3. Brycen Hopkins, Purdue
Size: 6-4, 245
The Good: Great in the Jeff Brohm system, he stepped up when others went down, caught a ton of passes, and then went to Indianapolis and had one of the best all-around workouts among the tight ends.
He might have been a bit of a system guy, but he caught 120 passes over the last three seasons – 61 last year – with 16 career touchdowns. He knows how to get himself open and he has no problems making the tough grab.
The Not-So-Good: The volume of catches was partly because of the function of the Boilermaker offense. He’s not a natural receiver – he tends to fight the ball a bit – and he’s going to have problems battling with the more physical NFL defensive backs. You’re not going to draft him as a blocker, but …
NFL Draft College Perspective Thought: No, you’re not going to take him as a tough guy for the ground game, but he’ll take his shots to try making the big catch. There are just enough knocks to keep him from being a top all-around tight end, but he’ll drop, and then he’ll turn into a favorite target on pure passing downs.
Projected Round: Third