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**Jags02** · 02-22-2017, 07:12 PM

Quote:Jonnu Smith worth a gamble later-on? Not the tallest though.

That's just it. I'm starting to look at some of these names, and what strikes me early is how tiny several of them are.

Look, Neal Sterling is a small TE and we all know that. I'd like a TE that dwarfs him, but several of these top names are the same size or even smaller including David Njoku, Gerald Everett, Even Ingram and Jonnu Smith. I sort of want to cross out these names on size alone.

Michael Roberts at 6' 4 3/8", 261 is maybe a hair bigger than Sterling but still a tad undersized. Looking up Sterling's official combine numbers, he checked in 6' 3 3/8", 238, so Roberts is a good inch taller and 20 lbs heavier.

As I said earlier, I'm going to start out looking at Roberts projected to go anywhere from round 3 according to Walters to round 6 according to nlfdraftscout. I'll start with JackCity's quote about him from above...

Quote:

I like Michael Roberts the Toledo tight end. He's 6'5 260. He's a great run blocker and with enormous hands (11" 5/8)

Only really had one year starting but had 16 TDs this year 550 yards and helped block for Kareem Hunt.

He's the proper inline tight end who can still make yards in the passing game. Something crazy like 70% of his catches in college have gone for 1st downs or TDs. Can be had in the 3rd or 4th.

So he's still a bit raw but already impressive as a blocker and is good at knowing where the first down or TD marker is when running routes. His projected 40-time is a 4.9, which is typical for NFL TEs but may limit him to shorter routes. Regarding his hands, I read where he had the biggest hands of anyone invited to the Senior Bowl. Also, his 16 TDs was a school record and was the best in college football among TEs last year. I mentioned we need to replace the guy we thought we were getting when we signed Julius, and that was in part a guy who would catch a lot of TDs considering how may he had with the Broncos.

As a blocker, Walter's has an intriguing quote about their #9 ranked TE...

Quote:

Scouting sources said that Roberts could be the best pure Y (blocking) tight end in the 2017 NFL Draft.

A year developing behind Marcedes might do him a world of good. Here's some more from hoghaven.com...

Quote:

While at Toledo Roberts was also used on the outside, in the slot, and as an H-back. Roberts plays every bit to his size while run blocking and is a massive target for short to intermediate yardage...Roberts is almost a 6th offensive lineman showing a good base and great strength and can actually move and control opponents...Lacks initial quickness and quickness getting out of breaks. http://www.hogshaven.com/2017/1/18/14282...roberts-te

His lack of quickness actually makes me think of Marcedes, as does talk of his ability to box out linebackers to position himself for the catch. Watching film at the bottom of this page, they mentioned him having a huge "catch radius" with the ability to catch passes anywhere near his body.

I'll be looking at more TEs, but he does sounds like good bar setter.

'02