Multiple reports said Niklas towered over the other tight ends, which is pretty impressive when you consider [Tyler] Eifert is listed at 6-foot-6, [Ben] Koyack at 6-foot-5 and [Alex] Welch and [Jake] Golic 6-foot-4. At what looks like 6-foot-7, and a shredded 250 pounds, Niklas is one of those freakish athletes that will give the Irish plenty of options.
After practice this morning, Kelly discussed what he’s hoping to get from Niklas, who fits a much different profile than the other tight ends on the roster. So much so, that his high school coach compared him to future top NFL pick and former USC left tackle Matt Kalil.
“The first thing that we want him to do is be an in-line blocker for us,” Kelly said of Niklas. “We want to be able to run the ball effectively. We didn’t just put him in there just because he’s 6-7 and we can get a match-up. That’s part of it. We’ve got an athletic tight end in Tyler Eifert. What we were looking for was a bigger body guy that can be a great in-line blocker but can also give us that size element.”
It’s hard not to think of the New England Patriots offense when you consider what Chuck Martin should be able to do with his tight ends. It’s premature to compare Niklas to Rob Gronkowski when he hasn’t caught a pass in college, but the ability to detach Eifert and let him become a gigantic match-up problem with corners and safeties while also having another left tackle-sized tight end on the field gives you some very interesting schematic choices. Kelly, for his part, didn’t shy away from the Patriots comparison.
