3. Hunter Bryant, TE, Washington
Height: 6’2″ Weight: 28
40-Yard Dash: 4.74 seconds
Bench Press: 23 reps
Vertical Jump: 32.5 inches
Broad Jump: 9 feet 7 inches
3-Cone Drill: 7.08 seconds
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.74 seconds
60-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Bio: Hunter Bryant had scholarship offers from a number of Power 5 schools, including Auburn, Nebraska and Oklahoma, but the Washington native decided to stay close to home and play for the instate Huskies. While in high school, the Eastside Catholic product hauled in 138 passes for 2,483 yards and 35 touchdowns, impressive production at the prep level.
Bryant saw minimal action his freshman and sophomore seasons, playing just 195 snaps as a true freshman and 143 as a sophomore. But as a junior in 2019 his production took off. He caught 52 passes on 80 targets for 297 yards – a solid 15.9 average yards per reception 0 and three touchdowns.
Stat to Know: Bryant has averaged more than 15 yards per reception each of his three seasons in college. As a freshman he averaged exactly 15.0 yards, and as a sophomore that number jumped to his career-high mark of 21.6.
Strengths: After Cole Kmet and Adam Trautman, this tight end class is filled more with players who are either a move-type tight end, or more of the inline blocker type. Bryant right now is more of your move-type tight end who shows flashes of being able to take on increased inline duties in the NFL, but will need some time to grow into that role. Right now his strength is as a receiver, who can operate out of the slot or the wing and use his combination of speed and athletic ability to work himself open against safeties and linebackers. He attacks the football in flight and almost always reaches full extension reaching for the football, avoiding some of the body catch issues that other players struggle with. Bryant does not have a complete route tree on his resume, but what he runs he excels at, as you can see him running away from defenders on post routes, shallow crossers, sit routes versus zone, deep outs on sail concepts, seam routes and wheel routes from the wing. He also checks that competitive toughness box. In his game against California he landed awkwardly on his left wrist but battled through the rest of the game.
As a blocker, his best reps come when he can use pre-snap leverage and advantageous angles to his benefit. He can serve as a backside blocker in zone schemes, and executes that slice block working from a wing to the backside on inside zone schemes well. Washington also aligned Bryant as an H-Back at times and you could see him taking on linebackers at the point of attack from that alignment with a favorable angle and a bit of a running head start.
Weaknesses: Pro Football Focus charted him with just six drops at Washington, but he was a bit more inconsistent this past season with his hands. The Huskies also seemed to run away from him when he was aligned inline, perhaps not trusting that he could handle inline responsibilities at the point of attack. His frame is more of an H-Back than a true tight end, and his lack of height might limit his options down in the red zone. There were times when Washington would leave him on the sidelines in goal-to-go situations. He also has a bit of an injury history, as a knee injury suffered in 2018 ended his season early.
Conclusion: What likely works in his favor is that Bryant is the mold of where NFL offenses are heading. Even teams that operate with a lot of 12 offensive personnel are looking for a move-type tight end who can win mismatches, and that is his calling card in the NFL. His lack of height might limit his options down near the goalline, but what he does in the open field and after the catch is going to convert a lot of third downs in the NFL. You might not leave him in on pass protection and he won’t be the guy you run the football behind on third and short, but if you need someone to beat a linebacker on third and long, he is your guy.
Comparison: Another tight end who lacked the height and frame coming out of college was Delaine Walker, and he build himself into more of a prototypical tight end. Bryant would be wise to study a lot of the Tennessee Titans standout as he looks to transition to the NFL.