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Hey all, today we're going to be starting my 2024 tight end evaluations and rankings. If you haven't seen part one you can do so here.

LINK

The biggest difference in evaluating tight ends is that I grade players on their hands, route running, release, yards after catch potential, jump ball/contested catch ability, body control and ball tracking, athleticism/size/RAS, and their ability to have a future role in the NFL. For those new to my rankings, I have more details on my process in part 1 of my receiver rankings, which you can find at this link.

TE5 - Theo Johnson

Penn State

Height: 6’6”; Weight: 259 pounds

 Age on Draft Day: 23 years and 2 months

Class: Senior

Overall Grade: 2.92/4 (Good Role Player)

Comp: Colby Parkinson

- Hands: B+

- Route Running: B

- Yards After Catch Potential: C

- Jump Ball/Contested Catch: B

- Body Control/Ball Tracking: B+

- Blocking: C+

- Future role: C+

- RAS: A

Strengths

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Though Theo Johnson’s athletic testing made him stand out to people, his hands will stand out when you watch him. Johnson consistently catches the ball away from his body and catches the ball with really good hand technique. He has tough hands to finish catches through contact and is quick in securing the ball even when he is catching away from his frame.

Johnson also has a good eye to follow balls through tight windows and defenders. Johnson’s tracking skills allow him to finish lofted balls over his shoulders and back shoulder throws. He can go up and snatch a ball and can get his legs under him to keep his balance and get up field. Johnson also showed that he can adjust to balls outside his frame and stretch out to make catches near the end of his frame.

Johnson’s route running also makes him a more appealing player with clean cuts and good use of head fakes while running a diverse route tree. Johnson gets consistent leverage with strong breaks at his stem to keep defenders guessing and can sell his vertical routes even if defenders know shallow routes are coming. He has great balance to maintain his route path through contact and can navigate around defenders trying to block his path. Johnson also showed a good eye for settling in openings against zone coverage.

Blocking certainly isn’t a strength of Johnson’s, but he is fairly solid as a move blocker that quickly identifies targets and effectively gets square in his block to hold his ground. Johnson also blocks with a solid, wide base to help give him some good balance. Finally, while his athletic testing doesn’t show when he has the ball in his hands, he isn’t afraid of contact.

Areas of Improvement

As I mentioned, Johnson doesn’t look like the athlete from his combine testing and seems like a clunky player with poor acceleration with the ball in his hands. Johnson also seems a bit stiff when turning to run and this stiffness shows when he tries to juke players and has a hard time finishing these cuts/jukes to be effective. There were also times when he didn’t run with effective vision and would lower his pads with contact but didn’t drive through the contact, limiting extra yards.

As a move blocker, Johnson is solid, but as an in-line blocker, it gets rough. He’s too bendy at the waist and his blocking angles are inconsistent with a fair number of reaches. Johnson’s blocking strength is pretty weak leading him to get pushed around at times and could benefit from more consistent leverage. Also, his hand placement is inconsistent and his grip strength seems to be lacking which makes it harder for him to hold his block.

While Johnson’s route running is solid, his routes are slow developing at times, and his route speed is lacking. This makes him a lot less dynamic of a receiving option than his combine testing implies and overall really limits the separation he can create. There were also a few times when he didn’t set up well enough in his cuts and needed extra steps which further slowed him down. Also, with the limited ability to help downfield, he had pretty limited production and a fair number of receptions that were simple short routes that the defense gave him.

Though Johnson’s hands are his greatest strength, he had some double-clutch balls away from his frame and his hand technique can become inconsistent when he needs to catch away from his body with some unnecessary underhand technique for balls above his numbers. Also, I have a hard time seeing Johnson play to his size and vertical number and become a quality jump ball tight end due to passive attacks at the ball and inconsistent positioning in 50/50 situations. He also seemed passive in his adjustments, giving defenders more of a chance to make a play on the ball. This also made his catch radius a bit more limited and he can also do a better job working back to the quarterback to make some catches easier for himself.

Conclusion

I think Johnson could go a lot earlier in the draft, similar to how Brenton Strange and Cameron Latu went much earlier in last year’s draft. I think a team will likely fall in love with his combine testing and traits and hope he can develop into a quality starter. Personally, I’m not confident he will get there and his lack of production in college could be part of the argument outside of how he looks in games.

The athletic testing isn’t a 1:1, but with Johnson looking much more sluggish and less explosive than his testing indicates, I have Colby Parkinson as his comp. Neither Parkinson nor Johnson played up to their size as they were too passive in their attacks on the ball, and neither were great in-line blockers. However, both had very good hands and were solid when used as a move blocker, giving them a chance to help a team. As I mentioned, I feel a team may reach for Johnson, hoping for a gem, but I think he seems like a very likely role player in the NFL.

TE6 - Jared Wiley

TCU

Height: 6’6”; Weight: 249 pounds

 Age on Draft Day: 23 years and 5 months

Class: Junior

Overall Grade: 2.87/4 (Good Role Player)

Comp: Ladarius Green

- Hands: A-

- Route Running: C-

- Yards After Catch Potential: B

- Jump Ball/Contested Catch: B+

- Body Control/Ball Tracking: A

- Blocking: D+

- Future role: C+

- RAS: A-

Strengths

Jared Wiley is likely going to be a tight end that a lot of people watch highlights of and might make an argument of him being the second-best tight end this class behind Brock Bowers. There is a fair argument with Wiley’s upside being so high with his impressive, well-timed attacks at the ball where he rises up and contorts his body midair for tough adjustments. His movement looks so smooth with great hand-eye coordination to finish the catches and keep his balance after making the adjustments that he honestly looks like a giant wide receiver at times. Wiley can also catch balls near the end of his frame by stretching out and finishing tough catches.

Wiley uses these movement skills and his size to go up and snatch balls at their highest point with good hand technique. Wiley has great, late hands and almost always catches the ball away from his body. He even showed he has great ball tracking skills to follow balls over his shoulder and finish catches. He is also quick in securing the ball to keep possession through contact.

Wiley’s smoothness continues with his transition from receiver to runner. This transition allows Wiley to use his quick acceleration and great speed along with his fluid hips to weave around defenders and pick up yards in open space. He also showed good peripheral vision and awareness of defenders to take good angles to avoid tackles. Wiley isn’t always able to make defenders miss, but he does have shifty feet to give himself a chance.

Unlike some of the other “elite” athletes at tight end this year, Wiley’s athleticism is clear in his play and shows in his route speed and the explosion in his cuts. Wiley excelled at seam routes where he got to get upfield and could settle under the safety and then let his speed take care of the rest. He still has work to do as a route runner, but when he does run his routes with good technique, he can be really hard to stop with his size and speed.

Areas of Improvement

The problem with Wiley is that he often isn’t running his routes with good technique and relies too much on his athleticism while lacking convincing fakes. Wiley’s footwork is sloppy in his cuts, runs his route at one speed, and doesn’t get consistent leverage. He also allows his route path to get cut off and struggles to get around this contact and keep his balance. Wiley’s route tree also looks pretty limited making him a pretty big project right now.

Wiley’s blocking is also very disappointing at his frame with sloppy footwork requiring a wider, more sturdy base and inconsistent hand placement opening up his pads to defenders. Wiley also doesn’t have much pop in his blocks in part due to not getting enough leverage. He also ducks his head way too much, takes really poor blocking angles, and doesn’t get square with his defender making him need to hold on for dear life at times. He has the size to hopefully develop into a more capable blocker but he isn’t there yet.

Wiley should also be more exciting in YAC situations with the ball in his hands but he doesn’t have great contact balance or creativity to maximize his opportunities. There were just way too many times when the first tackler would bring him down since he didn’t lower his pads and bring enough strength or balance to survive the hit. There were times when he would try to pull out a stiff arm but it was too delayed and weak to be effective. Finally, he could maximize his chances of being a 50/50 or jump ball tight end by having more effort and awareness when boxing out.

Conclusion

When I first watched Wiley, I thought I was going to have him as my TE3 with his movement skills in the air and on the ground. However, there is just a lot of polish I’d like to see from Wiley before getting that excited about him. I think a team could maximize his opportunities by limiting him to receiving opportunities in the slot until he can grow as a blocker. If he can develop his blocking and route running in this role, he could turn into a steal for a team.

Due to both having great athletic ability while also being able to make receiver-like adjustments to balls, I have Ladarius Green as Wiley’s comp. Both Green and Wiley lacked polish as route runners and blockers but had the movement skills and athleticism to overlook. Green put together some quality years as a role player and I could see Wiley doing the same and maybe more if he further develops.

TE7 - Tanner McLachlan

Arizona

Height: 6’5”; Weight: 244 pounds 

Age on Draft Day: 25 years and 1 months

Class: Redshirt Fifth-Year Senior

Overall Grade: 2.83/4 (Good Role Player)

Comp: Josh Oliver

- Hands: B+

- Route Running: B-

- Yards After Catch Potential: B

- Jump Ball/Contested Catch: A-

- Body Control/Ball Tracking: A-

- Blocking: D+

- Future role: C+

- RAS: B-

Strengths

Like Jared Wiley, Tanner McLachlan is a smooth adjuster to the ball. McLachlan can contort his body to balls all around his vicinity regardless of where the ball is. He consistently caught the ball away from his body and showed some nice foot awareness around the sidelines. McLachlan has great focus to follow the ball through defenders and isn’t afraid to rise up for balls and leave himself open for some big hits. When Tanner McLachlan is absorbing hits, he gets to the ball quickly and secures it before defenders can make a play on it. 

McLachlan also has a really quick transition from receiver to runner to pair with his good acceleration and speed. McLachlan also has good vision to follow blocks when it is available for him. McLachlan also seems to have smooth hips allowing him to quickly change direction at times. 

McLachlan’s speed translates to his route running, and he uses it to sell his vertical routes and open underneath routes. McLachlan also creates separation by using good head fakes and his shifty feet to get defenders off-balance. He also seemed to have a good eye for openings against zone coverage and knew where to end his route to stay away from defenders.

Areas of Improvement

This all sounds great, but the reality is that McLachlan is still pretty limited as a playmaker. This first showed up in McLachlan’s very limited route tree that had him run only short patterns and led to 80% of his receptions being less than 10 yards from the line of scrimmage. His routes can also be cleaned up, as he has some very rounded cuts and struggled to get consistent leverage. McLachlan also struggled to finish routes through contact and wasn’t very great at avoiding it either.

McLachlan’s hands also scare me. McLachlan didn’t have any drops this year but had a number of clap attacks and a 10.5% drop rate last year which makes me nervous he could regress. Also, I’d like to see him improve his positioning on 50/50 balls to make these opportunities easier on himself and to help compensate for his short arms relative to his size.

Tanner McLachlan has great speed in the open field, but he didn’t seem to use his fluidity too frequently. It feels like he should be much more dynamic in open space, but he usually settled on just going straight from point A to B. I would also like to see McLachlan run with more power and balance to make the most of his size and frame.

The biggest area of improvement for McLachlan is easily his blocking. McLachlan’s hand placement and footwork are both all over the place leading to poor leverage. There were also way too many times when he lunged at defenders and ducked his head. It’s frustrating because he has smooth hips, gets square with his target in space, and has good effort so it’s just unfortunate it doesn’t all pay off with quality blocks.

Conclusion

McLachlan can likely contribute right away if he shows he can handle a more diverse route tree. If he can’t, I have serious concerns that a team will overlook his deficits as a blocker. Add on the fact that he will be playing his entire rookie year at the age of 25 and it could justify teams being willing to pass on him.

Due to both being very fluid athletes and receivers in college, I have Josh Oliver as Tanner McLachlan’s comp. Both were agile in the air but had serious deficits as blockers. Oliver has done a tremendous job where this has actually become a strength and earned himself a nice contract due to this. Hopefully, McLachlan can take a page from his book and develop into a more complete player as well.

TE8 - Tip Reiman

Illinois

Height: 6’5”; Weight: 271 pounds 

Age on Draft Day: 22 years and 7 months

Class: Senior

Overall Grade: 2.79/4 (Good Role Player)

Comp: Foster Moreau

- Hands: B

- Route Running: D+

- Yards After Catch Potential: C+

- Jump Ball/Contested Catch: B-

- Body Control/Ball Tracking: B

- Blocking: B+

- Future role: B-

- RAS: A

Strengths

With his size, you might mistake Tip Reiman for an offensive tackle on your first watch of him. Reiman will hear his name called in the draft thanks to his blocking with good footwork and a wide base paired with his massive frame and long arms. Reiman can use his footwork to quickly set up on defenders and uses his long arms to protect his pads and set the edge. Tipp Reiman generally takes good blocking angles and blocks with good leverage and grit to get solid drive on his defender.

Reiman is a very inexperienced receiver but catches the ball with good hand technique and has reliable hands. Reiman can highpoint the ball if needed and does a good job using his frame to establish positioning and make himself an easier target for his quarterback. He uses this positioning well against zone coverage, where he has a good eye for where to settle. Also, Reiman is very efficient in providing chip blocks and then cleanly getting out in routes. 

Reiman showed that he can adjust to misplaced balls with his long frame. Reiman can track balls that are behind or over him well and finish these catches. Once he finishes the catch, he has a good transition from receiver to runner and uses his good acceleration and long speed to pick up yards.

Areas of Improvement

With the athletic traits that Reiman pairs with blocking skills, he would normally be a clear day two or higher player. Unfortunately, he is incredibly unproven as a receiver, with only 59 targets throughout his entire career. While he caught the ball well from my watch, it’s hard to trust he can really be relied on when a lot of tight ends typically have more targets in a single season.

With this unprovenness, it’s hard to know how much Reiman can truly adjust to balls since he was wide open on nearly all of his targets this year. The same issue can be said about how successful Reiman can be in contested catch and jump ball situations, with only nine attempts in his entire career. When he was in these situations, he could be a more efficient catcher by extending his arms, as he tends to rely too much on body catching. Also, Reiman seems a bit stiff and lumbering at times when making adjustments to balls.

Reiman lacks fluidity with the ball in his hands and doesn’t seem capable of making tight cuts to make defenders miss. Reiman is more of a one-direction runner and doesn’t run with much creativity and instead typically tries to just go forward and charge through defenders. Unfortunately, he doesn’t break many tackles due to not playing with enough balance or pad level.

Reiman’s route running is also, you guessed it, unproven as he ran an extremely limited route tree. Reiman lacks nuance and deception in his routes, including running his routes with no temperature. He is very nonchalant in his cuts and, lacks balance, and has poor footwork in his breaks, causing him to slip or take sloppy cuts. Reiman also doesn’t avoid contact during his routes, which, combined with the other points, all add up to him getting less separation than someone with his athleticism should get.

Blocking certainly isn’t a weakness for Reiman, his hand placement can be very inconsistent, and resorts to putting his hands on the defenders’ shoulders. Quicker defenders also gave Reiman trouble as it caused his footwork to become erratic and he would lunge at times when he was too early to initiate contact. Also, there were times when he would take a half step too far in his approach at the start of plays and get misaligned with quicker defenders, forcing him to take worse blocking angles.

Conclusion

After seeing his combine testing numbers, it probably was very odd that Illinois didn’t use an athlete like Reiman in the passing game more. It definitely is still strange they didn’t try to make it work more, but Reiman’s lack of polish helped explain the story. Now, it will come down to an NFL coaching staff to get him to become a more complete player.

Due to both having very little receiving production and contributing more as blockers, I have Foster Moreau as Reiman’s comp. Both are great athletes but very unpolished receivers who didn’t let them live up to their upside in college. Also, both had very good size to handle blocking but had a few technical things to clean up and had some trouble with quicker defenders. Moreau has turned into a quality role player, and it feels that Reiman also has what it takes to be a blocking specialist for a team.