Hunter Bryant Overview
Position: Tight end
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 248 lbs
Arms: 32”
Hands: 10 ⅜”
School: Washington
NFL Combine Performance Data
40 Yard Dash: 4.74 seconds
Three Cone Drill: 7.08 seconds
Bench Press: 23 reps
Vertical Jump: 32.5”
Broad Jump: 115”
Hunter Bryant 2020 NFL Draft Profile
Playing his high school football for Washington’s Eastside Catholic, Bryant was a highly-touted prospect. Throughout his high school career, Bryant caught 138 passes for 2,483 yards and 35 touchdowns. The stat line earned Bryant a four-star recruiting status along with being ranked as a top five tight end prospect within the state of Washington. Bryant generated several offers from schools such as UCLA, Penn State, Oklahoma, and Nebraska before choosing to play for Washington.
Bryant finished his 2017 true freshman season with appearances in nine games before having his season cut short due to injury. However, despite his shortened season, Bryant finished with the team’s third most receptions with 22 receptions for 331 yards and a touchdown. Unfortunately, Bryant’s sophomore year was again cut short due to injury and he only played in five games for the Huskies. Bryant returned for a healthy 2019 junior season in which he caught 52 balls for 825 yards and three touchdowns through 12 games. Bryant caught the second most passes for the second most yards by any tight end in Washington history along with earning himself First Team All-Pac-12 honors.
Strengths
- Solid route runner who utilizes his quickness, speed, and football IQ to get open;
- Strong hands and can make contested catches as well as secure the football through traffic;
- Versatile player who excels when aligned in the slot or out of the backfield ;
- Good body control when adjusting to the football and also knows how to box defenders out;
- Impressive burst in the open field with an ability to run away from defenders after the catch;
- Utilizes physicality and body size throughout his routes;
- Plays with a tough competitor attitude.
Weaknesses
- Certainly more of a pass-catcher than a blocker;
- Aligning as a traditional inline tight end will likely negatively affect his route running and ability to get open;
- Needs to add functional lower half strength and clean up his technique in order to become an effective blocker;
- Has some unfortunate drops at times;
- Showed up to combine nearly 10 pounds heavier, curious to see if he can maintain that weight throughout an NFL season.
NFL Comparison: Jordan Reed
Teams With Need at Position: Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots, Atlanta Falcons
Projection: Late second to late third round
Bottom Line on Hunter Bryant
Bryant fits the mold for what many teams are looking for in a modern NFL tight end. While Bryant has demonstrated a willingness to block bigger defenders, it is clearly not something he is great at or grew up doing. However, Bryant’s lack of blocking experience should not heavily affect his draft stock as his route running is at an elite level for the position. Additionally, Bryant’s in game awareness, body control, and contested catch ability make him a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses. Bryant has the speed along with quickness to run free against linebackers and he has the advanced level of route running needed to get open against athletic safeties. Coaches will need to find creative alignments for Bryant as putting him in a traditional tight end alignment will not best utilize his pass catching skills, but he will welcome it. Bryant is most comfortable when given the opportunity to work from the slot or out of the backfield where he can consistently win mismatches. While Bryant struggled with blocking at the collegiate level, he has since added healthy weight which, in theory, should help address the issue.
Main photo:
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