The Kansas City Chiefs are returning basically every tight end who spent time on the 53-man roster last season.
Travis Kelce will be joined by Blake Bell, Jody Fortson and Noah Gray once again, along with Kendall Blanton and Matt Bushman. Just because the team has a lot of bodies at the position already doesn’t mean they won’t seek to add more to the room during the 2023 NFL draft.
This tight end class is considered to be one of the deeper ones we’ve seen in recent years, with intriguing talent reaching all the way into Day 3 of the draft. There are a handful of options that could help put the position group in a better spot for 2023 and beyond.
Here’s a look at some of the players the Chiefs could consider adding in each round of the 2023 NFL draft:
Round 1: Notre Dame TE Michael Meyer
Most outlets seem to believe that either Mayer or Dalton Kincaid will be the first tight end selected in the 2023 NFL draft. We’re thinking that Mayer is the likelier of the two to be available when the Chiefs come on the clock at 31. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 265 pounds, Mayer really the jack-of-all-trades option in the early goings of the draft. He can do all of the dirty work in the trenches, but he’s also a very talented pass-catcher. In 2022 at Notre Dame, he posted 67 receptions for 809 yards and nine touchdowns. His play strength is really impressive and he’s super tough to bring down after the catch. They also move him around the formation quite a bit at Notre Dame, which will help him see the field early at the next level.
Round 2: South Dakota State TE Tucker Kraft
Kraft earned First-Team All-MVSC honors in each of the past two seasons with the Jackrabbits. The 6-foot-4 and 254-pound tight end prospect posted 92 receptions for over 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns in that span. He’s a phenomenal athlete, who blocks through the whistle. He’s a rumbling receiver with the ball in his hands and plays the pass just as physical as he blocks up the run. Kraft has missed nine games in his career at SDSU, including six this past season. Teams will need to be comfortable with his injury history to take him in Round 2.
Round 3: Alabama TE Cameron Latu
Latu seems to be a bit undervalued in this draft class. He only began playing tight end in 2019 after he was recruited as a defensive line prospect. He was one of the most productive tight ends during the 2022 college football season (30 receptions for 377 yards and 4 touchdowns in 11 games played). He’s an assignment-sound blocker in-line for both the run game and the passing game. He’s got good hands and knows how to work the middle of the field and the red zone as a receiver. He’s only going to get better in the NFL.
Round 4: Old Dominion TE Zach Kuntz
I’ve seen Kuntz pushed up higher in the draft because he had a legendary workout at the combine with a 4.55s 40-yard dash, 40-inch vertical jump, 4.12s short shuttle and 6.87s three-cone. In 2021, he proved his receiving chops, earning First-Team All-C-USA honors with 73 catches for nearly 700 yards and five touchdowns. In 2022, he was limited to just five games due to an ACL injury. The upside as a receiver is immense, but Kuntz is going to get pushed around as an in-line blocker in the NFL.
Round 5: Penn State TE Brenton Strange
Just covered Strange in a recent mock draft. Here’s what I had to say:
Listed at 6-foot-4 and 254 pounds, the first thing that stands out about Strange is his willingness to get after it in the blocking game. Run-blocking or pass-blocking, he’s looking to exert his will on an opponent. As a receiver, he’s shown some YAC ability and has proven to be a threat in the red zone. Strange might be a little overly reliant on his physicality and ability to gain extra yards by fighting through contact. It’ll serve him well at the next level to become a more nuanced route runner and put in the work to avoid contact.
Round 6: Purdue TE Payne Durham
Durham has actually had a virtual visit with Kansas City during the pre-draft process. He’s a former teammate and friend of Chiefs DE George Karlaftis, who is flying a bit under the radar in a good tight end class. He boasts great size (6-foot-5, 255 pounds) and a good wingspan (80+ inches), but he’s certainly not the fastest tight end in this class. He’s a functional in-line blocker and a good target in the red zone, but he also has some yard-after-catch ability.
Round 7: North Dakota State TE Noah Gindorff
I think that Gindorff would go higher in this draft class if he hadn’t had back-to-back season-ending ankle injuries. Teams will likely want to check that out before making a commitment here. That said, this 6-foot-6 and 263-pound prospect is a fun watch. He’s really good at blocking things up in the run game with great play strength, but also runs crisp routes and has good hands. Even though he caught no more than 17 passes in a given season, he was probably underutilized as a pass-catcher at NDSU.
