The 2023 NFL draft is loaded at the tight end position. A number of teams will have their choice of tight ends in the first round, but tight ends are expected to go early and often in the draft.
Who are the top tight ends in the 2023 NFL draft? NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks ranks Georgia Bulldogs star Darnell Washington among the five best players at the position in the draft.
Pro Football Focus ranks four tight ends in their top 50 draft prospects, so NFL teams better be willing to shell out a first or second round pick if they want a highly-rated tight end.
Here’s how Bucky Brooks ranks the five best tight ends in the draft:
5
Iowa tight end Sam LaPorta
Iowa’s offense was frustrating to watch (if you like scoring) during the 2022 college football season. However, tight end Sam LaPorta was a bright spot for the Hawkeyes.
NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks considers LaPorta to be the fifth-best tight end in the 2023 NFL draft.
LaPorta is an underrated playmaker with intriguing tools as a pass-catching tight end. The Iowa standout is a crafty seam runner who can control the middle of the field as a secondary option in the passing game.
2022 stats: 58 receptions for 657 receiving yards and one touchdown
4
Oregon State tight end Luke Musgrave
Oregon State surprised a lot of teams with a successful 2022 college football season. The Beavers missed tight end Luke Musgrave, who suffered a knee injury in September, for most of the season.
Brooks is high on the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Oregon State tight end.
Musgrave is a prototypical flex with soft hands and excellent running skills. As a natural pass catcher with the potential to create mismatches on the perimeter due to a superior size-speed-athleticism combination, the Oregon State product is one of the gems of a loaded tight-end class.
2022 stats: 11 receptions for 169 receiving yards and one touchdown (in two games)
3
Georgia tight end Darnell Washington
Georgia tight end Darnell Washington is a winner. He enters the 2023 NFL draft as a back-to-back national champion. Washington has great size and is an imposing blocker in the run game.
Darnell Washington was one of the stars of the 2023 NFL combine. He’s even drawn comparisons to NFL legend Rob Gronkowski ahead of the draft. Washington is a big-play threat in the passing game despite his large size.
Bucky Brooks is impressed with Darnell Washington’s potential at the next level.
At 6-foot-7 and 264 pounds, Washington is a super-sized tight end with a combination of skills that makes him a hybrid offensive tackle/perimeter pass catcher. The Georgia product obliterates defenders as a blocker on the edges, while also displaying soft hands and better-than-anticipated playmaking skills for a gigantic target.
2022 stats: 28 receptions for 454 receiving yards and two touchdowns
2
Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid
Utah Utes tight end Dalton Kincaid was the top receiving option in Utah’s offense. Kincaid’s dominant performance (16 receptions for 234 yards and a touchdown) against the USC Trojans caught the eyes of NFL draft scouts across the country.
Performances like that are why Bucky Brooks has Kincaid as his No. 2 tight end in the 2023 NFL draft.
Kincaid is a dynamic flex with outstanding route-running skills and sticky hands. Boasting extensive collegiate experience (two years at San Diego and three seasons with Utah), Kincaid is a plug-and-play prospect with the potential to make an immediate splash as a designated playmaker.
2022 stats: 70 receptions for 890 receiving yards and eight touchdowns
1
Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer
Notre Dame fans aren’t happy that Michael Mayer missed out the John Mackey award to Georgia’s Brock Bowers. Mayer capped off an excellent college career with a strong junior season in 2022.
Mayer was Notre Dame’s go-to target all season. The Fighting Irish had a less potent offense than expected in 2022, yet Mayer’s productivity remained very high.
Bucky Brooks thinks NFL teams will value Michael Mayer the most of any 2023 NFL draft tight end.
Mayer is the cream of the crop as an old-school “Y” with strong hands and a nose for the end zone (18 touchdowns over three seasons at Notre Dame).
2022 stats: 67 receptions for 809 receiving yards and nine touchdowns
