Everybody in the NFL is looking for the new “Gronk”.

Since coming into the league in 2010 Rob Gronkowski has dominated and , in my opinion, cemented his place as the best tight end we’ve ever seen play. At an athletic 6’6 265 Gronk is a mismatch for any defender he comes up against. He has great hands, savvy route running , elite blocking and is excellent in creating yards after the catch with his sheer physicality.

Unfortunately, as you can imagine, finding another Gronk is nigh on impossible. Instead teams have put a premium on finding athletic tight ends who can create similar mismatches as receivers even if their blocking is somewhat lacking. Enter Penn State’s Mike Gesicki..

Mike Gesicki arrived at Penn State as a 4 star recruit out of Southern Regional High School in New Jersey. He had a very successful high school career, finishing as the all time leading receiver for the football team , all time leading scorer for the basketball team and ended up as one of the top volleyball prospects in the country. In fact his first scholarship offer from Penn State was to play volleyball.

He had minimal play time his first two years at Penn State before exploding on to the scene as a junior. Gesicki was a key cog in Penn State’s high flying offense his last two seasons and ended up as a semi-finalist for the Mackey Award in 2017 which is given annually to the nations best tight end.

Finished his career at Penn State as the all time leader in receptions, yards and touchdowns for a tight end. Not bad for a guy they initially wanted to play volleyball.



Personality wise Gesicki would best be described as fiercely competitive. Penn State’s coaches have remarked that he would always be the last off the practice field in spring. Whether it was hitting extra sleds or catching passes with fellow 2018 draft prospect Daesean Hamilton, Gesicki always tried do that little bit extra and set an example for others.

Freak athlete

At 6’5 242 (Senior Bowl measurements) Mike Gesicki is an athletic specimen. He has long limbs (84″ wingspan) , huge hands (10 1/4″) and a frame that can easily hold another 20lbs. Every year Bruce Feldman produces a “Freaks of college football” article (https://www.si.com/college-football/2017/07/05/freaks-list-workout-warriors-2017) which talks about the best pound for pound athletes in college football. Here’s Gesicki’s section:

37″ vertical + 10’11 broad jump are truly insane hops for a 6’5 tight end and they show up on the tape time and time again. It will be very interesting to see how he performs at the combine. I’d estimate he runs a 4.7/4.8 which is fine for a TE (Note: He has a tendency to look quite awkward and uncoordinated when he moves which can belie his overall athleticism).

What makes Gesicki dangerous as a receiver is his potent blend of size, ball skills and athleticism. At 6’5 240 he has the frame to box out most defenders and has the soft hands+body control to take advantage of each opportunity.

Per PFF Mike Gesicki had the 4th lowest drop rate (3.39) among FBS TEs in 2017 with 2 drops on 59 catchable targets.

Creates separation with his route from the slot, turns fluidly to catch it back-shoulder and get his foot down. High level reception.

Route out of slot again , goes 1 v 1 with a safety and easily boxes him out with his frame.

Look at how graceful he is in the air for a big guy. Flies off the ground, high points it and gets the foot down. Very rare to see a tight end with body control this good.

Air Gesicki shows off his hops and comes down with the catch. There wasn’t a thing the Michigan players could do to stop him either. 50-50 balls are more like 80-20 with him. Can be more physical at the top of his routes but generally he comes out on top.

Downfield route. 1 v 1 with a defender , plucks it out of the sky with one hand.

As you can imagine his skill-set makes him a deadly red zone option. Here he fakes as if he’s blocking for a WR screen, gets a 1 v 1 match-up and wins on the back shoulder for an easy TD.

While Gesicki’s strength is clearly in contested catch situations he is a pretty good route runner too. He shows a keen understanding of how to get open and has surprisingly nimble footwork in and out of his routes.

Look at Gesicki (#88) on the bottom of the screen.

Uses shoulder and head fakes paired with quick feet to open up the safeties hips and break inside. Didn’t get the ball but it illustrates a receiver who knows what he’s doing and knows how to leverage a defender in space.

Penn State liked to use Gesicki as a wing or H-back to get him out in space quickly. Probably not the safest way to earn extra yards but I admire his ambitious attempt to leap over the defender.

Blocking

If all a tight end had to do in the NFL was catch passes then Gesicki would be an easy projection. He has all the tools and skills to be a nightmare for NFL defenses to stop. Unfortunately tight ends in the NFL still have to block. What makes someone like Gronk so special is he’s a nightmare as a receiver AND an amazing blocker, both in run and pass.

Good blocking is mostly a combination of effort and technique. Gesicki’s technique is routinely below par but its his lackluster effort that really lets him down.

Gesicki is asked to make a block on the edge and gets bulldozed. Just way too passive. Defender goes through him for a shortcut.

Same thing here. He’s asked to make a block on a linebacker up the middle and comes in way too soft. Lets his man initiate the contact, shunts him back and makes the tackle. He’s perfectly capable of matching up physically with defenders, but if your effort and technique is this bad its irrelevant.

Washington safety flies down to the backfield. Gesicki delivers a really soft push and he ends up making the tackle. No bueno

Comes across the line of scrimmage to block off the edge on a play action. Lunges too early and allows the pressure.

Doesn’t see the corner blitzing until its too late. Blitz recognition is consistently poor.

So far the only blocks I’ve seen Gesicki consistently pull off are cut blocks.

Being a bad blocker isn’t a death sentence for a tight end but its certainly going to limit your versatility and ability to get on the field. A lot of the discussion with Gesicki this draft cycle will be based around “Can we get him to block?”. His physical traits suggest yes but the list of tight ends who simply never learned how to become a good blocker is long. On a positive note he’s at least aware of the problem and by all accounts has been working constantly to fix it.

Conclusion

Gesicki has the potential to be one of the best tight ends in the league. He has a rare combination of size, ball skills and athleticism that will allow him to thrive in the NFL. His aversion to blocking is hard to ignore but even if he never develops that further he’s still going to be dangerous weapon in the pass game.

He’s more comfortable running routes from the slot so I’d imagine a lot of his early usage will be as a pure receiver more so than in-line where he’ll be asked to make difficult blocks. (Note for fantasy)

Intangible wise he has every draft cliche you could think of. Hard working, smart, leader, grinds film etc etc etc. Completely clean off the field.

Pro comp: a more polished Julius Thomas (On the surface it might seem an odd comp but they have a very similar game, also the comp is to the Broncos version not the bloated Jaguars/Dolphins Julius Thomas)

– Jack