Tag: Brevyn Spann-Ford

Cowboys guarantee almost $250K to sign big-bodied undrafted TE prospect

From @ToddBrock24f7: The Cowboys had a draftable grade on Minnesota’s Brevyn Spann-Ford; when he wasn’t picked, they won the bidding war to claim him.

Mike McCarthy loves tight ends, and he seems to have a special affinity for tight ends from the the Big Ten conference.

The Cowboys went seven rounds this draft weekend without selecting a single tight end, but there was at least one they had their eye on. And once the final pick was in and teams started burning up the phone lines to sign the leftover prospects as undrafted free agents, Dallas put their money where their head coach’s mouth was to secure the newest addition to the TE room.

Minnesota’s Brevyn Spann-Ford got a $20,000 signing bonus and a sizable guarantee of $225,000 to sign with the Cowboys, according to reports, with the team winning a bidding war to get the 6-foot-6-inch 260-pounder.

For context, the Cowboys’ entire 13-man UDFA class last year got $573,000 in guaranteed money. That the team spent 39% of that amount on Spann-Ford alone, just topping what Dallas gave to fullback Hunter Luepke in 2023, indicates a strong level of interest and high expectations that he’ll make the 53-man roster.

Spann-Ford is the fourth Big Ten tight end on the Cowboys roster, joining Wisconsin’s Jake Ferguson, Luke Schoonmaker (2023’s second-round pick) out of Michigan, and Indiana’s Peyton Hendershot.

(Princeton Fant went to Tennessee, and while the promising John Stephens Jr. went to Louisiana, the Cowboys website technically has him listed as a wide receiver, which was his college position. Alec Holler, from Central Florida, was also signed as an undrafted free agent over the weekend.)

The Cowboys reportedly had a draftable grade on Spann-Ford, a 24-year-old from St. Cloud who bypassed the draft after the 2022 season and returned for a sixth year with the Golden Gophers.

The move didn’t pay off with a big boost to Spann-Ford’s draft stock; his numbers went down in 2023 and he struggled with drops in a disappointing final campaign that saw Minnesota finish 5-7 and Spann-Ford opt out of playing in the Quick Lane Bowl. (He did attend the Senior Bowl and caught a touchdown pass in the game.)

But the Cowboys saw something they liked, and they came calling after the draft ended.

“I’ll never forget this feeling,” Spann-Ford posted on X after news broke about his heading to Dallas. “Right back to work.”

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The Cowboys believe his work could be on John Fassel’s special teams unit.

“I don’t think you can have enough 6-4, 250-pound prototype players on your team. Especially with the [new] kickoff and kickoff return, I think that’s even more prominent,” McCarthy said, per the Dallas Morning News. “You want every position to be as competitive as it can be, and I think there are a lot more reps at special teams that will occur in these games.

“Tight ends, linebackers, outside linebackers: that body type will be pretty prominent, particularly in kickoff coverage.”

Prominent enough, it seems, to pay handsomely for.

Follow all the post-draft signings with the Cowboys Wire UDFA Tracker, which will be updated as needed.

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Broncos met with TE Brevyn Spann-Ford ahead of NFL draft

The Broncos had a pre-draft visit with Minnesota tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford, who is projected to be a sixth-round pick.

The Denver Broncos met with Minnesota’s Brevyn Spann-Ford ahead of the 2024 NFL draft, the tight end revealed at his pro day on March 14.

Spann-Ford (6-6, 260 pounds) ran a 40-yard dash in 4.77 seconds and a 10-yard split in 1.67 seconds at the NFL combine earlier this offseason. He spent five years with the Gophers and is now set to go pro as a 24-year-old rookie.

Spann-Ford totaled 95 receptions for 1,061 yards and seven touchdowns in 56 games at Minnesota. He posted career highs in receptions (42), receiving yards (497) and touchdowns (two) in 2022.

After competing in the Senior Bowl this spring, Spann-Ford is now projected to be a late-round pick in the NFL draft. Most mock drafts have him going off the board in the sixth round, where the Broncos currently hold picks Nos. 203 and 207 (view all of Denver’s picks here).

Adam Trautman re-signed during free agency and Greg Dulcich is healthy, but the Broncos could use more depth behind them. Spann-Ford might be a realistic late-round target for Denver.

The 2024 NFL draft will be held in Detroit from April 25-27.

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2024 Scouting Combine: Six tight end prospects detail their favorite college plays

We asked six big-time tight end prospects for their favorite college plays, and we have the All-22 to go with all of them.

INDIANAPOLIS — Unless you are somehow able to gain access to one of the rooms in which NFL teams meet with draft prospects during the week of the scouting combine, there’s no way to know what’s really discussed. One thing that is almost always happens is a tape-watching expedition in which the NFL people will have play examples dialed up that hopefully show what the prospects can do.

Here at Touchdown Wire, we do not possess the required juice to crash those rooms, but we are able to ask these prospects during their combine media sessions which plays from their college careers best typify their potential.

Today, we asked six tight end prospects — Texas’ Ja’Tavion Sanders, Kansas State’s Ben Sinnott, TCU’s Jared Wiley, Washington’s Jack Westover, Minnesota’s Brevyn Spann-Ford, and Penn State’s Theo Johnson for their favorite college plays. We’ve included the All-22 for all examples, and we hope you find their answers as enlightening as we did.

Panthers 2024 mock draft 2.0: The Morgan-Canales edition

How would a Dan Morgan and Dave Canales-led draft look like? Here’s our early shot at it.

The Carolina Panthers were leader-less, at least in two key positions, the last time we checked in with a mock draft. But things have changed.

On Thursday, the organization will officially introduce new president of football operations/general manager Dan Morgan and new head coach Dave Canales. Both were hired last week, as the team will once again start fresh in building towards a positive future.

So, how will that future look under the new power duo?

Here’s our early Morgan-Canales mock:

2024 Senior Bowl: Day 1 notebook from the first day of practices

2024 Senior Bowl: Day 1 notebook from the first day of practices in Mobile

The 2024 Senior Bowl practices kicked off on a sunny Tuesday in Mobile, Alabama. The National and American teams took to the field at the home of the University of South Alabama Jaguars with over 100 aspiring NFL prospects hoping to show their best in front of hundreds of NFL scouts and media.

Here are some of the notable takeaways from the first day of practices.

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List of tight ends at 2024 Senior Bowl

The tight ends heading to Mobile, Alabama for the 2024 Senior Bowl.

Tight ends are becoming more and more important in the NFL. Just ask the four teams that played on Championship Sunday. All have great pass-catching tight ends. The Jets have a nice one in Tyler Conklin and an up-and-coming one in Jeremy Ruckert.

The Senior Bowl will feature six tight ends hoping to become the next key offensive piece for a team. Here are the six tight ends that will be in Mobile, Alabama, coached by Denver’s Zack Grossi and Logan Kilgore.

10 players to watch on Reese’s Senior Bowl National team’s offense

The Reese’s Senior Bowl starts practice on Tuesday, January 30th. These players on the National team’s offense are worth watching.

One of the most important events on the National Football League calendar is the Senior Bowl. Held the week after the conference championship games, it is the true beginning of the NFL draft cycle.

Not only do scouts and analysts like us get to see over 100 draft prospects in one place competing against each other, but it’s also an opportunity for analysts and personnel alike to get together and have discussions about a number of topics.

As we look forward to this year’s Senior Bowl, managing editor Tyler Forness will be there in person to break everything down.

During the week, these 10 players on the National Team’s offense are worth keeping your eye on.

2024 Senior Bowl preview: Tight ends

A preview of the seven tight ends that will be in Mobile for the 2024 Reese’s Senior Bowl.

The 2024 NFL Draft starts in Mobile!

The Reese’s Senior Bowl game will be held Saturday, February 3rd, with the practices occurring the week leading up to it, starting Tuesday, January 30th. It is also one of the first major stops in the pre-draft process before the teams are on the clock on April 25th.

Even more exciting, this year’s Senior Bowl may be one of the more anticipated in recent memory. There will be over 100 NFL prospects competing all week in front of scouts and draft pundits alike and the talent this year will be easy to see throughout the week.

Outside of the big names like Brock Bowers, Ja’Tavion Sanders and possibly Cade Stover, there may not be a lot of name recognition with this season’s tight-end class. In this preview, we will look at the seven tight ends who will be looking to become household names by the time their names are called in the upcoming draft.

Other previews:

Quarterbacks
Running backs

Saints’ scout checked out early from Minnesota’s blowout win over Michigan State

A couple of NFL teams were on hand for Minnesota-Michigan State on Saturday afternoon, but the Saints scout checked out early in the Golden Gophers’ blowout win:

A couple of NFL teams were on hand for Saturday’s matchup between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Michigan State Spartans, including the New Orleans Saints. But Vikings Wire’s Judd Zulgad reports that the Saints scout in attendance left the press box early. After seeing the second half in a 10-6 game open with two punts and a no-good field goal, the team’s representative checked out with 7:48 remaining in the third quarter — at the start of a Minnesota drive which ended with an interception.

But Minnesota pulled away in the second half thanks to the efforts of Jordan Nubin, a redshirt sophomore and former safety who recently converted to running back (and the younger brother of Tyler Nubin, a top-50 prospect in the upcoming draft class). Nubin logged 40 rushing attempts to gain 204 yards and score a pair of touchdown runs that powered the Gophers to a 27-12 victory. It was an impressive performance from him after the more-experienced backs on Minnesota’s roster went down with injuries.

Minnesota had a couple of intriguing pro prospects in this game; in addition to the elder Nubin, tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford is on teams’ radar as a mid-round prospect. The 6-foot-7, 270 pound tight end has only caught 15 passes this year after breaking out last season with 42 receptions for 497 yards but he has a lot of experience as a blocker with nearly 1,200 career snaps paving the way in his college career. And senior receiver Daniel Jackson (seven catches for a career-high 120 yards on Saturday) shouldn’t be overlooked as a potential late-round target.

As for the Saints: it’s not uncommon for scouts to leave games early. They’re busy on the road this time of the year and catching live games is just one part of the job. Their typical week involves hustling from one school to the next to meet with coaches and advisors on campus, punctuated with brief stops at a hotel to file reports with regional scout coordinators. We shouldn’t read too much into this.

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Pro Football Focus ranks top 10 tight ends of 2022 season

It might not be a national award but it is certainly positive recognition.

The 2022 college football season has come and gone and the postseason ratings are flowing in.  No, not just for teams, but for players alike.

One of the great debates during the postseason awards this winter was at tight end.  Georgia had two of the nation’s best in Darnell Washington and Brock Bowers, while Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer set records for the position at the school known as being “Tight End U”.

The Mackey Award, which goes annually to the nation’s top tight end, was given to Bowers despite Mayer having more receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns.

I don’t believe there is hardware that comes with it but Pro Football Focus listed their top 10 tight ends of the 2022 college football season over the weekend and for whatever it’s worth, the Notre Dame record holder can walk away with bragging rights in that regard.

Here are PFF’s top 10 tight ends for the 2022 season, along with their season grade.