Our next stop on the 2023 NFL draft watch list tour? Tight ends. Over the past two draft cycles, we have seen some fascinating results during the draft at the position. In the 2021 NFL draft, Florida tight end Kyle Pitts cracked the top five when he was selected fourth-overall by the Atlanta Falcons. That made Pitts the highest-drafted tight end in NFL history, breaking the mark set by Riley Odoms when he was drafted fifth-overall back in 1972.
However, only 11 tight ends were drafted overall.
This past season, while we did not see a tight end drafted until the second round, we saw a ton of them drafted. By the time the draft came to a close, 19 tight ends were drafted, the most since 20 came off the board in 2015.
Will the 2023 class look more like 2021, or this past cycle? We will not know the answer to that question for a while, but here is a solid starting point. Here are the tight ends to study this summer for the 2023 NFL draft.
Erick All, Michigan
(Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports)
Erick All was rated as a three-star recruit coming out of Fairfield High School in Fairfield, Ohio during the 2019 recruiting class. ESPN also ranked him as the number-ten tight end in the class. He chose Michigan as his college football destination, enrolling early to get a jump on the 2019 season.
As a true freshman that year, All played in 11 games in a reserve role, and on special teams. He played in all six games during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, catching 12 passes for 82 yards.
2021 was finally the season Michigan fans were hoping to see from him, as he caught 34 passes for 374 yards and a pair of touchdowns. One of those, a 47-yard score against Penn State, came late in the game to give the Wolverines the victory. He also caught four passes for 63 yards in the playoff game against Georgia and their vaunted defense.
All is also a solid blocker, and on this play against Georgia he leads Hassan Haskins to the right side, taking on Nakobe Dean in the hole and springing the…