Could Penn State TE Mike Gesicki join Saquon Barkley in the first round? 2018 NFL draft breakdown
Mike Gesicki could hear his name called Thursday night.
Gesicki — a threatening tight end who put up 105 catches, 1,242 yards and 14 touchdowns the past two seasons — has first-round potential in this year's NFL draft. The stats and measurables back that up.
And so do some mock drafts. The Washington Post's John Harris and Bleacher Report's Mike Tanier have Gesicki being selected by the New Orleans Saints at No. 27 overall. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Falcons' team site previewed the possibility of Gesicki going a pick earlier, joining Julio Jones, Matt Ryan and company.
"At the end of the day, I've just got to get one team to fall in love with me," Gesicki said. "A team that's like, 'All right, we have a vision for him. We're going to use him here and here.'"
It sounds as if half the NFL South is interested in the first round. However, ESPN and Scouts Inc. expert Steve Muench sees Gesicki as a second-round selection. The pass-catcher earned a Scouts Inc. prospect grade of 81, third-best among tight ends behind South Dakota State's Dallas Goedert and South Carolina's Hayden Hurst.
Here is Muench's full analysis of Gesicki:
Strengths
"What he's better at than the guys ahead of him is his ability to come down with 50-50 balls. His height, his length, his ability to elevate, these are all ridiculous things. His 34 1/8-inch arms; those are offensive tackle arms. To see his 41 1/2-inch vertical and at 6-foot-5 he has that kind of leaping ability, the thing I keep coming back to is, how do you defend that guy if you split him out wide in the red zone? He's a matchup nightmare. I will say the 40 time surprised me a little bit. He ran a 4.54, and I don't think he plays that fast. I don't think he runs that fast on tape. But it's certainly not going to hurt his cause. He can stretch the middle of the field, and he can make plays. He's average to slightly above average after the catch. The thing that sets him apart from everyone in the class, is when you throw up a jump ball, this guy's got a better chance than anyone on the field to come down with it."
Weaknesses
"It's going to be his blocking. It's interesting, too, though. We gave him an average on big-play ability, but it's funny when you watch him on tape, he's not as much of a big-play threat as you would think for a guy that size who runs a 4.54. That being said, he is a marginal blocker. He gets in the way, he gets into position, and he can occupy his guy when he's at his best. But he doesn't have the strength to sustain. He's not a guy who you're going to line up in-line, next to the offensive tackle, in goal line or short-yardage situations."
Summary
"He's going to be a Day 2 guy. But it only takes one team in the first round to fall in love with him. There might be one team that thinks this kid — that thinks you won't find a 6-foot-5 tight end that runs this fast with all these measurements. All it takes is one team. I don't see it happening, but I don't think he'll get out of the second day. We have him at a back-end second-round grade."
This story was originally published April 24, 2018 at 6:55 PM with the headline "Could Penn State TE Mike Gesicki join Saquon Barkley in the first round? 2018 NFL draft breakdown."