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Colorado TE
Daniel Graham
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Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of articles previewing the top NFL
prospects, by position, for the 2002 draft.
Two years ago Miami (Fla.) had an outstanding tight end who opted to go pro after his
junior year. The Packers took Bubba Franks in the first round, and as a rookie, Franks was
the poster boy for why most juniors would be better-served by going back to school for
their senior year.
This year Miami has another outstanding junior tight end in Jeremy Shockey, who,
like Franks, will see his name on some All-America teams at the end of the year. Like
Franks, Shockey is a tall, athletic player who catches the ball very well (Franks rarely
dropped a pass in college) and is an effective position blocker at the collegiate level.
He benefits greatly from playing in Miami’s pro-style offense and has made tremendous
strides in his first two years in school. Coming out of high school, Shockey wound up
going to junior college because, to be quite blunt about it, none of the top football
programs in the country felt he was good enough to offer him a scholarship and looked at
him as a big, tall, slow wide receiver with limited upside. However, he went to Northeast
Oklahoma Junior College for a year, moved to tight end, started to grow into his body and
caught almost everyone’s eye. After coming to Miami in 2000, he did not start a game
but played more than any tight end on the roster and was named first-team All-Big East
after catching 21 passes for 296 yards and three scores, including the game-winner against
Florida State with just seconds remaining on the clock. This year he has really improved
his blocking, he looks bigger, stronger and faster and is playing like an All-American.
However, after what Franks went through, most scouts feel he would be best-served by going
back to Miami for his senior season.
According to one source at the University of Washington, the Huskies’ very
talented junior tight end, Jerramy Stevens, who returned to action last week for
the first time since suffering a broken foot on Sept. 22, will probably opt to go pro.
Stevens came to Washington as a quarterback in 1998 and redshirted while making the move
to tight end. He became a starter in ’99 and caught 21 passes for 265 yards and four
touchdowns and followed that up last season with 43-600-3. Stevens has great size and is a
very talented all-around athlete with large, soft hands and the ability to get down the
field. He jumps well, breaks some tackles after the catch and can be an effective position
blocker when he puts his mind to it. He is not really that physical or overpowering, but
he can stick to his man and keep him out of the play. Unfortunately, Stevens does tend to
get sloppy with his pass routes and does not give you the impression that he pays a lot of
attention to detail or wants to block that badly. However, the biggest concerns for scouts
deal with his off-the-field conduct. In ’98, he had two counts of assault dropped
down to a misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and then reportedly tested positive for
marijuana and had to spend three weeks in jail under the terms of his assault case. In
2000 sexual-assault charges against him were not filed because of a lack of evidence. And
then this year, he was cited for reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
The feeling is that if Stevens is to get scouts to overlook his past transgressions, he
needs to go back to school in 2002 and work on his pass routes, blocking and attention to
detail on the field and become a boy scout off the field.
As a fourth-year junior, Colorado’s Daniel Graham could have come out after
last season. However, the son of former Bronco Tom Graham (Denver’s starting middle
linebacker before Randy Gradishar) opted to return to school and has really helped
himself. At 6-2¾ and 245 pounds, Graham is not going to be an overpowering blocker, but
he has become an effective one who comes off the ball quickly, works well with his feet
and plays with good leverage. He also hustles and does a nice job of blocking downfield.
But it is as a receiver where he really stands out. He has long arms and nice, soft, large
hands. He also possesses very good concentration and natural ball skills. He is smooth and
fluid and has improved his route-running. Graham catches well in a crowd and can make
something happen after the catch. While not a true burner, you have to respect his speed
and cannot ask a linebacker to cover him for very long.
Michigan State’s Robert Baker is a fifth-year senior who made a wise move
to come back to school this fall, although he had to have his left leg scoped (torn
cartilage in preseason drills) before the start of the season. Baker is a good all-around
athlete and very good ball athlete. He has really good hands and can adjust to the poorly
thrown ball. He plucks the ball like a good wide receiver, will catch over the middle and
is a strong runner after the catch. He will use his 260-pound body and big butt to shield
defenders from the ball. As a blocker, Baker has the size and talent to be effective, but
he rarely seems to be that committed to the task at hand and is often satisfied to just
get in the way.
Louisiana State’s Robert Royal is another fifth-year senior who has helped
his stock this year. But the one thing that may hurt Royal is that while he plays pretty
fast, he ran a very disappointing set of 40 times for pro scouts this spring. Royal is
athletic enough to have spent some time with the LSU basketball team, and he catches the
ball well. He has natural hands and adjusts to the ball nicely. He also does a good job of
using his size to shield the defender from the ball and will catch in a crowd. As a
blocker, he has improved and gives good effort most of the time, but he is not
overpowering and will come off the line too upright to get good leverage.
Alabama’s Terry Jones Jr. is the son of former Alabama star and Packers
defensive lineman Terry Jones, who just happens to be the Crimson Tide’s strength
coach. As a true freshman in ’98, Jones started four games but was not used much in
the passing game. He started five times in ’99 and caught 13-201-1. Last year he was
one of the few Alabama players busting his hump before he suffered a major knee injury in
the fifth game. He came back from a torn left anterior cruciate ligament to practice this
past spring and reclaim his starting position. Jones is a big target at 260-270 pounds
with long arms and big hands. He catches the ball well and can adjust to the poorly thrown
ball, although he does have some problems with passes that are a little behind him that he
must adjust back for. As a blocker, Jones is rarely overpowering but generally effective.
Coming off the knee injury, he is not an explosive player who has great lower-body power,
and at times, his legs seem to buckle on him when he is trying to block a big lineman.
However, more often than not, he will do an effective job of positioning his body and
holding his block long enough.
Nebraska’s Tracey Wistrom is a great worker and overachiever like his
brother, Grant, but Tracey is not as talented. He looks like a pumped-up 220-pounder and
will never be a great power blocker. However, he gets into his blocks quickly and works to
sustain them. As a receiver, he has some trouble beating the jam at times and is a little
straight-linish, but he catches well and has a knack for splitting the zone and getting
deep. He also will catch in traffic and is a real team player and leader.
Oregon’s Justin Peelle is not overly impressive to look at, but he just
grows on you because he makes plays. Peelle does not have a lot of speed or acceleration
as a receiver, but he catches the ball nicely, finds the soft spot in zones, gets deep at
times and makes big catches. As a blocker, he is not overpowering, but he gets it done.
Purdue’s Tim Stratton won the John Mackey award as the best tight end in
the country last year, but I just can’t get excited about him. He is a very
sure-handed and smart receiver with a good feel for the passing game and has had a lot of
production in the passing game, but he lacks speed and power and seems to think of himself
as a receiver first. As a blocker, he is basically a get-in-your-way guy who does not play
with good knee-bend or leverage and is not very tenacious.
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