Dilly Dilly!
But The ever spectacular Troy Niklas was in today for a work out. Strange! Here is a Draft report on him from 2014:
Troy Niklas
School: Notre Dame
Position: Tight end
Height: 6-foot 6
Weight: 270 pounds
For many, it was a surprise that Notre Dame tight end Troy Niklas entered the 2014 NFL Draft after only starting the 2013 season for the Fighting Irish. Niklas replaced Tyler Eifert, who won the 2012 Mackey Award for being the nation's best tight end. He did not put up similar numbers that Eifert did, but the size and potential is there for Niklas to make an impact at the next level.
Niklas did not run the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine and sat out the Notre Dame pro day with an abdominal injury, but did he participate in the other events during the NFL Combine. Niklas proved his strength by doing 27 reps of 225 pounds in the bench press, running a 7.57 in the 3-cone drill and showcasing a 32-inch vertical jump.
Prospect breakdown:
Niklas is one of the most complete tight ends in the draft. Personally, I believe that he is the best in-line blocker out of all of the tight ends in this draft class. Notre Dame consistently ran behind him, and it was obvious why when watching him on film. Niklas is a physical blocker and a strong striker with his upper body. He delivers a violent punch to the defender before sticking onto his opponent or drives them back. He also delivers a powerful chip block when he is asked, before getting into his passing route.
Notre Dame moved Niklas all over the field, creating mismatches for their opponents. He would lineup on the line, in a tight end flex position, in the slot or out wide. Against Southern California, there was a play where he lined up in the slot, ran a wheel route and made a fingertip, over-the-shoulder catch for a first down.
In the passing game, Niklas was under-utilized last season. Out of his 32 receptions, only three of them came inside the opponents red zone. With a Rob Gronkowski-like frame and good enough hands, I would expect him to be a red zone monster in the NFL. He does not run the most crisp routes but he uses his size to gain leverage. Once he develops as a route runner, expect him to be a major mismatch on the next level. His straight line speed has been questioned by NFL scouts, but he runs the seam pattern pretty well, which is key to a tight end of his size.
All in all, I would have liked to seen a larger sample size for Niklas in the passing game. It is hard to judge him as a pass catcher because he was not asked to do much at Notre Dame with such an average quarterback under center in Tommy Rees. It seems that he only ran seam routes with a few options off of the route: curl routes, in routes or out routes. Niklas will be an excellent blocker in the NFL right away, which will get him on the field quickly. But he will need to develop more as a receiving tight end. Being under-utilized and only starting one season at Notre Dame has limited Niklas a receiver but he will develop in the NFL.
Where would he fit in New England?
Niklas is another big bodied tight end with similar size to Gronkowski. He does not have the same hands as Washington's Austin Seferian-Jenkins but he is a better blocker than the Washington tight end. Because Niklas is already an excellent blocker with receiving upside, I could see the Patriots drafting the Notre Dame product, lining him up in two tight end sets to create a devastating blocking combination or a serious size mismatch in the passing game with Gronkowski.
Niklas would be a mismatch for opposing defenses and he would give Tom Brady another 6-foot-6 target in the red zone, something the Patriots have had trouble with when Gronkowski has been sidelined with injury.
Where could the Patriots draft him?
While many believe that Niklas left school a year too soon, he will most likely be the fourth tight end taken in the NFL Draft, which will be somewhere in between the second and third rounds. It depends on where Jace Amaro and Seferian-Jenkins get drafted, as all mock drafts have them going before Niklas but at best he will be drafted in the middle of the second round and at worst he will drop to the third round.
Rather have Gronk but oh, the speculation.
DW Toys
