Haydon Hurst (TE, South Carolina) – 83

Hurst’s is an interesting story.  Having been drafted as a pitcher by the Pittsburgh Pirates coming out of high school, he spent a couple of years trying to make it in the major leagues before deciding to walk on at South Carolina.  The Gamecocks fans will be delighted he did; Hurst looks to me to be a bona fide NFL TE.  He is a big, physical receiver, with an excellent catch radius and the ability to adjust well to the ball in the air.  When he catches the ball, he runs angry; I love how he really seeks to punish would-be tacklers.  As a blocker, he gives really good effort and is physical and committed.  He’s not George Kittle (in my view, the best blocking TE in the 2016 draft) but, compared to most college TEs, he grades out pretty favourably in this part of his game.  He still needs to work on the crispness of his route running, which looks a bit sloppy at times and I’m not sure how great an athlete he is – the combine will be crucial for him, should he decide to come out this year.  Overall, though, I’m very high on Hurst.  He is clearly a high-character guy – he was voted one of four permanent team captains for the Gamecocks in 2016 as a walk-on sophomore – and I don’t think an NFL team will regret drafting him in the least.  I’m looking forward to seeing how he progresses in 2017.

DeAndre Goolsby (TE, Florida) – 61

I suspect the NFL may have Goolsby ranked higher than I do, due to his potential in the passing game.  He is very athletic, possesses good, though not great, hands, and, for a tight end, he is surprisingly elusive as a ball carrier in space.  He has an instinctive feel for the soft spot in a defence and a nose for the first down marker.    All of these are valuable skills in today’s NFL.  As a blocker, however, Goolsby is – let’s be kind here – a work still in progress.  He finds it very difficult to maintain blocks and appears to be lacking the functional strength to be effective as an in-line blocker.  Against Alabama in the SEC Championship game, you saw the good and the bad of Goolsby in abundance.  He worked to get open, was productive in the passing game and ended up with 7 catches for 91 yards and a TD.  When he was asked to run block, however, some of the Alabama could have been charged with assault and battery, given the way they treated him.  He is listed at 6-4, 244 but he looks a very slim 244 to me.  This lack of strength and blocking ability means I can only see him as a developmental prospect – I would only consider him late on Day 3.