NFL Betting: Top 5 Tight End Prospects In 2022 NFL Draft

The NFL draft is coming up. Which are the best tight ends on the board in this draft? Is there a player who can redefine the position the way Travis Kelce has done, or who can create very tough matchups the way George Kittle has? These are interesting questions, and there are prospects who are generating legitimate excitement about what they can do in the pros. Here the top five candidates on the draft board:

1 – Trey McBride, Colorado State

The Colorado State Rams weren’t very good last year, and they fired their head coach Steve Addazio because they were so dysfunctional. Yet, McBride was able to rise above that chaos and turn himself into a top-tier prospect. It is always noticeable when a great prospect emerges from a generally bad situation. NFL evaluators can see a quality player who is able to thrive in spite of a lot of limitations and deficits around him. The obvious point is that when that player is surrounded by quality and professionalism on his roster and coaching staff, his talents and positive traits get magnified so much more, and can ripple through a team throughout a season. This is how players can’t just be judged on wins and losses or the prominence of their school. Sure, Alabama and Georgia will load up on draft picks this year, as they do in most years, but McBride has made his way to the top of the board among tight ends.

2 – Greg Dulcich, UCLA

Anyone who has seen UCLA and has studied the Pac-12 in recent years knows how good Dulcich is. He has been the best pass catcher on the Bruins. Defenses have geared up to stop him but he still makes plays. Dulcich wears out linebackers in the middle third of the field on seam routes. He is too fast for them. He is strong enough to box out a safety and make a physical, contested catch in traffic. He is a very agile tight end and a high-level pass catcher who will be excellent for a team which wants its tight end to be more like a receiver and less like a blocker.

3 – Jalen Wydermyer, Texas A&M

The Texas A&M Aggies upset Alabama last season, and Wydermyer was getting open regularly against the Alabama secondary. In a deep, contentious, and highly athletic Southeastern Conference, where there are always lots of draft picks on the field in every game between upper-tier teams in the league, Wydermyer consistently got open and was a core contributor in the A&M passing game. His ability to get open against fast SEC linebackers makes him impossible to overrate. He’s a quality NFL-level prospect.

4 – Jeremy Ruckert, Ohio State

Ruckert won’t get as much attention due to Ohio State’s brilliant crop of wide receivers in this draft class, but the Buckeye has great hands and deft agility in traffic. He makes high-level plays look relatively easy and will be sneaky-good value in this draft.

5 – Jelani Woods, Virginia

The Virginia offense had quarterback Brennan Armstrong throwing passes, and that made receivers look good, but even when accounting for that, Woods was an above-average tight end who sometimes made his quarterback look good. A prolific and productive tight end will be hard to ignore late in the second round or early in the third.