5. Josiah Deguara, TE, Cincinnati
Height: 6’2″ Weight: 242
40-Yard Dash: 4.72 seconds
Bench Press: 25 reps
Vertical Jump: 35.5 inches
Broad Jump: 9 feet 7 inches
3-Cone Drill: 7.15 seconds
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.35 seconds
60-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Bio: Josiah Deguara did not have a lot of options coming out of high school, where he was a three-sport athlete for Folsom High School out in California. Deguara was a baseball player and a starter on a basketball team that won a Northern California Championship, but when it came time to choose from scholarship options, only the flexbone Air Force Academy and Cincinnati came calling.
Deguara had his breakthrough season for the Bearcats in 2018, when he caught 38 passes for 468 yards and five touchdowns. Last year he improved on those numbers, with 39 receptions on 71 targets for 504 yards and seven touchdowns, and he averaged 12.9 yards per catch. All of those numbers were career-highs for him.
Stat to Know: The Scouting Combine was a favorable outing for him, as his bench press numbers (25 reps – 87th percentile) combined with his 10-yard split in the 40-yard dash (1.56 seconds – 97th percentile) demonstrated the power and explosiveness that he can produce.
Strengths: If you are placing a bet on the prospect after Cole Kmet and Adam Trautman who can best translate into an all-around tight end, Deguara might be the safe play. In the Cincinnati offense he was used almost 60% of the time as an inline player, using Pro Football Focus charting data, and he was very effective as a blocker. His game against Ohio State is certainly worthy of study, because at times he was aligned one-on-one against Chase Young both in the run game and in pass protection. He got the better of Young on a few different blocks, and even handled him in pass protection, albeit with some help from a running back. Not too many other prospects in this class could make such a claim.
Deguara is also a high-effort player. He stays working across the field when he sees his QB scrambling, constantly working to stay in his field of vision. He also made a notable play against UCLA, chasing down a defender after an interception to make a tackle. But this effort translates to what he can do as a receiver, as you can see on this reception against the Buckeyes:
First, you can see how he uses his hands and upper body on this route, getting open off the line of scrimmage. Then Deguara keeps working down the parallel before high-pointing the football in traffic to come down with the catch.
He is also effective working up the seams, and some of his releases on film are NFL-ready. Deguara has a combination of footwork and upper body moves such as swims that will beat jam attempts by second-level defenders, enabling him to get into his routes quickly.
Weaknesses: While the effort and execution was there in college, Deguara lacks prototypical size and length to serve as a consistent inline blocker in the NFL. Teams will need to bet on what he did on film and hope the he could have that Delaine Walker-like transition given his size.
He is also not the most impressive athlete, he is more of a power and explosiveness type of player. He relied on his frame more at the catch point than other tight ends in this class, and that might not always work in contested catch situations in the NFL. Despite his route-running ability and array of release moves, he does round off routes at times, letting defenders get underneath him.
Conclusion: Players like Deguara have a knack for sticking on rosters given their effort and willingness to do some of the dirty things that coaches love. His effort on routes and as a blocker will endear him to many coaches in the league, and what he showed on film is the promise of a potential all-around TE in the league. He will face questions about his athleticism and size, and will need to develop parts of his game like refining his routes and more consistency at the catch point, but he could be a potential growth project at the tight end position while contributing early as more of an H-Back.
Comparison: It is because of that potential as an H-Back that the career path for Deguara could be one of Kyle Juszczyk’s. Juszczyk was a tight end at Harvard University that carved out more of a hybrid role in the NFL, being used as a TE, an H-Back and a fullback. Deguara has similar potential and size, as the current 49er was 6’1″ 248 coming out of the Ivy League. An offensive coordinator with some vision could find a role for him as a rookie, and perhaps that is where he best belongs.