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.