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#2 Jared Pinkney, Vanderbilt
This 6’4”, 240-pound Commodore actually put up the best numbers of anybody in this group. Pinkney caught 50 passes for 774 yards and seven touchdowns last season. He is the most traditional Y tight end, who spends the majority of snaps with his hand in the dirt.
Pinkney Has a strong grip and can turn defenders’ bodies, he excels at sealing the backside off zone run plays and puts in the effort as a blocker downfield when a fellow receiver catches the ball. He has a unique way of avoiding contact with defenders when he gets into his routes and does a great job slipping out into his route after faking the run. Once he has the ball secured, he invites collisions after the catch and consistently gains extra through defenders.
Pinkney might not be the type of dynamic vertical threat as some of these other guys are, but he is a big, reliable target who Kyle Shurmur seemed very comfortable targeting over the deep middle last year. You won’t see him just run away from defenders, but he catches the ball with his hands, can box out and just won’t go down without a fight.
