Kuithe is not getting a lot of love in 2024 draft projections

[ProudUte]

They say he will get drafted in the 6th or 7th round. I don’t get it.
Going into the 2022 season, he was considered our top receiver, even higher than Kincaid who was picked in the first round. Are the prognosticators concerned about his injury? Do they think he is not a real tight end?
I have always been a huge Kuithe fan and I hope he has 1000 receiving yards this season and also becomes a 1st round pick.
By the way, the article I read on the 2024 draft considers Bishop to be our highest pick (maybe 3rd round).

[Utah]

Unfortunately he is too small and too slow to play TE in the NFL. It’s why last summer they made such a big deal about him moving to WR and playing in the slot more. He has talent, he just needs to show NFL teams how they can use him without him being split wide as a WR or on the line of scrimmage as a TE. 

If he makes it, it will be as a special teams superstar and some sort of slot receiver. 

His best bet this year, is to be everywhere. At TE, as a wingback, in the backfield, in the slot. He has to show versatility. 

[Gilly Boy 94]

yes he seems undersized for TE……but disagree about his speed.  He’s actually very fast and nimble compared to other tight ends, likely a result of him being slighty smaller.

 

[NarfUte]

He projects as a tweener. Not a prototypical NFL TE or WR. 

[AlohaUte]

It’s strange to me. I understands his measurable aren’t ideal, but Kuithe was vastly outperforming Kincaid prior to his injury. Performance ought to count for something.

[Utegator]

Yeah, it seems strange to me as well. It was pretty obvious they considered him number TE 1 before he went down. 

[CB]

idk how NFL people don’t view Kuithe as a Cooper Kupp lite type of player. That should be worth at least a round 3 pick imo

[NarfUte]

The draft is all about measurables. If Brant has a Cooper Kupp type year (1600+ yards receiving…) he’ll go higher. Kupp had like 6500 yards receiving in 4 years at EWU and only got picked in the 3rd rd.

[chinngiskhaan]

6500 yards??? Holy ballsack dude. That is unreal!

[NarfUte]

Yeah, 125 yds/game. It was FCS but it’s an NCAA record across all divisions. 

[EagleMountainUte]

Besides the measurables he has never been very good at blocking. Especially one on one. So he really isn’t a TE/HB. He runs good routes and really good hands but is undersized. 

[AZUTE]

Average NFL WR is 6’2” 200 lbs
For TEs it’s 6’4” 250 lbs

Kuithe is 6’2” 220 lbs a tweener if there ever was one. He’s not fast enough to be an outside receiver and not big enough to be an end of the line TE. Not a great blocker so HB/FB is out.

You have to move him around and create mismatches for him to be successful. Overpower smaller DBs or run away from bigger LBs kind of thing.

[Charlie]

Yes, Kuithe is a tweener that we have always called a TE. He is a slot receiver that is bigger than most that can slide in and be helpful blocking at the end of the line, better than most SRs but less effective than most TEs. The pass catching TEs in the NFL are bigger. Note that there is not a shorter or lighter TE in Utah’s room. I would think he would benefit from just calling him a SR like other teams view him.

Kincaid and Kuithe don’t play the same roll so they should not be compared any more that a small scatback RB and a power RB. Still, we know Kuithe can run routes and catch balls inside of a WR. He just needs to be matched with a nickel or better yet a LB. No reason he can’t excel at that as well as anyone and if he returns to ’21 form with some improvement. I think his ’22 goals were better blocking and better routs down field. He will be a key feature in our offense.

[//r00t4Utes]

Just to do a comparison to someone in this draft, my Phins drafted Higgins in the 6th round as a TE. He played WR at Stanford, here are his measurements:

Elijah Higgins Combine Measurements and Results
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 235 pounds
Arm Size: 31 3/4″
Hand Size: 10 1/2″
Bench Press: N/A
40-Yard Dash: 4.54

As a Junior, totaled 44 receptions for 502 yards and four touchdowns. As a senior, Higgins followed that up with 59 receptions for 794 yards and two touchdowns.

[homer]

Narfute is right about NFL and measurables. Ultimately he’s XFL, CFL player.

[stbone]

Shannon Sharpe was a tweener who ended up a top-5 TE at 6’2″ 228 lbs. Also with a pretty pedestrian 4.67 40 time. Kuithe seems like he could slot into that role pretty well. Especially with the improved route running he was showing before his knee injury.

[2008 National Champ]

Shannon Sharpe was also drafted in the 7th round out of Savannah State. So if we go back to the OP, 6th/7th round for Kuithe if we use Sharpe as a comparable would be correct.

I think the larger issue is that fans of any team tend to overvalue the worth of the best players on that team when projecting to the next level. The NFL doesn’t always get it right when evaluating college players but they’ve been doing it for a long time and have their templates. Which is why a barely mediocre college QB like Josh Allen can go in the first round and be a top NFL QB while a consensus college all-american CB like CP6 can drop to the 4th round.

[stbone]

Unless Kuithe has a ridiculous year, I agree, 6-7th is probably about where he will likely get drafted. My response was specifically directed at the comment pointing to CFL/XFL as his ceiling.

To your point, I don’t know that the NFL is much better at projecting talent than a magic 8 ball. But you are right, the scouts do have their template and most of the scouts generally come to a similar consensus based on measurables. Even with that template scouts have a record of at least as many misses as hits. For every Josh Allen, I match you with Ryan Leaf, Carson Wentz, and Tom Brady.

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