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2020 NFL Draft Profile: San Diego State TE Parker Houston

Will it be two years in a row that an Aztecs tight end is selected in the NFL Draft?

The most physical tight end in the conference will hope for his shot.

San Diego State tight end Parker Houston is a unique prospect among the Mountain West’s litany of potential NFL Draft selections. Perhaps more so than another skill position player, Houston never really lit up the stat sheet but he provided a great deal of value to the Aztecs and gave them exactly what they wanted: To get mean and push people around.

The big question remains, though: How does that fit into the ever-evolving National Football League?

Height – 6′ 3″

Weight – 250 pounds

Wingspan – 77 1/4″

Arm Length – 31 1/2″

Hand Size – 10″

40-Yard Dash – 4.84 seconds

Strengths

Houston made most of his bones in the San Diego State offense as a blocker and, needless to say, he was pretty good at it. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein drew attention to his versatility in that regard, remarking that he had plenty of opportunity to do just that as an in-line blocker at the line of scrimmage and out of the slot, both to help the run and in pass protection.

Weakness

The Aztecs never asked Houston to do too much in their passing game and there are some good reasons for that. He doesn’t really possess getaway speed which, as Zierlein notes, hampers his value as a downfield passing option. And while he has adequate hands, no one will confuse his athleticism with that of Kahale Warring, the former SDSU tight end who was a third-round pick in last year’s NFL Draft.

Despite his willingness to get nasty, Houston is also undersized physically when compared to many other tight end prospects in this year’s class. If that limits his utility to something like an H-back role, that could limit the number of interested parties.

Draft Prediction

“What you see is what you get” isn’t a bad thing in NFL circles, but it will hinder Houston’s chances of hearing his name called at the draft. He could, however, definitely work his way into a roster spot as an undrafted free agent, which is the probably outcome.

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