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#4 2021 NFL Draft Prospect: Hunter Long (Boston College)
6' 5", 255 pounds; RS JR
Only a three-star recruit, Junter Long redshirted his first year on campus and then only caught four passes in his debut season.
As a sophomore, he caught 28 passes for just over 500 yards and two TDs in 11 games, averaging a crazy 18.2 yards per grab, even though BC used three different TEs at a high rate. Last season, he became more a featured piece for the Eagles, catching 57 passes for 685 yards and five scores, earning first-team All-ACC accolades in the process.
Long presents a massive frame with a 83" wingspan. He spent 77.7% of career snaps in-line and he was one of the key cogs for that BC offense, playing just over 70 snaps per game on average last season.
In 2019, he showed some intriguing traits for a Y tight-end and produced well, but I think he took a big step in 2020. Long is certainly in the discussion for the best in-line blocker at the position in this draft class. He won’t shy away from locking horns with defensive linemen close to the 300-pound mark and consistently moves linebackers off the spot.
He does a great job of squeezing defenders inside and opening up cutback lanes on the backside, where he rolls his hips through contact and keeps his legs churning. At the same time, he effectively keeps moving his feet on reach-blocks or gets out in space on outside touches.
He plays under great balance and with his feet underneath him at all times in that regard. And what I really appreciate is the intelligence to understand, when he has to let go or not put his hands on the backs of defenders to avoid flags, actually throwing his hands up to signal to the refs that he’s not at fault on a few occasions.
Long was also kept in protection quite a bit off those split zone run fakes, where he was asked to come underneath the formation and pick up edge defenders at full charge from the backside, but showed the ability to slow those guys down or ride them past the quarterback. And he was asked to help his tackles with a lot of chips and then released into flat routes.
Long looked so slow and lumber off the snap in 2019, but showed more dynamic ability as a receiver this past year. He can now actually threaten down the seams and clear the second of the defense. He shows an understanding and some light-footedness to get to the appropriate landmarks effectively on vertical routes.
At his best however, Long is running away from defenders on crossing routes, especially off play-action, where he would have had separation much more often than the amount of chances he got would indicate. When he faces press-coverage or has somebody engage with him downfield, Long displays strong hands to knock down the reach of his opponents and open throwing windows.
He displays strong hands and always seems to catch the ball at full extension, while showing no issues bringing in high or low passes. Yet, then he quickly pulls it in and gets North. He made a tremendous diving grab down the seams versus Clemson last year.
Long uses his frame very well to shield defenders from the ball and hauls in passes through contact to great effect, at times with a safety coming over the top of him, which you could classify as hospital passes. Overall, he came up with 11 contested catches last season. And when one of his teammates catches the ball underneath, Long is looking for work and at times drives guys out of the screen.
On the flip side, there’s just not a single athletic trait that really stands out when you watch Long in the pass game. His burst off the ball is still nothing to get overly excited about and there is some slowing down and chopping his feet when he has to make sharper cuts.
He also hasn’t had to deal with a ton of press and needs to became more effective with not allowing defenders to stay over the top of him and influence his route stems, but actually get to their edges. While he puts in good work in the run game, when he is on the backside of run plays, Long needs to be more active with taking that vertical step to seal guys off and not allow them to crash through the C-gap at times.
Long surprised me with a 4.63 in the 40 and a 10' 2" broad jump at BC’s pro day. So by that, you are getting an above-average athlete for the position, who averaged right around ten yards per target for his career, has shown improvement every year in college and can win in tight quarters, as a run-blocker as well as with the ball in the air.
That type of old-school player to me is worth a late day two pick and you don’t have to worry about where you put him, because while he might not be a really impressive weapon in the pass game, he will play with his hand in the dirt for the most part and then can detach as the number three in trips sets on passing downs.
