Go birds! What's going on everybody? Let's go. Let's get into it. Let's get on the clock with the latest edition of the Go Birds on the Clock Draft series previewing the 2026 NFL Draft, of course, from the Eagles perspective. Yesterday, Monday, we started with the wide receiver position, the position we've talked about obviously the most this offseason for one very big all-pro pro bowl reason with AJ Brown. But today, we moved to a position that maybe is not as important because they were able to retain Dallas Goddard. But man, it's an important one for this team as they make a transition from an offense that is going to feature the tight end position way more than it did in last year's offense. Now, obviously, Goddard had a really big year, was big in the red zone, but with an offense that is going to have a different running scheme with an offense that is going to have different passing schemes, they're going to need better tight ends than they had last year. How we talked about it at the media session prior to the combine that they felt last year, they had too many one skilled players at tight end. Grant Calcuttaire passing tight end or past catching tight end. Kylan Granson, like more of a blocking tight end, right? They clearly didn't have guys, especially in the backups, that could do multiple things. When you have one trick ponies, it's obvious what you're doing when that player is out on the field. So you combine the fact that I still think they want to add a difference maker or a tight end that would change the complexion of the room in terms of having not just players that are obviously good at one thing and not the other. The fact that Dallas Goddard is on a one year deal for what feels like the third year in a row and who knows if he's back next year, although at this point, I think he'll probably play his entire career with the Eagles one year at a time where we do the same story each off season. But regardless, the tight end position is not only important in the upcoming season with the offense. It's an important position overall regardless of what offense they were running because they have a bunch of guys on one year deal. So before we get into the prospects in this year's draft, and I will say I liked them more than I expected to. Let's take a quick look at the team's tight end position. They have Dallas Goddard. Obviously on a one year deal. Grant Calcuttaire is back on a one year deal. Johnny Munt signed from the Jaguars has played with the Rams. He's here on a one year deal. And then you got the backups. You got Kamla too, Stone Smart, EJ Jenkins and Jaheem Bell. So of those seven tight ends, yes, seven tight ends they have on the roster. I don't think any of them are assigned beyond this year. Calcuttaire, Munt, Goddard are not. And I can't imagine Kamla too, EJ Jenkins, Jaheem Bell or Stone Smart have anything to take guarantees them a roster spot in 2027. So last year they went in the year with a bunch of one year guys and they ended up bringing back two of them. But with a new tight end coach, with a year with a new offense and seven guys essentially on one year deals. Yeah, this is an important draft for the tight end position. I think last year they wanted to draft a tight end early. Board didn't break their way to a certain extent. You have to appreciate the fact that they stayed on their board. And now they enter a draft where they really got to find some talent at tight end. So let's get into it and let's look at this year's tight end class in the 2026 NFL draft. So I will say this, I started this thinking I would have a different tight end one than I do. And let's just be honest, there are two great tight end prospects in this draft in my opinion. It's Kenyon Sadiq, Eli Stowers out of Vanderbilt and everybody else. Does that mean they'll definitely be the tight ends? The best tight ends in this class? Of course not. We saw years where the top two quarterbacks and there's way better players later on. You just never know, right? But I think going into it, there is a large gap between Kenyon Sadiq and Eli Stowers. And I also think in terms of expecting instant impact, there is a gap between Kenyon Sadiq and Eli Stowers. When I look at these two players, the two main things I see are one, they're both elite pass catching tight ends. They're both ones. And I think Kenyon Sadiq is more set up to do this initially. But Kenyon Sadiq, I think could be a without question, instant impact guy. Eli Stowers to me, I think can make an instant impact, but it is a little more unproven. So I went back and forth on who I was going to make the top tight end in this draft class for the Eagles. And I do think, and I've had Eli Stowers at number one on my board all off season. Like I love his athleticism. My love is size. I love the fact that he still has upside. But when it came down to it, I have Kenyon Sadiq as my number one tight end in this draft class. And the more I watch him, the more I like him. And let's talk about why I think he is the best tight end in this draft. So he is a five emoji player. He just turned 21 on March 4th, which is a big difference as to why he was number one. Not huge, not actually a huge difference, but he is younger than Eli Stowers. So he gets the baby emoji, great hands, ran the fastest 40 at the combine among tight ends. He was at the fastest 40. He ran a four, three, nine. Every other one was above a four, five. So he was considerably faster than every tight, every other tight end. It seems like he can be an adequate blocking tight end to start. That's of course, according to scouting reports. And then he gets the star emoji because how can you not like him as a player? So that's a five emoji player. Like I said, turned 21 on March 4th. The last two years he's brought in 75 catches, 868 yards, 10 touchdowns over the past two years. The concern with Sadiq for me is the size. You look at some other tight ends we're going to talk about. Six, four, six, five, six, six, long arms over 32 inches. Kenyon Sadiq is six, three, 241 pounds, 31 and a half inch arms. So like he is undersized. Now he's very strong, right? But he is smaller than the other top tight ends. He's definitely smarter, smaller than Eli Stowe. So here's a scouting report on Kenyon Sadiq. According to NFL.com, they write quote, a versatile tight end with a shredded physique and a luring potential as a volume target. Sadiq's routry will be full of branches. His athleticism and break quickness should allow him to uncover against man coverage on all three levels. He's talented after the catch with the ability to make things easier for play callers and quarterbacks looking to move the sticks. He has the body control and hand strength to win contested catches, but will occasionally allow balls to hit the ground on lower difficulty plays. He's adequate as a blocker, giving good effort in line and locating and landing on linebackers as a move blocker. Teams looking to diversify their passing game options with a talented pass catching tight end should make Sadiq a priority. End quote. So obviously he will be a priority. He will be a first round pick. I do think there is a shot. He makes it to 23. I don't think there's a great shot, but if he falls 23, it wouldn't be like, oh my god, how's this guy here? I think there's a world where he does fall to 23. And watching him play for a while on Monday, a lot of things stood out to me. He looks and moves like a super, super strong wide receiver. His arms are not long. That does show up. Moves super fast for a tight end, which the 40 time backs up. I don't think he has like breakaway speed where he's running away from NFL defenders, but for a tight end, he will step into the NFL and be one of the fastest tight ends, at least starting tight ends in the NFL. I don't think he was really awesome at breaking tackles. He wasn't super elusive to me, but you could also picture the routes he ran at Oregon were ones that Goddart ran last year. And I do think him and Goddart will compliment each other really well. Like they're both receiving tight ends. They can both block. They can do similar things. You can move them around the field. Like if they were both on the field, I don't think it would be an indication as to what the Eagles were going to do. To be honest, when I watched a Sadiq run, he kind of looked like Kenneth Walker, the running back from the Seahawks, like super strong. Kenneth Walker is probably faster. I don't know if he ran a quicker 40, but he kind of reminded me of him with the ball. Like he looks like a stout receiver slash running back with the ball. He doesn't look like a tight end in my opinion, like the body type. Some really good examples of him adjusting to the ball in the air. He had this awesome touchdown cast versus Rutgers right down the seam. Another one down the seam against USC and double coverage got hit, held onto the ball. One where he dove for the touchdown like a diving catch, which was really impressive. Another one where one of his tight ends was, I'm sorry, one of his touchdowns, about 25 yards out, adjust to a poorly thrown ball. If he was a receiver, like if when I was doing my receiver tape I turned him on, I'd view him as a potential AJ replacement. He's definitely a threat in the red zone. He can make plays down the field. I think bubble screens could be effective with him. Now again, not super elusive, but he's so strong, like you hope that he could get better at that. So the main concern with me with Kenyon Siddique is just he, his body type is not what you want ideally from a tight end, like six, three, again, 31 and a half inch arms. Like he's just a little compact for what these other tight ends are. Now there's lots of tight ends in this class that are six, five long arms. They're not as fast as Kenyon Siddique. They're not as good as receiver receivers as Kenyon Siddique. And that's why he's a step above almost every tight end in this draft behind besides Eli Stohr. So I did end up putting him first just because I do think he's a better blocker. I do think he's a better receiver right now, but man, I was close to putting Eli Stohr a second. So let's talk about Eli Stohr's from Vanderbilt. So a five player emoji, great hands, super fast, gets a star emoji, six, four, so an inch taller, but he has 32, almost 33 inch arms. So his arms are almost an inch and a half longer than Kenyon Siddique's arms. He gets the tree emoji for being tall and there's upside there. Like Kenyon Siddique to me is somewhat, I don't want to say a finished product because you can always improve, but he kind of is who he is. Like I think Eli Stohr is there is upside there. And the reason there's upside there is because he's a quarterback prospect that turned to tight end. So the basics on Eli Stohr is 23. He turned 23 on April 15th. One of the reasons I put Kenyon Siddique ahead of him was Kenyon Siddique just turned 21. Eli Stohr is two years older. That really matters in the draft. Like I said, six, four, 239 pounds. You can see with that 239, he's relatively skinny and you can see that when you watch him. He's got a 33 inch arms in his college career, 146 catches, just over 1700 yards and 11 touchdowns, ran a four, five, 140, which was the third fastest at the combine, but again, a pretty noticeable gap between Kenyon Siddique and Eli Stohr's really Kenyon Siddique in every tight end in the 40 time. So the scouting report on Stohr is according to NFL.com quote, Stowers is an explosive quarterback convert, which has three years at the tight end position. He's an excellent athlete with long arms, but needs to keep filling out his frame. He's a natural pass catcher with an outstanding catch radius and massive run after catch talent. While his route running and contested catchability need work, he excels at moving the chains on screen slash short catches. He has the speed to threaten downfield against linebackers. His run blocking ceiling might be low, but his traits create an above average potential as a pass catching F tight end, fitting the growing trend of utilizing two and three tight end sets more heavily. Like again, even just reading that, I'm so tempted to put him number one, but he's older and I don't think he is as polished. Like you see there too, like his route running needs work Kenyon Siddique comes to the NFL able to run a pretty expansive route tree. And I think that matters when talking about making an adjustment to the NFL. So when I watched Eli Stohr's like, man, was it intriguing, especially again, because he used to play quarterback. He went to, he went to Texas A&M played quarterback, didn't really play, but that was a position he practiced at at Texas A&M went to New Mexico state starts to make the transition to tight end eventually plays it at Vanderbilt. So the fact he's the former quarterback, that's my Tyreek Jackson tight end love there that I'll never be able to hide. But you just watch him and like he kind of looked a little like Drake London to me. He just, I saw him on a wheel route, go down the field and he just straight up looks like a receiver. I also think one thing he is better at than Kenyon Siddique is making guys miss. Like he is elusive in the open field. He ran through tackles, which is surprising because Kenyon Siddique is stronger and more compact. Eli Stohr's is longer and lean, but he looked more dangerous to me in the open field. He covers ground in the open field like crazy. Like he gets going and he's going to be hard to catch because he's tall. He has long legs and he's fast. Obviously the third fastest 40 into combine. I also thought he was really good at adjusting to bad throws, which is something actually a lot of tight ends were good at in this class. Hi, he had like cat catches where he went up and he used his long arms, grabbing the ball out of the air, catches where he had to turn around to get to the ball, reaching back for the ball. He's just like an elite and elite receiving tight end. And as far as the routery, you would think his time as a quarterback will help him adjust to being a good route runner, reading zones or understanding defenses. So I really like that about him. The issue is, I don't know if he can block again, like 239. He's, he's skinny. He's long. Didn't, he's, you know, does not project as a good blocking tight end. Now he could work at it. He could get better at it, but I can't do the whole thing about a one trick pony and then say, well, Eli Stowers is such a better receiving tight end. When I only think he's definitely a better receiving tight end. I just think Kenyon Sidic is a better, well rounded player and Eli Stowers, because of his lack of blocking is going to be an issue for the Eagles. Like I think he could be a receiver like flat out. Like you could have him play receiver, but if you do, if he's going to play tight end and line up on the line, like you could split them out and play him in the slot. But if he's going to be on the line of scrimmage, then he's got to be able to block. Otherwise it's going to be obvious what they're doing. So I had Eli Stowers as my tight end one all off season, but I just got to make the switch because blocking does matter as much as it pains me to say. And I tried not, I am like a receiving tight end guy. Normally don't care about blocking, but with the Eagles stressing so much how important it is to have like dual threat for lack of a better term guys. I got to take that into consideration. So I go Kenyon Siddiq one, Eli Stowers two. All right. My third favorite tight end in the draft, Jack Andries out of Texas. So just turned 22 in March, which I love. He gets the, he gets the baby emoji for that still, you know, 22 very young. We got a six emoji player here. So I really, really like this guy. Like I said, just turned 22 in March, six, five, 245 pounds. Arms are a little short, 31 and 1 eighth inch arms. That's on the shorter side. 124 catches, 1300 yards, seven touchdowns, just over 11 yards per catch. So didn't really make big plays down the field. His 40 time was a four, six, two. But like I said, a six emoji guy, good hands, tall at six, five, good blocker, which we'll talk about. I think they're still upside there young. And then he gets a star emoji because I like him a lot as a player. So scouting report, according to NFL.com quote. Andries is a quarterback friendly F tight end who still needs time in the weight room. His route running can be monotonous and short area separation and inspiring, but he's tough, has a rebounders feel for boxing out defenders. And is a constant consistent ball winner, even when coverage is draped all over him. He builds speed and is tougher on man coverage when allowed to strengthen his legs on longer routes run blocking as a roller coaster ride of bad losses and quality wins. He lacks the play strength to block ends and whiffs in space on occasion, but he also gets his share of wins on split zone lead pools and combo climbs to the linebacker. Andries should be a develop, should develop into an NFL starter. So as you see the blocking there, a little hit or miss. And by the way, I don't know if I said he went to Texas, hopefully I did, but he went to Texas blocking hit or miss. You can see there, right? Some blocks, he's good. Some blocks, he's bad. To me, that's about consistency, but the fact he has on tape winning in blocks is encouraging. So I did give him the block emoji. Now, when I watched him on tape, he reminded me of some combination of George Kittle and Dallas Goddard. I thought he, I think he has like serious yak ability, hard to tackle, moves well. It feels like every time he had the ball, he was stiff arming a player, which we know Kittle and Goddard love to do. He doesn't play like a wide receiver in the way Stoers and Kenyon Siddiq do, but I still think he's a very capable receiving tight end that can definitely be involved in it. He's a little closer, in my opinion, to a tight end two than a tight end one. But I think if he's your second tight end, you feel really, really good about the position. Had some six down the sideline catches and traffic, but mostly work the middle of the field, which you can see with that 11.1 yards per catch average. So really like him. I don't think he's someone where if you add him, I'm going, okay, this could change the offense like a Kenyon Siddiq or an Eli Stoers. Those are really the only two players I think could do that, but I do like him a lot. All right. Fourth on my board, Oscar Delp out of Georgia. A four emoji player gets the block, gets the tree emoji because he's tall, the hand emoji, good hands and upside. I think there's more there. So turns 23 in August. So he's not really young or old from a draft perspective, but six, five, 200, excuse me, 45 pounds, 31, nearly 32 inch arms, but under 32 inches at five ace. 70 catches, 854 yards and nine touchdowns over the last two years. Scouting report from NFL.com. Delp is a fluid athlete with the forward lean short area, quickness and pure speed to beat linebackers on intermediate routes. His soft hands and smooth catch skills show up on the move, though his short arms and inconsistent finish through contact limit is reliability. He has enough toughness and technique to help in the run game as he improves his strength. Delp projects as a day three prospect with three down potential and untapped upside as a pass catcher. End quote. So I love these a day three prospect. I would not, I would consider him in the third round to be completely honest. I wouldn't take him in the second round. You'd have to really, really like his upside to take him in the second round. I think that's too early. I would take him in the third round, but if you can get him in the fourth or fifth, like a tight end who played at Georgia that is a good blocker, shows skill like as a receiver, I would do it. When I watch him, I don't think he is obviously the prospect. Travis Kelsey is to be clear, although Kelsey was not like an elite prospect coming out. And what's made Kelsey a great player is his ability to A have my homes, but also read zones, nowhere to sit. But just physically when you watch, when I watched Oscar Delp, he reminded me a bit of Travis Kelsey, just like how he moved. Long arms can cover ground when moving because he has long legs. So you can see him just cover that space up. It was funny. There was multiple plays where I saw where he tried leaps over people and it didn't really work. Didn't break a ton of tackles. And again, like when you watch Kelsey and maybe I'm thinking of older stage, Kelsey early on, he probably was better at it. But Kelsey to me is like when he's in open space, he can move. But when he catches it, he's ducking his head and kind of going down. And that to me was what I thought of Oscar Delp. I think he is solid. I'm not sure he can be special, but I like I think he has a very high floor. And I'm not convinced his ceiling is low. Like I'm more into the idea of him developing. But I think he's a safe pick. Like I said, he's someone you get on a rookie deal. I think he can be a high end number two for all four years of that rookie deal. And you hope maybe it turns into tight end one just because he went to a big time college and obviously Eagles have been good at developing developing players. All right, next up, Eli Rarodon Rarodon out of Notre Dame. So just turned 22 in February, gets the baby emoji tree emoji because he's six, six, 245 pounds with nearly 33 inch arms. So this dude is huge. And with that body, which you would hope he can block. So you got to love that about him. 48 catches, 623 yards, three touchdowns the last two years, a relatively slow 40 at four, six, two, a lot of tight ends were in the four, five range. So he is one of the slower tight ends. Here's a scouting report. According to NFL.com projects as a wide tight end with the ability to play and produce on all three downs in the pros. Rarodon might spend more time with his hand in the ground than he did at Notre Dame. He blocks with solid technique and good tenacity, but still needs to add muscle mass to his long frame. The Notre Dame passing attack opened him up on intermediate hash throws against zone, but he also has sneaky buildup speed and ball skills to make catches down the field. Rarodon needs more experience, but is an ascending talent who should become the seventh Notre Dame tight end drafted over the last nine years. Uh, end quote. So what I like about him when I watched him is the size, obviously six, six, really long arms and there were plays where you could see him use that. I did think his highlight tape was pretty underwhelming. Like a lot of short catches, not super impressive in the open field, but he's an NFL player, like he will definitely have a long NFL career. He can move. He's long. Get again, got the long arms. Uh, I would do wish I saw him use his, uh, use his height a little more. Like there were times where he did it, but you would have hoped that with the long arms and the size he has, you would see that he knows how to use it. Maybe he can learn. That's where development comes in, but his speed wasn't eye opening. And again, I think there's upside there to an extent because of the size, but I just really liked that he very much comes to the NFL as an adequate NFL blocker. And then you, you bank on the frame and the athleticism and you develop. So I'll take my chance on a six, six guy with 33 inch arms that can block and see if I can turn him a, turn him into a, uh, a legit, like receiving tight end, but he's probably tight end three to start his career. All right. Next up, Sam Roche out of Stanford, a four emoji player here turns 23 in September. Actually not a four, four emoji player. My apology, a three emoji player turns 23 in September, a block, a good blocker. Tall at six, six, 267 pounds. I mean, that is considerably heavier than all the other tight ends on this roster. In four years, 119 catches, 1,200 yards, only four touchdowns, ran a four, seven, 40. So one of the slower tight ends on this list, but, uh, you know, you watch them and the dude is strong. Like, so the scouting report, according to NFL.com and the draft landscape, full of past catching tight ends, Roche stands out as one of the few plug and play, why tight ends, which is an inline blocking tight end. He can make cutoff blocks and zone and combo blocks and gap schemes. He holds his own and pass protection too. As a receiver, he's not stiff, but he lacks elusiveness underneath. He needs to apply more of his tough playing style to win combat catches and expand his role beyond run blocker slash zone beater. While his catch production might draw questions, his size, toughness and pro ready blocking profile could push him into day two consideration. So, end quote, my thoughts on him is, I mean, you can just see how strong he was. Right. Um, I think he moves a little better than the scouting report gave him credit for. He does cover ground quickly again with these guys are to six six. That's what's going to happen. Um, wasn't elusive, but did take a lot of guys to bring him down. So he did run with toughness again, 267 pounds. I don't think he's tight end one. If he, if he is, he's like an elite run blocking tight end that can do very basic things as a receiving tight end, but I do think he's a very good tight end too. So the issue with him would be if he's on the field this year, like you would want him in short yardage blocking situations for sure. He's just not a great receiving tight end. He can do it and he's not like a definite one trick pony, but he comes to the NFL. Not a great receiver. So you have to work on that, but to six, six, 267 pounds with good blocking technique. Like the Eagles could certainly use someone that likes someone, someone like that. The on their offense. All right. On the other side, we're going to talk about a prospect that I initially might think I initially thought was going to be my top three. Then I found out one devastating fact about him. So we'll get into that on the other side, but first, a word from our sponsors. Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs. Shopify is specially designed to help you start, run and grow your business with easy customizable themes that let you build your brand, marketing tools that get your products out there, integrated shipping solutions that actually save you time from startups to scale ups online, in person and on the go. Shopify is made for entrepreneurs like you sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup. Okay. So this next prospect I'm watching them. I'm watching the tape and I'm like, this dude, this dude is going to be a steal. And he very well still could be, but let's talk about Joe Royer out of Cincinnati. So I'm watching the tape, six, five, 247 pounds, almost 32 inch arms, 31 and a half. I'm rounding up because I like him as a player. 79 catches, 937 yards, seven touchdowns the last two years, not great numbers. 40 time, not great. Four, six, four, seven range. But when I watched him, I thought he looked awesome. So the scouting report here for Royer out of Cincinnati is quote via NFL.com. Two years starter at Cincinnati after three uneventful seasons at Ohio State. Royer is low cut with a long torso and good foot quickness. He's, he is better over the first two levels and a more basic route tree allowing him to flow. He's physical as a pass catcher when needed and makes combat catches that others might drop. He shows enough toughness and technique as a blocker to expect him to improve in that area. Royer has tight end to slash three potential if he continues to polish his game. So again, you read that like he gets the, he gets the hand emoji because you can see in there, he's a good catcher. He gets the tree emoji at six, five. He gets the block emoji because you can see in there, he's tough, he quick, he can block. And when I watched him, I thought he looked faster than the four, six, seven time had a few plays where he ran away from players in the secondary to get yak. I thought he showed good balance as a runner. Some of these other guys were going to talk about to me when they were running just didn't seem very balanced and were tackled easily because of that. I love the swagger I saw. Sometimes that can be hard to see on tape, but even just like the celebrations, the way he handled himself, I could picture Sirianni liking them, made some high reaching catches that were impressive. And just like the more and more I watched them, I feel like as a receiving tight end, this guy will be able to play in the NFL. And as a blocking tight end, he's coming there being able to do it. Right. So I was in on him, but then I found this out. He turned 24 in January, in February. So like he's like three years older than Kenyon City. He's two years older, two slash three years older than Eli Stowards. I mean, he's, he's an old guy for a draft prospect. Like he just is. And so while I really, really like him as a player, and I think that if you don't care about the age thing and you think he, like he could contribute next year to the Eagles, in my opinion. And I think he'd be a good tight end to on the Eagles. And I think he could have like a five, six, seven year career. But when you're 24, coming into the NFL, that has to matter, especially when you're four, when you're not even already like a great athlete. Again, I think he's better than the four, six, four, seven range. But ultimately, I just, I can't have a 24 year old draft prospect super high. It just, it doesn't work for me. So unfortunately, I had to knock him to all the way out of top three to the taff to the commercial break. Like that's a, it's a rough fall for Joe Royer, but really like him as a prospect as a player, it's just at 24 years old that that hurts. Now, another player that I like, not as much as Royer, but is also on the older side, Michael Trigg out of Baylor. So turns 24 in June. So he's still 23, six, four, 240 pounds, over 34 inch arms. So the dudes got super long arms. Last two years, 80 catches, just over a thousand yards, nine touchdowns. The scouting report on him, quote, long, rangy tight end, offering rare arm length, good speed and some alignment versatility. Trigg moves like a big wide out with surprising hip sync, foot quickness and fluid transitions to run after the catch. He wins vertically against linebackers and overwhelms defensive backs with his size, high point talent and massive hands. And that really stood out watching him, uh, that fuel highlight reel catches. He's still developing as a route runner and struggles to finish catches through heavy contact. His frame and pad level limit inline blocking, but he can wall off or stock block from the slot. Trigg's field stretching potential and airspace dominance in the red zone should lead to production as a pro. So obviously a lot to like there. Again, six, four super long arms. He had one catch that was one handed, whereas like the ball like just was like hiding in his hands. His, his hand was so big. So he clearly can be special as a receiving tight end because of his arm length, because of his hand size, um, not super fast, but because he's so big, he does cover ground. To me, he seems like a good second tier option as a high end pass catcher. Like he's like Eli Stowers in that way, but he's just not, he's not as good, but like he's a, he's a cheaper version of that because you're probably getting him later on. And I like that despite being, you know, only 240 pounds at six, four, like he was physical after the catch. I saw one play where it took six guys to get him down. He just straight up looks like a wide receiver. Like I think it was him that at one point I wrote Doriel Green Beckham. Like he just looks like a receiver. Um, I will, I will say though, when you hear everything about him, long arms, big hands, tall body, like you expected to be a little more impressed by his, his like after catchability. And it was like, again, ran hard and everything, but I just wasn't blown away with what he did after the catch in terms of his speed, had some nice sideline catches, which was encouraging. Seems like he's already pretty good at using the sideline. Um, again, no, notice how to use his height, which is big. Like just cause you're big doesn't mean you know how to use it. You can be a huge guy and if you can't use your height, it really doesn't matter. Um, so I really like them, but turns 24 in June is a bit of an issue. So he's a three receiver guy, old emoji because he turns 24 in June, uh, tree emoji cause he's big and then he has big hands and good hands. So he's a three emoji guy and I would like him as a developmental one, but I'm a little worried like he's kind of is where he already is. I don't know. I just, I thought I would like him more, but, but I do like him. I just don't like him as much as I thought I would. All right. One of the more intriguing prospects for me in this draft class is Marlon Klein out of Michigan. So turns 24 in September. So he gets the old man emoji, but we're talking like late round pick here. Tree emoji cause he's six, six, 248 pounds, uh, arms just over 32 inches. He can block and he's got interesting upside because he was born in Germany. He's only been in America for three years and he's played, he played football overseas, but he's only played like American, like legit football, uh, for three years. So the scouting report on him via NFL.com, German born prospect with average athleticism in space, but above average grit at the point. Klein's tape shouldn't be viewed as a finished product, considering his relative lack of game experience in the sport. He needs to block with inside hands, but displays a sturdy core and strong hands to do his job in line. He builds speed with long strides and will catch what is provided. More muscle mass is needed, but Klein has a chance to become a day three pick as a backup, why tight end? My take watching them first of all, like I said, born in Germany, came to America to play for Michigan only played for three years, but that frame and those arms, like I'll take a chance on it. So I think he's a really good day three tight end, good length, speed seem decent, some nice adjusting to the ball in the air. Um, we're going to talk about Max Claire out of Ohio State in a minute, who is high on a lot of people's board. I believe again, I tried not to look at the boards too much. Um, but Matt, I think he's like, just like Max Claire, who will go way higher, but I think you can get Marlin Klein later on with upside. Um, right now he reminds me a little bit of Cal Katera, but skinnier, does play with the toughness. Um, I'm in on him as like a fifth or six round pick feels like an Eagles type of pick upside hasn't played the game for a while. And you can really try to develop him into something special. So, um, I like Marlin Klein. In fact, as I talk about this, I'm going to add a star. So we got a ding, ding, five emoji player there. All right. Now we're getting to the, the guys, you know, not as, not as polished as some of the other ones, um, RJ Maryland out of SMU, and he is on this kind of almost for one reason and one reason alone. Super quick. He turns 22 in July. So he gets the baby emoji, um, had the second fastest 40 at the combine. He was also a 45 140 guy, 64, 236 pounds, over 32 inch arms, 32 and a quarter, 113 catches just under 1500 yards, 19 touchdowns in four years. So pretty good production. The scouting report, according to NFL.com quote, past catching tight end, whose father Russell was the number one overall pick of the 1991 NFL draft, which is wild and spent 10 years in the league. Maryland's acceleration into the route is average and he coasts vertically instead of driving the separate. He runs route with adequate leverage and breaks them off at a crisp angle. He has the catch radius and body adjustments to make spectacular catches, but he needs to bring in contested tries at a higher rate. As a subpar run blocker, Maryland must elevate his play as a past catcher to compete for a roster spot as an F tight end. So again, six, four, second fastest 40 at the combine. Dad was in the pros, which I like. I feel like that helps players succeed. Just can't block. So like that's the concern, but he kind of reminded me a little bit of Johnny Wilson. So this is actually who I wrote Dorian Green Beckham down for. Just reminded me of him a little bit. Also a little bit of like John Hightower ish. I know that might not make a ton of sense, but that's who I saw watching him. Can move with the ball, runs fluidly, long arms, seems skinny for a tight end. Like I think he should just transition to wide receiver to be completely honest. But I like him as it's a tall, fast guy to take a chance on. This will be a late round pick, like maybe even a UDFA, I'm not sure. But I like some of the pros. I like some of the upside. All right, these next two guys are high on people's boards from what I saw. And again, I did try not to see him, but I have to look up these guys somehow. But I wasn't that into them. So Max Claire out of Ohio State turns 23 in July. So a bit on the older side, I won't give him the old man emoji, but like a bit on the older side, six, four, 246 pounds. It's not like super tall. I mean, I'm sure I give some people a tall emoji at six, four. I guess I did, but like he doesn't really play tall. So I'll give him a pity tree emoji there. And I give him the drop emoji because it's something that is discussed in a scouting report. So six, four, 246 pounds over 32 inch arms, which is pretty good, but just over 32 inches at 32 and one eighth, 116 catches, 1300 yards, six touchdowns, his scouting report, according to NFL.com. Quote, highly athletic. Side note, I disagree with that. Pass catching tight end capable of earning volume targets on a pro level. Claire can live beyond the typical targeted depth for most tight ends, thanks to his route inventory and ability to generate separation across the field. He's best from the slot, but can widen out with a matchup, but can widen out when a matchup presents itself. Hands in ball tracking are below average, but his production could make teams forget the drops. He improved as a run blocker as the season progressed, but functional might be the finish line there in a league craving impact tight ends. Claire has a chance to inject life into an offense hunting mismatches. So maybe I should give him the block emoji there, I guess. Like I was just, I was just underwhelmed. Like he kind of, and I know these are good players, but he reminded me a little bit of like Dalton Schultz, Tucker Kraft, a little maybe more athletic, Zach Hertz, just like a traditional tight end. I don't see specialness there. And maybe I'm putting them lower than I should. But man, like when you go from watching Kenyon Siddique to Eli Stowers and then you hear Claire supposed to be someone in that class, like I just didn't see it. I didn't see special athleticism. I thought he looked faster, actually at Purdue where he started his career than he did at Ohio State, which is not super encouraging to me. Again, the long arm, some downfield plays. I'm just not really into him. Like I would take him in the third round. I think he'll be an NFL tight end. But if I'm taking someone at first, the second round, I need him to have tight end one potential. And I just, I don't see it as much with Max Claire. Now, the other tight end that I didn't see it, I really wanted to. And when I started to watch, like I really thought he would. But Justin Jolie out of NC State turns 22 in July. So certainly young and, you know, has that young upside six, three and a half. So a little undersized, 241 pounds, 32 and one fourth inch arms, 82 catches, just over 1100 yards, 11 touchdowns of past two years. His scouting report, according to NFL dot com, quote, undersized past catcher with the ability to expand the route tree and challenge man coverage across the field. Jolie still needs to polish his route running, but has the footwork in athletic traits to uncover. He doesn't catch with much hand extension, fights, throws on occasion, but makes up for it with impressive body control, catch toughness. His effort and strain is a blocker need to improve. Jolie has the ability to contribute or Jolie has the ability to contribute as a moveable F tight end. Got Paul Jolie, Paul Jolliwitz on the mind. So my take from watching him was who went to Yucca for two years, goes to NC State. Did see him make some cool catches. I didn't think he looked very fluid in the open field. I thought he kind of looked clumsy, like he didn't look great as a runner. He did fall forward consistently, which I liked. And when you're, you know, over six, three and you fall forward, that that matters. Big body takes up a lot of space. His arms did look really long, but a lot of short catches, not much down the field. You can see in the red zone, how he could be an impact. I just wanted to like him more, like him and Max Claire, maybe bias in the way that I know they're going to be supposed to be high picks. But like I walked away, unimpressed. Like if Jolie was going to be a fourth round pick, I would like that second round pick. I wouldn't third round pick. You could talk me into it, but I'm not like yelling what a great pick that is. And then finally, maybe I won't even talk about him because I really didn't like him as a player, but Dale and Bentley out of Utah. So he turned 25 in January, which is absurd. Six, four, 253 pounds, 33 and one H in tharms. So long arms, 48 catches, 620 yards. Six touchdowns and 25. It's his only season with production. His scouting report, according to NFL dot com, quote, which has three catches over his first two seasons at Utah. Bentley's 48 grabs in 2025 came as a surprise. He has the build of an inline tight end, but mostly uses his size to occupy defenders instead of digging in the blocks. A heavy portion of his catches came across zone. So we will need to refine his route running in contested catch technique to prove he can win on his own. Bentley's NFL future could depend on his ability to play with more tenacity and technique as a run blocker, since his catch production from 2025 might not translate. So strong, but slow. His arms are like tree trunks. He would catch it and just go down. Remind me a little bit of Brent Selick, like later in his career, Brent Selick, just a lot of short catch short catches. Seems like an NFL backup. If I'm the Eagles, I'm not drafting a player that I view as a backup, like a tight end to fine, because that's like somewhat of an important role. But the Eagles don't draft backups. And this guy to me, I'd be pretty surprised if he's an eagle, which means he'll probably end up being an eagle. So ultimately I go with Kenyon Siddique is my number one guy. It hurts me. I wanted to go Stoers. I think Siddique and Stoers can really make an impact on this team right away. And then you have that second tier that I think can contribute, like, like Jack Andrews out of Texas, Delp out of Georgia, Rarodon out of Notre Dame. But it's a clear top two class for me at the tight end position. All right, that'll do it for the latest edition of Go Birds on the clock. Talk to you guys tomorrow as we continue to preview the 2026 NFL draft. So go out, enjoy your day until later until the next time. He's Elliott. I'm James. Talk to you guys later.
