2023 NFL Draft Takes: Top Five TEs

These short posts over the course of the week leading up to Thursday night will detail my personal opinions on how the NFL should approach this draft class. I'll try to give some hard-core analysis for some guys, but a lot of this is going to be gut-instinct, armchair-quarterback musings. All correct opinions come directly from me and me alone. All incorrect opinions may be roasted appropriately at a later date.

TE1: Dalton Kincaid, Utah

He's the best receiving TE in the class, and that's what the NFL values most in this day and age. Tremendous body control and plenty of upside to be achieved over time (he only started playing football in late high school). In a class full of solid tight ends, Kincaid has the most marketable skill. He's going to be a first-rounder.

TE2: Darnell Washington, Georgia

Some recent rumblings about some medical issues would give me pause here and prevented me from putting him at TE1. Aside from that, he's a monstrous 6'7", 250 pounds with plus-athleticism and a strong penchant for getting involved in the run game as a blocker. He's essentially a smaller offensive tackle that can make plenty of plays in the pass game. He will never have the fluidity as a receiver that Kincaid has, but his upside as an all-purpose TE makes him a player that some team is bound to fall in love with despite relatively meager stats in college. I promise you, his value is found in places that don't show up on the stat sheet, and he has the upside to expand that area of his game once he reaches the league. He can be a focal point of a run-heavy offense, which still has a real place in this league. Likely late Round 1 or Round 2 pick.

TE3: Sam Laporta, Iowa

I've heard/read from a few different sources that Sam Laporta is "every team's second-favorite tight end prospect in this draft", which seems a bit outlandish at first, but actually makes a lot of sense. His movement skills as a route-runner might be the best in the class, and even though he's relatively undersized, he can mix it up in the blocking game (he wouldn't play at Iowa if he couldn't). His athletic testing opened some eyes at the combine, and though I don't expect him to be drafted in the first round, I would not be surprised at all if Laporta ends up being the most successful player at the position to come out of this draft class. If he played in an offense not designed by a blind porcupine, he would have put up massive numbers. I also believe his after-the-catch ability is the best in the class as well. Iowa makes good tight ends, people. Don't overthink this one. In the right system, he's a potential 900-1,000 yard receiver as he kills teams again and again with slick underneath routes and YAC.

TE4: Michael Mayer, Notre Dame

He's the surest thing in the draft, and that's why I have him this far down the list. I'm sure he's going to be a middling tight end in the NFL. He was a great college tight end, and he's an extremely well-rounded player at the position, but Mayer represents a perfect example of the "jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none", which is great if you're searching for a solid player that can get on the field in an NFL game. If you're spending a first-round pick on a tight end (which is likely what Mayer will command), you need someone who is going to be elite at something. Mayer isn't, and that's why I have him below the others. However, I cannot see a way (aside from injury) that he is not in the NFL for 8+ seasons as a contributor.

TE5: Tucker Kraft, South Dakota State

I think of him as a comparable prospect to Mayer, just less-proven at the higher levels of college football. He's less adept as a blocker and has more upside as a receiver, but I think the end result of Mayer and Kraft's careers end up being practically identical barring one being placed in an incredible system for their skills and the other not experiencing that. Kraft has upside to potentially be a Top-10 TE (not necessarily a difficult group to sneak into at this point), but I think he ends up filling a Hayden Hurst/Dalton Schultz type role as his likely ceiling, where he flashes some nice skills, but ultimately is not a core piece of a team and floats around from team-to-team as a contributor, but not focal point.