low-risk, high-reward move. At the same time, would the unknown circumstances surrounding his transfer from Alabama be enough to have O’Brien tell the team to stay away?
If the Patriots want to look elsewhere, Blake Whiteheart from Wake Forest, Daniel Barker from Michigan State, and Mason Fairchild from Kansas should be among the top names available for traditional tight ends on the UDFA market. Whiteheart and Barker booth took part in the Shrine Bowl. If they’re looking for an outright blocker, Trent Thompson from UTEP was the fourth-rated run-blocking tight end in college football last year according to PFF, behind Mayer, Washington, and Willis.
Among move tight ends, Princeton Fant from Tennessee is a name to know. He was at the Shrine Bowl as well.
