*Walt taking 2014 and 2018 |
Charlie Campbell, Senior Draft Analyst |
Teams Like the Depth at Tight End and Safety in the 2019 NFL Draft
Updated March 3, 2019By Charlie Campbell. Follow Charlie on Twitter @draftcampbell.
The 2019 NFL Draft is well known to be a strong year to get talent for the defensive line, but a bad year for skill-position talent on the offensive side of the ball. While those positions have been discussed greatly, there are a few others that have some buzz in the scouting community. Multiple team sources told me they like the depth at one position on each side of the ball, with those being safety and tight end.
At safety, teams feel that they could land starting talent on the second day of the draft. They believe that Mississippi State’s Johnathan Abram could go in the first round. After that, they feel that Washington’s Taylor Rapp might sneak into the first, but could be the first safety to go in Round 2. The safeties on Day 2 whom team sources have said could be good value picks include Delaware’s Nasir Adderley, Fresno State’s Mike Bell, Maryland’s Darnell Savage, and Alabama’s Deionte Thompson.
At tight end, Iowa’s T.J. Hockenson is a consensus first-round pick, but he is the only tight end who is a clear cut first-rounder for this year. Iowa’s Noah Fant was getting lots of media acclaim after his combine workout, but off-the-field issues are hurting Fant’s draft grade with teams. Thus, multiple team sources say they are projecting Fant to the second round. After Hockenson, there are some evaluators who like the potential of tight ends like Alabama’s Irv Smith Jr, UCLA’s Caleb Wilson, San Jose State’s Josh Oliver, Washington’s Drew Sample and San Diego State’s Kahale Warring.
