Chargers HC Brandon Staley’s testing thresholds

Staley-coached teams have drafted four tight ends: Adam Shaheen in 2017, Noah Fant in 2019, Brycen Hopkins in 2020, and Tre’ McKitty in 2021.

The only real similarity between these four is a bench press number of at least 20. McKitty only bench pressed during his pre-draft workouts, so any evaluation of the tight end position beyond that requires extrapolating from Staley’s tenure as a defensive coach, where his input on offensive draft choices was minimal.

Still, I think the case study of Fant is an interesting one. Denver’s 2019 first rounder could be a blueprint of sorts for a potential Chargers first round pick at the position in April. The former Hawkeye ran a 4.50 40 yard dash, jumped 39.5 inches in the vertical and 10 feet, 7 inches in the broad, ran a 6.81 3 cone and 4.22 shuttle, and bench pressed 225 pounds 20 times. All that was good for a Relative Athletic score of 9.89, meaning Fant is a 98.9% athlete at the position.