New England Patriots

The Patriots need a tight end. Here are 10 possible fits in this year’s NFL Draft.

This year’s tight end class is not particularly talented, but has a few players with high potential.

Notre Dame's Cole Kmet (84) runs after catching a pass against Boston College. Joe Robbins/Getty Images

By Aidan Curran

7 minutes to read

COMMENTARY

After a 2019 season that saw the Patriots get poor production from the tight end position after they were unable to fill the void left by Rob Gronkowski’s retirement, the team has to address the position in a more concrete way than they did in 2019.

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Bill Belichick passed up the opportunity to draft a tight end in 2019. It would be surprising to see New England opt for the same strategy for the second year in a row, especially after seeing what happened. This year’s tight end class is not particularly talented, but has a few players with high potential that could turn into productive players.

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Here are some tight end options for the Patriots to choose from in this year’s NFL Draft.

Adam Trautman, Dayton

Height/weight:

6-feet-5-inches, 255 pounds

It’s between Trautman and Cole Kmet for the label as top tight end in this year’s draft. While Kmet has the better pedigree, having faced better competition at Notre Dame, Trautman has a rare blend of height, length, and athleticism that gives him the higher ceiling as a pro.

Trautman is an explosive athlete with speed and short-area quickness. Despite being inexperienced as a tight end — having come to Dayton as a quarterback — Trautman posted 101 catches for 1,520 yards and 23 touchdowns in just two seasons.

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The athletic tight end can line up all over the field, and his background as a basketball player allows him to use his large frame to box out smaller defenders.

Trautman has the tools to be able to block as an in-line tight end, but will face a steep learning curve in the NFL, as he is still fairly inexperienced in that area of his game. With his athleticism and frame though, Trautman projects to being a starting tight end with solid pass-catching ability. He can be a mismatch nightmare for opposing defenses.

Cole Kmet, Notre Dame

Height/weight:

6-feet-6-inches, 262 pounds

A two-sport athlete — having played baseball at Notre Dame, too — Kmet has a thicker frame than Trautman, but is a stiffer athlete overall, limiting his ability to make plays in the passing game.

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Kmet is more of an in-line tight end, but still has room for improvement with his blocking. Kmet certainly has the potential to become a better blocker in the NFL, but needs to hold up better against defensive lineman and bigger linebackers. His lack of balance as a blocker and his punch placement are both issues, and signs that he needs more time to learn the finer details of his position. He has the tools to project to be a capable blocker at the next level, but requires more seasoning first.

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In the passing game, Kmet has good hands and his releases off the line of scrimmage are smooth. He’s dropped just two of his 60 catchable targets over the past two seasons, showing that he has potential to be a reliable pass-catcher down the seam for his team. What limits his ceiling is his lack of shake in the open field, and he struggles to gain separation against more athletic defenders. But with big mitts for hands and his hulking frame, Kmet has solid potential to be a versatile tight end that helps in both the passing and running games.

Harrison Bryant, Florida Atlantic

Height/weight:

6-feet-5-inches, 242 pounds

Another athletic “move” tight end, Bryant won the John Mackey Award in 2019 as the nation’s top tight end. He led the position with 65 receptions for 1,004 yards in 2019, and also grabbed seven touchdown receptions in 12 starts.

To go along with his high levels of production at FAU, Bryant has great hands and can be a dynamic weapon in the passing game. Where he will need to improve is in his lower body, where he could stand to gain some more muscle in order to help his blocking, which is his biggest weakness, and limits his versatility in the NFL.

Hunter Bryant, Washington

Height/weight:

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6-feet-2-inches, 239 pounds

Bryant has the most developed route tree of any tight end in this class, and moves like a big wide receiver out on the field. With his speed, Bryant can be a mismatch in the NFL, but his lack of blocking ability limits his potential to be a true tight end in the league.

Bryant lacks power at the point of attack, and is very easily moved off his spot as a blocker against opposing players. He lacks bulk in his lower half, and this limits his ability to block the kind of player he would be expected to take on in the NFL. Bryant can carve out a nice role as a move tight end in the NFL with his explosive burst and speed, but his lack of blocking will limit the overall impact he could have if his game was more complete.

Colby Parkinson, Stanford

Height/weight:

6-feet-7-inches, 252 pounds

Parkinson was asked to line up all over the field at Stanford, and at his height and weight, has a physical profile that will be attractive to NFL talent evaluators.

Parkinson doesn’t have much experience as an in-line blocker, and will need to improve in that area overall in the NFL, but has good athleticism and nice straight-line speed up the field. He won’t be a tight end who can run around you with his lateral agility, and needs to get stronger, but he has a great catch radius, can dominate smaller defenders, and has the frame to turn into an acceptable blocker. There are tools there for him to develop into an NFL tight end.

Albert Okwuegbunam, Missouri

Height/weight:

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6-feet-5-inches, 258 pounds

Catching 23 touchdowns in three years, Okwuegbunam has the potential to be a red zone weapon with his solid ability on jump balls alone. Having run a 4.49 40-yard dash at the combine, the Missouri product has shown he has the athleticism to develop into a nice player in the NFL, but he has work to do to get there.

Okwuegbunam has the blocking ability to be an in-line tight end, and played both inside and out in the passing game. He has natural hands for the position, and his tracking ability on deep throws is advanced. For a New England offense that likes its tight ends to be a threat in the red zone, Okwuegbunam could immediately help in that area.

His lack of short area quickness, and issues with injuries in college make him a tough player to project. There are also questions about his maturity and makeup that are cause for concern as well. He could wind up as one of the better tight ends from this class, with his athleticism and ability to win contested catch situations, or he could flame out just as easily.

Brycen Hopkins, Purdue

Height/weight:

6-feet-4-inches, 241 pounds

Like Hunter Bryant, another move tight end who is a smooth, fluid route runner with an advanced route tree. But like Bryant, he lacks functional strength as a blocker, and also has major issues with drops, which is a big concern with the ex-Boilermaker.

Bryant dropped 10 percent of targets thrown at him last year, and dropped 22 of 152 catchable passes in his career at Purdue. With concerns about blocking and his ability to catch the ball, there are significant question marks about Hopkins, despite promising athleticism.

Thaddeus Moss, LSU

Height/weight:

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6-feet-2-inches, 250 pounds

The son of former Patriots great Randy Moss, Thaddeus has limited ability as a pass catcher, but has some potential as a run blocker. Moss doesn’t have the speed or quickness to be a true mismatch in the pros, and will struggle to gain separation against NFL defenders, but he can be a bully in the running game. He has heavy hands and long arms that help him move defenders and create lanes for running backs to scamper through. He could turn into a successful blocking tight end in the NFL.

Moss would not fill the need in New England for a pass-catching tight end, but could turn into a serviceable blocker as he grows.

Stephen Sullivan, LSU

Height/weight:

6-feet-5-inches, 248 pounds

Sullivan only caught 12 passes last season in his first year as a tight end, having moved over from the wide receiver position. Sullivan impressed at the combine though, running a 4.66 40 and hitting 36.5” on his vertical jump, good for second among tight ends at the draft combine.

With solid athletic ability, and his background as a pass-catcher, Sullivan could be a Day 3 developmental pick. While extremely raw, Sullivan has more potential than his Tiger teammate, Moss, and could become a legitimate option in the passing game with time.

Jared Pinkney, Vanderbilt

Height/weight:

6-feet-4-inches, 254 pounds

Pinkney ran the slowest 40 at the combine for tight ends at 4.96, but he has good hands and suffered from poor quarterback play this past season at Vanderbilt. He won’t wow you with any facet of his game, but could be a depth addition to an NFL roster with the possibility of growing into a role as a backup tight end in the NFL.

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