Top 10 tight-ends in the 2021 NFL Draft

#3 2021 NFL Draft Prospect: Brevin Jordan (Miami)

6’ 2½", 245 pounds; JR

Brevin Jordan

A top-50 overall recruit back in 2018, Brevin Jordan immediately became an impact player for the Hurricanes, starting all but one game as a freshman and producing at a solid rate.

He earned first-team All-ACC honors in 2019, catching 35 passes for just under 500 yards, but only two touchdowns. Last season, he went to second-team all-conference, despite improving to 43 grabs for 576 yards and seven scores.

Jordan was the most versatile weapon in the passing game for the Hurricanes these, lining up all over the field. I’d say H-back or wing was his most common alignment for the entirety of his career, even though last season he spent 57 percent of snaps in the slot.

He does a great job of crossing the face of second-level defenders and pinning them inside, in order to get out to the edge on jet sweeps and stuff like that. He is at his best a blocker however, when he can put hands on people in space in the screen game and other areas from the slot, breaking down in space and keeping his hands and base ready to re-position, in order to stay in front of those guy.

However, Jordan also doesn’t mind mixing it up with big defensive end and outside backers as a blocker, when he is lined up at Y or kicking them out on split zone runs. He does a very good job of establishing position and getting his feet moving to either seal defenders on the backside or caving them in on an angle.

Yet, what would get Jordan drafted sometime on day two is the versatility he presents as a pass-catcher; he brought in 105 of 149 career targets and had the ball in his hands on bubble screens and jet sweeps as well.

This guy has some serious burst off the snap and he is a threat to attack down the hashes. Jordan does a nice job of bending his seam routes and quickly giving the quarterback a sign when he’s running free over the middle, while truly splitting the safeties in two-high shells. He was open on shallow post and dig routes a lot and often times didn’t get the ball.

Against man-coverage, I like how Jordan can nod one way and force defenders to open up their hips, before breaking the other direction. He shows urgency to push vertically from the slot position and then creates separation by snapping off for curl or hook routes.

Last season, he averaged 2.93 yards per route run versus man-coverage and a passer rating of just under 140 when targeted overall. Jordan plucks the ball away from his frame consistently and then is a threat to quickly pick up yards after the catch, especially catching the ball in the flats, as he instantly gets vertical and shows good awareness for defenders around him.

He’s pretty shifty with making guys miss, even when corralled by multiple defenders, and doesn’t mind lowering the shoulder on an awaiting defender, constantly falling forward for a couple of extra yards. In 2019, 13 of his 35 receptions (37%) included at least 10 yards of additional yardage after the catch, Overall, he broke 21 tackles on 105 catches in career. On a day when Miami got embarrassed at home by North Carolina late last season, he was the only one producing for the Canes, catching six balls for 140 yards and a score.

Nevertheless, Jordan slips off too many blocks, due to some issues with weight-transition and hand-placement that gets too wide. He doesn’t mind running into bigger defenders, but often is the one bouncing off them or they can pull him to the side because he leans so much into those guys.. You see his pads get rocked by physical edge-setters on several occasions.

Therefore, I don’t see him as a true number one in-line tight-end necessarily, but then running a 4.7 at the Miami pro day doesn’t scream big slot / flex option either. Jordan hasn’t consistently won in contested catch situations yet, hauling in only a third of his 33 chances he has received, where a 31" vertical won’t help him overcome being below-average in height for the position. And while he’s added good mass throughout his career with the Hurricanes, I would think his frame is close to maxed out. So some NFL teams may have a tough time finding a spot for him.

When I watched Jordan throughout his time in Miami, I always thought he reminded me a lot of now-Patriots versatile weapon Jonnu Smith. And just like Smith, I imagine this guy’s talent could be maximized in a similar role.

That is being an H-back first and foremost, moving him around to present matchup problems and pairing him with more of a prototype Y, to where he does more sift-blocking and then slipping into the flats off bootlegs. Teams may find other ways to put the ball in his hand, because he will make something happen with it.

I think there is certainly a drop-off from the first two names, but Jordan is worth a mid day-two pick for an NFL team that knows how to use him.