NFL Draft 2017: Ranking the top 5 tight ends

Tight ends have become a key part of any dynamic NFL offense. Which college stars at the position offer the best potential in this year’s NFL Draft?

In today’s NFL, tight ends have become vital cogs on offense as teams place a premium on passing games. No longer is the tight end merely a sixth blocker on the line, though that remains another critical part of the job description.

Ultimately, though, identifying young tight ends that can run effective routes and create coverage mismatches is necessary for every franchise. Nowhere is that more critical than at NFL Draft time.

Sometimes as we evaluate where players stand ahead of the draft, we place too much of a premium on the standout performances of workout warriors who dazzled at the NFL Combine. Sometimes we let a downturn during one’s senior year cloud our memory of how players performed as juniors.

To evaluate the top five tight ends available, we’ve worked to incorporate players’ performances over their final two seasons of college play as well as accounting for Combine performances. Click ahead to see which five tight ends came out on top in the evaluation.

Before you ask, no, Alabama’s OJ Howard was not overlooked as he came up as the sixth-best tight end in this year’s class, according to my evaluation.