TIGHT END RANKINGS 2023 NFL DRAFT
The 2022 NFL Draft was hardly a bountiful year for the tight end position, especially when compared to the 2021 class. 2023, fortunately, looks closer to 2021 thanks to Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer who looks at least in the 2022 pre-season, an almost slam dunk first-round prospect.
Mayer led the Irish in receptions the two previous years – a feat rarely achieved by a tight end. He’s got good speed – probably in the mid 4.6’s, has decent size at 6-4 250, very soft hands, and catches pretty much everything thrown his way. He doesn’t quite have the athletic ceiling of a Kyle Pitts which probably will limit his draft stock to the mid to late first round though.
After Mayer, there is a little drop off in quality although not athleticism. The five-star recruit Arik Gilbert is a supreme athlete with elite speed for a 250-pound player and probably possesses the greatest upside of any player in this tight end class.
Sam LaPorta from Iowa is currently our third-ranked prospect and he’s very much a traditional tight end with technique in spades but unexceptional overall athleticism.
The group is rounded out with a few players who probably will be picked somewhere in the third round in the form of Cameron Latu from Alabama, Georgia’s 'other tight end' Darnell Washington, and Jahleel Billingsley from Texas.
Mayer led the Irish in receptions the two previous years – a feat rarely achieved by a tight end. He’s got good speed – probably in the mid 4.6’s, has decent size at 6-4 250, very soft hands, and catches pretty much everything thrown his way. He doesn’t quite have the athletic ceiling of a Kyle Pitts which probably will limit his draft stock to the mid to late first round though.
After Mayer, there is a little drop off in quality although not athleticism. The five-star recruit Arik Gilbert is a supreme athlete with elite speed for a 250-pound player and probably possesses the greatest upside of any player in this tight end class.
Sam LaPorta from Iowa is currently our third-ranked prospect and he’s very much a traditional tight end with technique in spades but unexceptional overall athleticism.
The group is rounded out with a few players who probably will be picked somewhere in the third round in the form of Cameron Latu from Alabama, Georgia’s 'other tight end' Darnell Washington, and Jahleel Billingsley from Texas.
