2022 NFL Draft Profile: Colorado State TE Trey McBride
2022 NFL Draft Profile: Colorado State TE Trey McBride
The Rams tight end showed out throughout his college football career and the pre-draft process. What do NFL teams like about him?
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The best at his position in this year’s class.
Trey McBride, the John Mackey award winner and Colorado State’s first unanimous All-American, is projected to be the first tight end taken in the 2022 NFL Draft. The 22-year-old from Fort Morgan, Colorado looks to follow in the footsteps of fellow Fort Morgan/CSU alum Joel Dreessen.
McBride could’ve left after the shortened 2020 COVID season and gotten drafted, but he came back to improve his draft stock and play one more year with his brother Toby.
It turned out to be a very good decision. McBride put up the best season for a tight end in Colorado State history with 90 catches, 1,121 yards (the first Rams tight end to go over 1,000 yards) and one receiving touchdown. He also added a 69-yard punt fake touchdown to his resume. He looks to parlay that performance into a long NFL career.
Measurables (taken from Mockdraftable)
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 246 pounds
Wingspan: 78″
Arm: 32 5/8″
Hand: 10 1/8″
40-yard time – 4.56 seconds
10-yard split time – 1.60 seconds
Shuttle time – N/A
3-cone drill time – N/A
Vertical – 33″
Broad Jump – 9’9″
Highlights
Strengths
McBride can be a nasty SOB. He prides himself on his physicality both blocking and after the catch. His ability to get downfield on blocks is another pride point for him. He’s shown the ability to make physical contested catches and athletic catches. To go along with those catch abilities is McBride’s ability to track the ball in the air.
He has above average speed and knows how to read defenses to know when to settle into the soft spots in zone coverage. And he has shown the ability to gain separation at the top of routes. He runs through tackles and doesn’t go down easy as he keeps his legs churning to gain a few more yards.
Weaknesses
McBride has shown inconsistency as a blocker at times. One play he’s pancaking a DL or LB into the ground and the next he’s on the ground because he didn’t have the right leverage and the defender pulled past him. McBride also has the tendency to duck his head into contact as a blocker.
He has below average speed out of the gate, at least on tape, and he doesn’t have consitent speed. McBride only had one touchdown in 2021 and as much as that was a product of the offense and double/triple teams in the red zone, he hasn’t shown a consistent finishing ability outside of one game against the Florida Gators in his freshman year.
NFL Comparison
McBride himself says he models his game after George Kittle and you can definitely see that in his game and in their similar measurements. However, Kittle has shown that he can outplay his college tape. McBride needs to show that and that is why Hunter Henry feels like a better comparison. McBride has the better college production and it still remains to be seen if he can live up to the Kittle reputation he put on himself.
Draft Prediction
McBride has the talent to be one of the top tight ends in the league. And plenty of analysts and scouts feel the same way. There are some doubts about his finishing and ability to be a consistent blocker, but he’s still the top tight end in this years draft. Expect him to be drafted from the late first to somewhere in the second round.
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