NFL Draft season is upon us. Every year around this time, Jim Nagy (executive director of the Reese’s Senior Bowl) rounds up a talented group of college seniors to head down to Mobile to improve their NFL draft stock at the Reese’s Senior Bowl. Last year’s crop featured Kenny Pickett, Brian Robinson, and Christian Watson, just to name a few.
Marrying stats and film, I dusted off the prospect notebook and dove into the skill sets for this year’s group of NFL hopefuls. Some players hail from smaller schools, so coming across enough game film to form an opinion on their skill sets is impossible. I included their statistics for reference, so you can see, at least on paper, where they stack up against their peers. Dynasty rookie drafts will be here before you know. Now is the time to get a jump on your league mates and study up on these prospects.
Our Fantasypros team will be providing in-depth coverage all week from Mobile. We’ll have Twitter spaces on Tuesday and Wednesday (7 pm EST on the FantasyPros Twitter account) where you can hop in the room with our special guests and us to hear us chop it up and get your questions answered. Thursday, we will have a live stream on YouTube (7 pm EST) recapping all of the week’s action.
It will be a glorious week of football content to reignite your NFL Draft fires.
- 2023 Senior Bowl Preview: Offense
- 2023 Senior Bowl Preview: Defense
- 2023 Senior Bowl Primer: Dynasty Rookies
Check out all of our 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Reports & Prospect Profiles 
2023 Senior Bowl: Dynasty Rookie Tight Ends (Fantasy Football)
Stats:
- 2022 (146 FBS TEs, minimum 20 targets)**
- Yards per route run: 2nd
- PFF receiving grade: 23rd
**Only 15 targets**
- Career
- Only 38.9% of his contested collegiate targets secured
- 58.1% inline rate in college
Scouting report:
- Chain mover tight end. Does have enough athleticism to threaten downfield up the seam, but he’s not much of a threat after the catch.
- Musgrave is an average to below average blocker at this point. His play strength shows up in blocking and his routes. He can be pushed off his route by physical linebackers. He can hold his spot in blocking on some reps, but don’t expect him to be utilized as a lead blocker or road grader at the next level.
Player Comp: Gavin Escobar
Stats:
- 2022 (146 FBS TEs, minimum 20 targets)
- Yards per route run: 83rd
- PFF receiving grade: 43rd
- 2021 (133 FBS TEs, minimum 20 targets)
- Yards per route run: 37th
- PFF receiving grade: 50th
- Career
- Whyle’s Yards per route run has declined in each of the last three seasons from 2.94 to 1.11.
Scouting report:
- Fluid receiver after the catch. He’s able to shed arm tackles with his plus leg strength. Whyle has the speed to pull away from linebackers in space.
- Good short area start-stop ability considering his size. Utilized on drag routes and screens heavily to let him do work in space.
- A willing blocker in all facets. He ranked 30th in PFF run blocking grade and 15th in pass blocking last season (minimum 100 blocking snaps) among tight ends.
Player Comp: Harrison Bryant
Stats:
- 2022 (146 FBS TEs, minimum 20 targets)
- Yards per route run: 32nd
- PFF receiving grade: 31st
- Career
- 43.0% slot rate in college
- Only three drops at Clemson (115 targets)
Scouting report:
- One speed runner in the open field. If you’re looking for him to pull away from linebackers in coverage, you’ll be waiting a while watching film. Only 4.6 YAC per reception in his collegiate career, with five missed tackles (88 receptions).
- While he won’t be a big play threat in the NFL, that doesn’t mean he can’t be a dependable target underneath and against zone coverage for a quarterback. He ranked 26th in catch rate last year and first in contested catch rate (minimum six contested targets). Allen is strong at the catch point high pointing balls, and securing everything thrown in his direction. With these traits alone, he could develop into a consistent red zone threat.
Player Comp: Blake Bell
Stats:
- 2022 (146 FBS TEs, minimum 20 targets)
- Yards per route run: 25th
- PFF receiving grade: 12th
- YAC: 7th
- 2021 (133 FBS TEs, minimum 20 targets)
- Yards per route run: 94th
- PFF receiving grade: 111th
- Career
- Shift from 46.6-53.9% slot (2020-2021) to 58.0% inline in 2022
- Putrid PFF run blocking grades (Never surpassed 52.0 in any season)
Scouting report:
- Mallory has a tough time separating. He rounds off many of his routes at the top of the stem. Linebackers have little trouble hanging with him. Many of his routes are run from stacked formations, or he is utilized on designed screens.
- Functional as an inline blocker. His physical limitations show up here as he’ll anchor his spot on many reps, but you won’t see Mallory tossing rushers around like ragdolls or pushing them back off their mark.
Player Comp: Coby Fleener
Stats:
- 2022 (146 FBS TEs, minimum 20 targets)
- Yards per route run: 68th
- PFF receiving grade: 34th
- 2021 (133 FBS TEs, minimum 20 targets)
- Yards per route run: 33rd
- PFF receiving grade: 34th
- Career
- Durham decreased his drop rate in each of his final three seasons at Purdue (2022, 3.4%).
Scouting report:
- Energetic blocker. Utilized inline and in space. Durham has no issues clearing a path. Good hand placement and will blow defenders back in the run game.
- Utilized on screens and as an underneath target against zone. He’s not a big play threat after the catch. He looks lumbering in the open field and after the catch.
- Durham should develop into a reliable TE2 at the NFL level that can work inline and as an H-back.
Player Comp: Nick Vannett
Stats:
- 2022 (146 FBS TEs, minimum 20 targets)
- Yards per route run: 92nd
- PFF receiving grade: 83rd
- 2021 (133 FBS TEs, minimum 20 targets)
- Yards per route run: 58th
- PFF receiving grade: 51st
- Career
- Started his Alabama career as a defensive end. Switched to tight end and became the starter for the last two seasons.
Scouting report:
- An old defensive mean streak shows up in his blocking. Good punch and anchor noted. Should be able to contribute in 12 and 13 personnel from Day 1.
- He has a decent snap at the top of his routes to gain separation, but his limited straight-line speed prevents him from running away from defenders or holding a cushion in his routes. Latu can be utilized as an underneath chain mover in the passing game, but not much more than that.
Player Comp: Kaden Smith
Brayden Willis (Oklahoma)
Stats:
- 2022 (146 FBS TEs, minimum 20 targets)
- Yards per route run: 52nd
- PFF receiving grade: 69th
- YAC: 9th
- Career
- 48.8% slot rate in 2022 was the highest of his career at Oklahoma
Scouting report:
- Game film unavailable.
Player Comp: Unavailable
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*All data utilized in this article is courtesy of PFF, Football Outsiders, and Playerprofiler.com unless otherwise specified.*
