As more and more college teams across the country adopt the spread offense, more and more college teams are downplaying the TE position. Or at least the traditional two-way TE position which requires both a good blocker and receiver. And that trend shows up in the 2016 TE draft class which may end up being one of the weakest in years as there doesn’t appear to be any player at the position likely to be taken anywhere near the opening round.
However, pro teams that are looking to upgrade at TE at the upcoming draft may adopt the old ‘go west young man’ in their search. At least they’ll head to the SEC West which has the consensus top three prospects at the position this year in juniors Hunter Henry of Arkansas, Alabama’s O.J. Howard and Evan Engram of Mississippi. The Hogs’ Henry is the closest to a throwback among the top prospects at the position this year; on the one hand, Henry is a physical in-line blocker who can get some push at the point of attack, but is also an accomplished receiver with good hands who uses his size effectively to shield defenders away from the ball. And while no gazelle, Henry does have just enough speed to get into the seam on occasion. Meanwhile, Alabama’s Howard is a former 5-star recruit with exceptional athletic ability including reported sub-4.6 speed. The 6-6 Howard also has prototype length and a huge catching radius, as well as better than average hands, but pro scouts are still waiting for that talent to translate to productivity on the field. For his part, Ole Miss’ Engram is more a glorified WR with big-play receiving skills; indeed, the 6-3, 230-pound Engram, who isn’t much of a blocker, averaged over 17 yards per catch in 2014 when he had 38 total receptions despite missing three games with an ankle injury. There could be another underclassman in that top group if Stanford junior Austin Hooper, another solid two-way guy who can block as well as contribute as a receiver, opts to enter the upcoming draft; however, Hooper technically still has three years of eligibility left and may choose to stick around school awhile longer.
There is something of a drop-off to the senior TEs in this year’s class, but there are several veterans at the position who could be useful options in the middle rounds including Nick Vannett of Ohio State, Kyle Carter of Penn State, Darion Griswald of Arkansas State, Bryce Williams of East Carolina, Jay Rome of Georgia, Braxton Deaver of Duke and Ryan Malleck of Virginia Tech.
Everything else being equal, though, the top senior prospect at the position should be athletic Pharoah Brown of Oregon; however, the rangy 6-6 Brown suffered a rather gruesome leg injury late last season and still isn’t 100% sure he’ll even play at all this fall. Pro scouts will also be watching the progress of Colorado State’s Kivon Cartwright, another solid receiver with some explosiveness, who was granted a 6th year of eligibility after he played in only one game last year because of an ankle injury.
