Tight end/Fullback
Florida
6-2 243
40 time: 4.58
Draft board overall prospect rank: #77
Draft board tight end rank: #4
Overall rating: 73*
2/25/10: There aren’t a ton of tight ends under 6-3. There are some, Dustin Keller at 6-2, but after Hernandez measured in at 6-2 with short 32 ¼ inch arms, his value becomes more limited. He’s a great athlete and can run and catch well, but he can’t do much else. He’s not much of a blocker and he hasn’t run a lot of pro style routes.
1/11/10: Aaron Hernandez’s draft stock depends on how he does at the combine, and no, I don’t mean 40 time, I mean height. Hernandez is listed as 6-3 which is already on the short side for a tight end, but if he measures up at shorter than that, which wouldn’t be the first time that has happened, teams might get scared off seeing him as a 6-2 or even 6-1 “tight end.” If he measures up that short, he may be viewed as a fullback longterm and that will send him falling to the 4th or 5th round. However, if he measures at 6-3, he could go in the 2nd round as the 2nd tight end off the board, before Dennis Pitta (I guess this was what they meant when they said football was a game of inches). Besides his height, Hernandez is an outstanding athlete. He has excellent bulk at 250 pounds, which is actually thicker and stronger than it seems because of his height, and he should run a 40 in the mid 4.5s. He is a former #1 tight end recruit. He caught 34 balls for 381 yards and 5 scores last year as a mere true sophomore, filling in during 11 starts for Cornelius Ingram. In 2009, with Ingram on the Eagles, Hernandez took the starting tight end job and ran with it, catching a team leading 68 passes, and 850 yards, most of any Division I tight end. He won the John Mackey award for the top tight end in the nation and had his 2nd best game in the Sugar Bowl, with 111 yards. If he measures up as a tight end longterm, his is going to be a tremendous matchup problem with his combination of bulk and speed, at only age 20. He’s not a great blocker, but he has the frame to become one. If he measures up at less than 6-3, there is a small possibility that a team tries to convert him to a wide receiver, but that would not make the best use of his bulk, and he’s not a great route runner. He’s also not terribly fast for his height and being fast and tall are the two real attributes you need athletically as a wide receiver, rather than bulk and speed, which the full back and tight end positions would require. As a fullback alone, I think he would be the first fullback taken purely on potential, but with his potential to play other positions, he would be by far the top fullback prospect. In the open field he’s extremely tough to bring down and runs with great intent. His hands, either as a tight end, or out of the backfield as a fullback, are very soft and refined for his age. I have my doubts about his ability to play the tight end position in the NFL and establish himself as a big tight end target, mostly because, from what I’ve seen of him, I doubt he’s quite 6-3 and Florida does have a history of listing their athletes as bigger than they are. However, if he proves me wrong, he deserves to be the 2nd tight end off of the board because his athleticism and potential completely blows out of that of Dennis Pitta, my current #2 tight end. He’s faster, bulkier, and already more productive than Pitta, who is 24. All that he needs to do is measure up.
NFL Comparison: Benjamin Watson
*= For a breakdown of what this means, click here
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