Editor’s note: This is part four of Dane Brugler’s Summer Scouting series, which takes a position-by-position look at the top prospects for the 2023 NFL Draft. Previously: Part I (QBs), part II (RBs) and part III (WRs).
Last year was a down year for the tight end position in the early rounds of the NFL Draft, with just three prospects drafted in the top 100 picks and none in the top 50 — the first time the latter had happened since 1994. But with the immense potential of its draft-eligible underclassmen, the 2023 tight end class should be a better collection of talent, including several first-round possibilities.
(Note: An asterisk represents draft-eligible underclassmen. Listed heights and weights are what NFL teams have on file for each player and might differ from school rosters.)
1. *Michael Mayer, Notre Dame (6-foot-5, 251 pounds)
Best trait: Competitive, cunning pass catcher
Shortly after Mayer arrived in South Bend, it was clear that his pass-catching skills were on a different level. He offers the size to out-physical defenders mid-route, and although he might not be a top-tier athlete, Mayer has outstanding body control to efficiently transition his route cuts and adjust to throws. On 95 targets last season, he accounted for just three drops and made plenty of plays with a defender on his back. His toughness before and after the catch is exceptional.
I use the word “cunning” to describe Mayer’s receiving skills because he has a natural feel for leveraging defenders and creating passing windows instead of just relying on speed or strength. On this play against Oklahoma State in last season’s Fiesta Bowl, Mayer, who is lined up inline, uses subtle physicality to create separation from the safety, win the catch point and then dive forward for six points:
Must improve: Run blocking
There are zero questions about Mayer’s toughness and competitiveness as a blocker. Watch the Stanford or USC tapes from last season and you can see him finish defenders to the ground and help spring big runs. However, Mayer was inconsistent in this area on several other tapes (Toledo, Virginia, North Carolina) because, while he is eager to engage, he can better set himself up to sustain his target.
2022 season/2023 NFL Draft outlook
Even the best tight end prospects rarely lead their college team in receptions for multiple years. Travis Kelce never did it. Neither did Kyle Pitts. But Mayer led the Irish in catches during each of his first two seasons in South Bend, and he’ll likely make it three straight this season as a junior (with his third starting quarterback). Last season, he finished with 71 receptions for 840 yards and seven touchdowns.
Notre Dame has been a tight end factory with eight players drafted at the position since 2011, including five in the top 100 picks. Mayer is next in the pipeline and projects as a longtime NFL starter. Because he doesn’t have top-tier athleticism, Mayer isn’t a lock to go in the top half of Round 1. But he is an outstanding pass catcher and functional blocker, and his elite competitiveness will be an easy sell in draft rooms.
2. *Arik Gilbert, Georgia (6-5, 250)
Best trait: Special athleticism
Pitts is on a level by himself in terms of his athletic profile at tight end, but Gilbert is in the next tier of freaks at the position. In studying Gilbert’s 2020 film at LSU (before his transfer to Georgia), scouts will notice that his routes were raw and his blocking was a work in progress. But he also was an immediate-mismatch weapon as a pass catcher. Given the “Megatron” nickname by former LSU head coach Ed Orgeron, Gilbert has the speed and fluidity of a wide receiver and the size of a tight end. He is a three-level target with the ball skills to win downfield and the toughness to break tackles underneath.
Gilbert’s tape against Missouri from the 2020 season is a great showcase of his athletic traits. He posted a career-best six catches for 97 yards and this second-quarter touchdown:
Gilbert has exceptional get-off and stride speed for a 250-plus-pounder, but he also shows some savvy with a subtle out-and-up move to keep the inside passing lane open.
Must improve: Body of work
While Mayer can fall back on his intangibles and track record, Gilbert is more of an unknown at this point. He played in eight games as a true freshman at LSU and looked like a future star, but then the Georgia native transferred to Athens and missed the 2021 season for personal reasons. Gilbert’s academics were a “big hurdle,” according to head coach Kirby Smart, and his conditioning was also a focal point — he weighed 265-270 pounds this past spring.
By all accounts, Gilbert is on track to return to his freshman form in 2022, but NFL scouts will want to see it between the hedges this fall.
2022 season/2023 NFL Draft outlook
As much as I appreciate Mayer’s toughness and talent, Gilbert will be the clear-cut TE1 in next year’s draft class if he stays on the field and plays up to his potential. But that is a big “if” that might not come to fruition.
A former five-star recruit, Gilbert ranked as the No. 5 player in the country and the No. 1 recruit in the state of Georgia in the 2020 recruiting class, ahead of pass rusher Will Anderson. He signed with LSU out of high school and immediately showed off his freaky skills in Baton Rouge with 35 catches over eight games in 2020. But that stay was short-lived, as he subsequently entered the transfer portal and briefly committed to Florida before returning to his home state Bulldogs last summer. Georgia had a special 2021 season and won the national championship but did so without Gilbert in the lineup.
Now a redshirt sophomore, Gilbert had a strong spring and is expected to play a major role this fall. We have seen some impressive tight end depth charts in recent years, like the 2016 Iowa Hawkeyes with George Kittle, Noah Fant and T.J. Hockenson as teammates. But the 2022 Georgia tight ends room is capable of being remembered as one of the best collections of talent at the position in a long time (Brock Bowers, Georgia’s leading receiver last season, is not eligible for the draft until 2024).
And Gilbert is a key piece. He has the talent to be a top-10 draft pick and a dynamic NFL weapon.
3. *Tucker Kraft, South Dakota State (6-5, 255)
Best trait: Yards-after-catch skills
Only five Division-I (FBS and FCS) tight ends surpassed 400 yards after the catch last season, including well-known names like Bowers and Colorado State’s Trey McBride. A lesser-known tight end who also reached that mark: Kraft, a rising junior from the FCS level who had a breakout 2021 season.
Kraft plays with outstanding athleticism before and after the catch, and he has a feel for taking underneath throws and turning them into big gains. On this play against North Dakota, the South Dakota State offense executes the inside tunnel screen and Kraft does the rest, showing off his elusiveness, acceleration and finishing skills:
Must improve: Pass blocking
In South Dakota State’s run-heavy offense, Kraft split his snaps between the slot and inline and showed outstanding compete skills as a run blocker. However, the results were mixed when he stayed home to pass block. Kraft also needs to clean up the unnecessary penalties; he accounted for four false-start penalties on the five tapes I studied from last season.
2022 season/2023 NFL Draft outlook
Growing up in a small town in South Dakota, Kraft was an All-State running back in football and a forward in basketball, but he was hidden from FBS programs and accepted an offer to play for FCS-level South Dakota State. Kraft moved to tight end, redshirted in 2019 and missed part of the 2020 season because of injuries. He became a full-time starter as a sophomore and had his breakout season last year with 65 catches for 780 receiving yards and six touchdowns — enough to earn him All-America honors.
NFL teams watched plenty of South Dakota State’s offense last season to check out running back Pierre Strong and quarterback Chris Oladokun (both of whom were drafted this past April). But most evaluators came away convinced that the best prospect from that offense was Kraft. Numerous FBS programs must have thought the same because they tried to lure the tight end with lucrative NIL opportunities to play in a major conference.
Kraft, though, decided to stay with the Jackrabbits for his redshirt junior season in 2022, which might be his final one at the college level. Dallas Goedert has been a role model for him since high school, and Kraft is hoping to follow in the footsteps of the former South Dakota State tight end by being a top 50 draft pick.
4. *Darnell Washington, Georgia (6-7, 265)
Best trait: Natural length/power
As an oversized receiver in high school, Washington was a pass catcher but not a blocker when he arrived in Athens as a heralded recruit. He quickly changed that and evolved into one of the better blockers on the team, tapping into his raw strength and sharpening his skills by going up against defensive monsters like Travon Walker every day in practice.
With his frame and body type, Washington — who wears the No. 0 jersey — was blessed with natural power that he showcases as a receiver and blocker. Though still developing in areas as a run blocker (see the Michigan tape), Washington consistently wins with his ability to wall off run lanes or remove defenders from the play, like this rep against Arkansas:
Must improve: Sample size
Washington has played in 21 games in his two seasons with the Bulldogs, including 13 starts — numbers that look great on paper. But he has averaged just 1.3 targets per game and has surpassed 50 yards receiving in only one of those 21 contests. Between a loaded tight end depth chart at Georgia and his own nagging foot and ankle injuries, Washington has found it difficult to show off his impressive skill set thus far at the college level.
2022 season/2023 NFL Draft outlook
There were only three five-star tight ends in the 2020 recruiting class: Gilbert, Mayer and Washington. A high school receiver and defensive end from Las Vegas, Washington was considered a top-25 recruit nationally and committed to Georgia over Alabama, Miami and a few other programs. After posting seven catches as a true freshman, Washington finished the 2021 season with 10 catches — nine resulted in a first down; the other catch was a touchdown.
Washington joins Gilbert as the second Georgia tight end to make this list, and if Bowers (a true sophomore) were eligible, he would be competing for the top spot. The crowded depth chart helps explain Washington’s meager production, but his talent is tantalizing on the tape. He has a long-limbed NFL body, with power through his core and athletic potential ready to be developed. Washington might not match up with other tight ends on the stat sheet, but his traits are why NFL scouts believe he can land on Day 2 of the draft.
5. Sam LaPorta, Iowa (6-4, 250)
Best trait: Availability as a pass catcher
LaPorta doesn’t boast elite size or speed for the position, but he consistently makes himself available as a receiving target. He runs fluid, urgent routes to find holes in zone coverage or wriggle off the hook versus man. He works the middle of the field with toughness and has soft hands to finish grabs while his eyes and feet are already looking for extra yardage.
On this play against Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl, Iowa uses play action and LaPorta’s route running to win over the top versus man coverage. The tight end creates spacing versus the safety, then does an outstanding job tracking over his shoulder for the 35-yard gain.
Must improve: Sustain skills
LaPorta competes like a junkyard dog at the point of attack to execute edge blocks and backside cutoffs. But at 6-3 1/2 with just over 32-inch arms, LaPorta’s lack of length leaves him at a disadvantage versus defensive ends, and he will fall off blocks when he sacrifices his balance to compensate. As a lead blocker, he looks to slam into contact but must do a better job latching and controlling his target.
2022 season/2023 NFL Draft outlook
Iowa asks its tight ends to do a little bit of everything, which gives evaluators a chance to see LaPorta’s diverse and competitive skill set as a receiver and blocker. After seeing starts as a freshman and sophomore, LaPorta became the team’s top target last season as a junior, leading Iowa with 53 catches for 670 yards and three touchdowns. Although he hasn’t been much of a red-zone presence for the Hawkeyes (only three of his 53 catches last season came in the red zone), LaPorta has been a consistent chain mover — 71.7 percent of his receptions have resulted in a first down or touchdown.
The top-ranked senior tight end in my rankings, LaPorta doesn’t have the size or athletic profile that will land him in the first round. But he is a well-rounded, competitive player with the dependability to earn a spot in the top 100 picks and become a solid NFL starter. Like Notre Dame, Iowa has consistently developed NFL-worthy tight ends — LaPorta would be the 12th Hawkeyes tight end drafted in the Kirk Ferentz era.
Preseason top 20 senior tight ends
1. LaPorta
2. Erick All, Michigan (6-4, 251)
3. Cameron Latu, Alabama (6-4, 237)
4. Luke Schoonmaker, Michigan (6-5, 248)
5. Zack Kuntz, Old Dominion (6-8, 250)*
6. Dalton Kincaid, Utah (6-7, 241)
7. Luke Musgrave, Oregon State (6-6, 250)*
8. Josh Whyle, Cincinnati (6-7, 244)
9. Will Mallory, Miami (Fla.) (6-5, 248)
10. Jahleel Billingsley, Texas (6-4, 213)
11. McCallan Castles, UC-Davis (6-5, 245)*
12. Brant Kuithe, Utah (6-2, 220)
13. Noah Gindorff, North Dakota State (6-6, 266)
14. Ryan Miller, Furman (6-2, 209)
15. Daniel Barker, Michigan State (6-3, 251)
16. Austin Stogner, South Carolina (6-6, 251)
17. Brevyn Spann-Ford, Minnesota (6-7, 256)*
18. Davis Allen, Clemson (6-6, 251)
19. Leonard Taylor, Cincinnati (6-5, 250)
20. Brayden Willis, Oklahoma (6-3, 244)
(Note: An asterisk on this list denotes a player who is officially a junior via redshirt or the NCAA’s COVID-19-year exemption but will be scouted as a senior by the NFL.)
Preseason top 10 draft-eligible underclassman tight ends
1. Mayer
2. Gilbert
3. Kraft
4. Washington
5. Benjamin Yurosek, Stanford (6-5, 235)
6. Theo Johnson, Penn State (6-6, 260)
7. Jaheim Bell, South Carolina (6-3, 230)
8. Marshon Ford, Louisville (6-2, 240)
9. Isaac Rex, BYU (6-5, 246)
10. Rivaldo Fairweather, FIU (6-5, 245)
(Illustration: John Bradford / The Athletic; photos: Jeffrey Vest & Brandon Sloter / Icon Sportswire; G Fiume / Getty Images)
