Scouting breakdown: The 11 best tight ends in the 2020 NFL draft

This crop of tight ends might not match the 2019 NFL Draft, but there is potential. How do Cole Kmet, Adam Trautman and the rest rank?

2. Adam Trautman, TE, Dayton

(AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Height: 6’5″ Weight: 255
40-Yard Dash: 4.8 seconds
Bench Press: 18 reps
Vertical Jump: 34.5 inches
Broad Jump: 9 feet 6 inches
3-Cone Drill: 6.78 seconds
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.27 seconds
60-Yard Shuttle: N/A

Bio: There are “late bloomers” and then there is Adam Trautman. At Elk Rapids High School in upper Michigan, Trautman was a quarterback running an option offense through his junior season. As an undersized QB in an old school offense, most of the bigger college programs passed on him. Elk Rapids transitioned to more of a modern spread approach his senior year, but the only schools to show interest in him as a recruit were from the FCS, including Cornell and Harvard. He ultimately chose Dayton, signing as a quarterback.

After his redshirt season, Trautman moved to tight end for the 2016 campaign. That year he appeared in 11 games for the Flyers, starting seven, and he lined up at a number of positions including tight end, wide receiver and even wildcat QB. As a redshirt sophomore in 2017, he started all 11 games for Dayton, leading the team with 537 receiving yards. Another strong junior season put him on the radar of NFL scouts, such as Jim Nagy, the Executive Director of the Senior Bowl, and in 2019 as a senior he led the Flyers with 916 receiving yards and 70 receptions, which was a school record across all positions. He also led Dayton with 14 receiving touchdowns. Trautman parlayed that success into a spot down in Mobile, where he stood out as perhaps the best tight end of the group.

Stat to Know: Sure, it was against FCS competition, but according to charting by Pro Football Focus Trautman had 27 explosive plays of 15 or more yards, which would have been tops in the FBS.

Strengths: While Cole Kmet has the potential to be that all-around tight end that is rare to find coming out of college, Trautman has been that player during his time at Dayton, albeit at the FCS level. The Flyers used him inline, in the slot and out wide, almost identically to how the New England Patriots employed Rob Gronkowski. Other tight ends in this group struggled in the blocking part of the position, but Trautman relished it, telling the assembled media both at the Senior Bowl and in Indianapolis for the Combine that his favorite thing to do on the field is not what you expect:

You just know the old school football minds are going to eat that up.

But as a blocker Trautman is solid. He handles inline responsibilities well, and when tasked with pass protection against defensive ends he “builds his house” from the feet upwards. He slides well, anchors his lower body and combines both his lower and upper body strength to handle pass rushers.

When studying a lower-level prospect, you want to see some level of dominance. Trautman provided that for the Flyers. Just watch the two plays of his game against Valparaiso. On the first play he motions into the wing next to the left tackle and does this:

Trautman runs through the linebacker, works open against zone coverage, goes up to get a high throw, runs over the safety and drags the next few defenders who try to tackle him for additional yardage.

Then on the next play he gets behind the defense on a trick play:

Even though the throw is off target, he manages to get his big left hand out there and one-hand this throw for a touchdown. These two plays look more like viral videos of quarantined fathers schooling their young sons in backyard games of whiffleball than a college tight end showing what he can do.

You know, like this video:

Trautman has the tools to become a great route-runner in the NFL. Currently he is explosive off the line of scrimmage and uses his change-of-direction ability plus his burst to create separation. He gets both into and out of breaks well, and with some refinement he could become a consistent mismatch threat in the NFL.

Weaknesses: You have to begin with the level of competition. While he was dominant against FCS talent, questions do exist about how that translates to the NFL. That is why the Senior Bowl was a huge opportunity for him, and during that week he demonstrated that he could both handle the blocking assignments in the league, as well as be a mismatch player against better athletes. First, the change of direction ability:

Then, the blocking ability:

While Trautman’s three-cone time speaks to his change-of-direction ability, his 40-yard dash of 4.8 seconds was just in the 55th percentile among tight ends. But what he lacks in straight-line speed, he makes up for at the TE position.

Really, however, the only weakness to his game is trying to project what he can do against elite talent. On film, with the opportunities he’s had in front of him, he has excelled.

Conclusion: Ultimately, Trautman might be the best prospect in this class. The only think keeping him from the top spot is what Kmet has done against better competition, but even that is just a slim margin between the two. Trautman has enjoyed a solid pre-draft process and if a team is satisfied with what he displayed at Dayton, as well as what he did in Mobile during the Senior Bowl, he could very well be the first TE off the board. Prospects with true all-around ability are rare in today’s college game, with so many spread offenses asking tight ends to be more slot players, so finding a prospect who can line up next to the tackle and punch a DE in the mouth on one snap, then align in the slot and run away from linebackers on  the next, is a rare combination. Even if you have to look to the FCS to find that player.

Comparison: Pro Football Focus likened Trautman to Mark Andrews coming out of the University of Oklahoma, and that comparison makes a great deal of sense. Trautman, like Andrews, can handle the inline portion of the game but can also be a problem for defenses downfield in the passing game.

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