This is really turning out to be a pretty nice field of tight ends.
And personally I wouldn't mind seeing us take 2 in this draft. I don't think we need to use a high pick on Eifert or Ertz. My favorite 4 tight ends available after the top 50 players are Gavin Escobar, Vance McDonald, Travis Kelce and Joe Fauria.

So we've all heard that Eifert and Ertz are going 1,2 so I won't say more about them.
Here are my top 7 tight ends after Ertz and Eifert along with some scout/personnel opinions.

3. Vance McDonald - Rice
NFL scouts tell the National Football Post's Russ Lande that they would be surprised
to see Rice TE Vance McDonald make it out of the second-round.
"Although he lacks top end speed, he displayed enough of everything
else to have scouts tell me that he reminds them of Rob Gronkowski," Lande says.
An obvious favorite of Senior Bowl executive director Phil Savage, McDonald was
impressive during the event's practices despite a handful of drops.

4. Travis Kelce - Cincinnati
CBS Sports' Dane Brugler considers Cincinnati's Travis Kelce to be the top
senior TE in the 2013 class.
Kelce is followed by Alabama's Michael Williams and San Jose State's Ryan Otten.
the Bearcat put on a great showing in the school's bowl game and has NFL pedigree.
"Kelce brings a lot to the table as both a blocker and receiver...tough, physical and reliable,
I wouldn't be shocked to see him go top-100," Brugler noted

5. Gavin Escobar - San Diego St.
San Diego State TE Gavin Escobar was listed as a top-10 underclassman
by ex-Chiefs GM Scott Pioli.
Escobar was apparently "hampered this season by a knee injury that he played through"
this season, and Pioli considers him more of a receiver than a blocker at this time.
I'm high on his ability to produce as an offensive tight end right now in the more
wide-open NFL offenses," Pioli wrote. "He's what we call an "F-type" tight end,
a receiver who can play off the line probably more productively than as a blocker right now."
He's a similar tight end to Jimmy Graham.

6. Jordan Reed - Florida
Florida junior TE Jordan Reed was benched during the Sugar Bowl for his "attitude."
According to beat writer Pat Dooley, "there were several upperclassmen who tanked it" against
Louisville. Reed declared for the NFL shortly there after, and although he never recorded over
90 receiving yards in a game, the junior could be the first "Joker" off the board. He is a natural
receiving tight end after playing at quarterback and running back

7. Joseph Fauria - UCLA
ESPN's Mel Kiper lists UCLA's Joseph Fauria as the top senior TE in his updated rankings.
According to Kiper, "Fauria presents a perpetual matchup problem" and "he makes his targets
count, particularly in the red zone." The senior is blessed with great length that Jim Mora and
the Bruins coaches are using effectively at the "Y" receiver spot. Fauria projects as a slot target
but will likely be limited to that role due to putrid blocking.

8. Jack Doyle - W. Kentucky
Awesome size. Pretty athletic for a big guy. Has very soft and reliable hands.
Able to make tough catches in traffic. Very good receiver; very impressive. I like his awareness;
knows the situations when he is a receiver and is aware of blitzes when blocking. Good football
I.Q. Has a terrific motor. Does a nice effort of getting to the 2nd level when blocking.
Shows good lower body strength when driving opponents; but he needs to do this more
consistently. I see a lot potential in him. - Clint Clearwater

9. Ryan Otten - San Jose St.
ESPN's Mel Kiper believes that San Jose State senior TE Ryan Otten could be a poor man's version
of Notre Dame TE Tyler Eifert. Kiper currently tags Otten with a mid-round grade and a possible
value in the fourth-round. The senior's "ability to separate in close quarters" is what stands out
to Kiper, specifically shedding nickel corners and safeties off the line.

McDonald, Escobar and Kelce are all worthy of our lower 2nd round pick or our first 3rd round selection.

I like Kelce, he really has the potential to play now. He can block, and catch passes. He is not slow either.

Comparing McDonald to Gronkowski is absolutely ridiculous.

It's a very, very weak TE class, IMO. I just don't see any above average pass catchers after Eifert and Ertz, and even those two are nothing special.

I like him alot too. He is rising up toward the top 60 picks.

Ireland seems to be pumping up Egnew........the following is a recent quote of his...........

“The last part of his (Egnew) season, he was moving around really good,” Ireland said of his third-round pick. I have a high regard for him. He’s going to have a good season this year, I feel real confident about it."

The question is does Ireland/Philbin/Sherman really believe this or is this just lip service. If they're counting on Egnew in 2013, don't expect a high draft pick for a tight-end.

No shot in hell that they're counting on Egnew to be anything next season.

Egnew won't stop them from investing highly in the TE position.

I agree, I don't think you put too much stock in Egnew......however, he is a physical freak..... 6' 5", 255 runs a 4.6 40. He came into the NFL not knowing how to block, the tightends at Missouri weren't asked to block. Also, his strength is an issue.

So we'll see what he does this offseason; hopefully, he's working hard with the Dolphins training staff.

That being said, I don't think the Dolphins are going to invest in a tight-end where blocking maybe an issue.

Ireland is known for it.. He had great things to say about Gibril Wilson as well, a week or so later he was released...



So he is not even lying, he feels Egnew is going to have a really good season this year.. He just never said it would be on our team.. LOL

I really like the top 6 tight ends. We absolutely need one.

The 1st mock draft I did, I had Gavin Escobar to Miami in the 5th round. The way Mayock is talking, he will not get past the 3rd round. Look forward to seeing him and McDonald at the combine.

By the way, that is pretty impressive to put up 225 lbs 31 times for McDonald. Nice size at 6'4, 262 lbs. Looking forward to seeing what he runs the 40 in.

It's a very, very weak TE class, IMO. I just don't see any above average pass catchers after Eifert and Ertz, and even those two are nothing special.

PR, I agree and this is exactly why Miami needs to go after the top tight end and not settle with another scrap pick at this position. Hopefully, Ireland makes that happen.

http://www.profootballweekly.com/2013/0 ... ter-health


McDonald ran pretty well today. 4.63 unofficially is a good time. His problem is drops....and he drops A LOT of passes.

Escobar ran a 4.8. Yikes. Slower than a few of the offensive lineman.

Reed looked good. 4.63 and 4.62. Aaron Hernandez ran a 4.64, although at 245 pounds vs 236 for Reed.

Ertz looked OK. Eifert looked GREAT. Much smoother and his times were both better. Eifert is taller and lankier, yet looks stronger on tape and looks smoother running today. I think he's pulling away from Ertz.

despte the time i still think Escobar's gonna have a nice career.

I personally believe that his height and wingspan are more important than his forty time. He's an obvious slow starter and as a former track star I can tell you sprints are all about the way you start. His starting form was terrible and it cost him.

So then if he can't get off the ball/accelerate, how is he going to get open in the NFL?

playing football and running track are completely different things.
Some nobody tight end from Maryland ran a really fast 40 time but he's nowhere near the player that Escobar is. Escobar can accelerate plenty. He's just not Deion Sanders out of a starting block.

Probably not going to be lining up in a sprinter stance in football.

i don't think it's a weak class at all. Quite the opposite. The NFL Network combine panel just agreed it's a loaded class in that late 1st round to 3rd round range.

it's extremely hard for tall guys to fit into starting blocks for sprints. I use to struggle getting out of them and Escobar is 2 inches taller than me.

San Diego State TE Gavin Escobar ran an official 4.84 forty along with a 1.66 10 yard split.
The time matches up with Escobar's playing style, since he doesn't win with outstanding athleticism but can beat defensive backs vertically if they expect an underneath pattern. Escobar's best attribute is consistency, specifically in terms of hands catching everything in his vicinity.

My preference would have been to address TE in free agency, but it looks like fewer options will be available.

Jared Cook will probably have the Franchise Tag put on him and Green Bay is now looking like they will keep JeMichael Finley. I don't know if Miami would have gone after him anyway, but he was an option.

Dustin Keller and Martellus Bennett are the top options and I like both those kids a good bit.

As swerve has said, folks think this TE class is pretty solid, and you have a group of 5-7 kids that can help teams early.

i'd rather have any of the top 5 tight ends in this class over Cook, Keller and Finley.
Lots of tall guys with great hands and can run their routes. We need that. Tanny needs that guy.

Don't know if I would go there swerve. but those kids look pretty good. Cook is a kid that has been under utilized by the Titans, but you don't teach his size and speed. He is superior to any of the kids coming out of college.

I just think Cook and Finley have always been more 'potential' than actual on-field results. It's getting old with the both of them. I'd rather have a 22 year old with 'promise' than a 4-year veteran with 'promise'

You can say that about Finley for sure, but what is Cook going to do if the team does not take advantage of what he has to offer?

We agree to disagree on this one. Plus, when Eifert went up against elite defenses and secondary personnel, FSU in the bowl game last year and Alabama this year, he got shut down.

Mayock was just saying that every defense concentrated all of their efforts to stop Eifert. That's a compliment to him. If defenses in the NFL tried so hard to take him away that would make the rest of our offense wide open. Stats are misleading. I just watched footage of him eating up the Stanford defense for big plays.

Eifert is a nice TE, a very good college TE.