The latest in a series on top prospects by position leading up to the April 26-27 NFL Draft:
Top prospects: TE | QB | OT | G-C | OLB | ILB
At the end of the 2007 college season, Southern California's Fred Davis was considered the top tight end prospect in the country.
He's a converted receiver.
Some teams still consider Davis the top tight end in this year's draft, but on other boards that distinction goes to Purdue's Dustin Keller.
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| Purdue's Dustin Keller is more than 30 pounds heavier than he was as a frosh wideout. (Getty Images) |
You see a trend? With the spread offense becoming more and more prevalent in the college game and more teams willing to throw the football on early downs, converted receivers are now the wave at the tight end position.
The NFL loves it.
"We all want those get-down-the-middle players, the Antonio Gates-type of tight end," one NFC personnel director said. "The way these converted receivers play it's tough to find the old-time tight ends, the guys who could block and catch. But with the passing game becoming more of a factor, that's not as big a problem as it once was."
What teams do now is have a pass-catching tight end and a blocking tight end who is really a glorified offensive tackle. Problem solved.
Ideally, you would still love to have one who could do both. But those are rare. Gates is more receiver than blocker for the San Diego Chargers. The other top tight ends fall into the same class. There's Jason Witten (Cowboys), Todd Heap (Ravens), Tony Gonzalez (Chiefs) and Jeremy Shockey (Giants). They might be willing blockers, but the strength of their games is their ability to catch the football.
Combo guys, those who can do both at the tight end spot, are going the way of the leather helmets.
The new breed of tight ends are called "move" tight ends, players who can either be used as H-backs or flexed off the line of scrimmage.
That type of player means more passing. That's always good. What would you rather see, an in-line tight end hooking a defensive end on a running play or a move tight end getting into the seam for a 40-yard catch-and-run?
For players like Davis and Keller, it's a good trend.
Davis came to USC from Toledo, Ohio, where he played receiver and running back. The Trojans moved him to tight end and he bulked up and became the John Mackey Award winner last season as the nation's best tight end.
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The move can sometimes be tough for a player, but Davis said he had no trouble with the adjustment.
"I thought about playing receiver when I first came to them," Davis said. "But when I came back in the fall, I came back at 240. I told them, 'I'll try any position you want.' They told me tight end."
On an offense loaded with skill talent, including Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart, Davis backed up Dominique Byrd in 2005, took over as the starter in 2006 and flourished in 2007.
He caught 62 passes for 881 yards, both team highs, and scored eight touchdowns. It became an every-game thing to see Davis turn a short pass into a big play with his ability to run after the catch.
It was that ability that had him pegged by many scouts as the top tight end. But he had a bad workout at the NFL Scouting Combine, dropping several passes, and Keller stole the show, showing off great athletic skills.
That moved Keller ahead on some boards, but Davis redeemed himself with a big Pro Day workout at USC in early April. He caught the ball well and was timed at 4.68 in the 40.
"Getting downfield, stretching the field one-on-one against a linebacker or a safety, that's probably my strong point," Davis said.
The same is true for Keller. Playing in coach Joe Tiller's spread passing offense at Purdue, Keller was named the team MVP last season when he caught 68 passes for 881 yards and seven touchdowns.
At 242 pounds, he was nearly 32 pounds over the 210 he weighed when he came to the Boilermakers as a freshman receiver.
"I was recruited as a receiver, and the first time really getting in the weight room and put on some weight and slowly but surely they made that transition in the spring time, and I became a tight end," Keller said.
It's a transition that will make Keller and Davis a lot of money. Those two as receivers would probably have no chance to play in the NFL. As tight ends, they should be off the board by the end of the second round.
"I completely feel like a tight end now," Keller said. "It's been a transition in the making the past three years, but I definitely feel like a tight end."
A tight end who, like Davis, still has a lot of receiver in him, which is a good thing in this pass-happy league.
