Top 10 tight-ends in the 2021 NFL Draft

#6 2021 NFL Draft Prospect: John Bates (Boise State)

6' 5½", 260 pounds; RS SR

John Bates

A former three-star recruit in 2016, Bates redshirted his first year on campus and was a backup for all but two of the 14 games his freshman season.

He took over as a starter midway through the following year and has been since then, but never was much involved in the pass game. In 30 games in the last three seasons, he caught only 44 passes for 545 yards and two touchdowns. But once more, he has risen upthe draft board with a strong showing at the Senior Bowl, where he was a late addition.

Bates presents pretty much ideal measurements for a true Y tight-end and spent 85 percent of snaps these last three years in-line, with a lot of those as an offset wing. Overall as a blocker, he initiates with low hands and rolls his hips through contact, with a non-stop leg drive to actually finish guys.

Bates routinely creates vertical movement on edge defenders, but he also does a great job of bringing his hips around, to execute reach-blocks at the point of attack of wide zone runs. You see him create some lateral push against interior defensive linemen and more so defensive ends lined up just inside him, when coming in on an angle, getting underneath the near arm-pit and digging guys out of the gap.

At the same time, he is comfortable working up to the second level when his gap is unoccupied and puts his wide frame in front of them, while being able to move them backwards when he catches them in unfavorable situations. When he’s asked to lead up into the hole, Bates brings some thump at first contact and he gets chippy with those guys, pushing defenders around until the whistle.

Bates also to a high success rate performing cut-blocks with proper technique, working across the legs of defenders, to actually sweep them off their feet. When he is detached from the line and has DBs lined up over him, he can overwhelm guys and take them for a ride in the run game. He also excels at neutralizing people when getting out to the edges, as he leads the way on end-arounds and sweeps.

Bates was a late add for the Senior Bowl, who I didn’t have on my original list, but he made me look him up, because of the way he was moving and the target he presented as a big body. He had several nice catches outside his frame, showing strong hands to hold onto the ball through contact a few times.

He can effectively gets to his landmarks on vertical routes and doesn’t look back to the quarterback until he’s entered the appropriate throwing window, often times knocking away the hands of underneath defenders trying to slow him down, and then presents an attractive target down the seams. He doesn’t give away his breaks prematurely with his eyes or hips and then can bend off either foot pretty well for those 90-degree cuts.

He successfully uses hand-swipes and lowers his pads to get off press-coverage as a slot receiver and coming from an offense that utilizes plenty of bootlegs, he has a good feel for peeling off and making himself available in the flats. He displays an understanding for pacing and setting up routes, as he releases at lower speed and then bursts into open space.

Overall, Bates had five drops on 52 catchable targets in his career, but none came in last year’s short season. He has gotten much better with not allowing the ball to get into his body and putting it away as defenders come up on him, or using his body as a shield on hook routes. He turns upfield instantly after securing the catch and consistently falls forward after getting hit from the side

Be that as it may, Bates is certainly more effective at getting off the line than he is explosive and he doesn’t make the sharpest cuts as a route-runner. A 4.8 in the 40 at his size (about 260 at the Broncos’ pro day) isn’t too bad, but it’s nothing special either.

Last season, he wasn’t really a threat down the field, with only two receptions on passes of 10+ yards across the line of scrimmage and he has never scared defenses a whole lot with the ball in his hands, breaking just four tackles on 47 career catches. As a blocker, he can get overly aggressive at times, charging at off-ball defenders and not being able to redirect anymore, as well as in tight quarters, when defenders are more technically versed at using their hands to pull him off themselves.

John Bates is basically a slightly lesser version of Boston College’s Hunter Long. The effort and work he puts in as a run-blocker are excellent, he presents a big target down the seams and is a no-nonsense player after the catch. The big difference is that Long ran the 40 in 0.17 seconds faster and has done it against a higher level of competition already.

Nevertheless, Bates to me is my favorite day three target in terms of a traditional Y tight-end, who can be a quality starter in the right situation, likely with more of a dynamic receiving option to pair up with. He can move defenders on kick return teams as well, which adds value.