Overview
Position: Tight End
Height: 6’7″
Weight: 252 pounds
School: Stanford Cardinal
Combine Performance Data
40-yard dash: 4.77 seconds
Bench press: 18 reps
Vertical jump: 32.5 inches
Broad jump: 9 feet, 1 inch
Three-cone drill: 7.15 seconds (tied for fifth-best among tight ends)
20-yard shuttle: 4.46 seconds
Colby Parkinson 2020 NFL Draft Profile
Stanford head coach David Shaw was highly sold on Colby Parkinson. Consequently, Parkinson was highly sold on the Cardinal program as he was the second commit of Shaw’s 2017 class, giving his pledge to the school in December 2015. Stanford was certainly happy to have him that early as Rivals.com eventually rated him as the second-best tight end prospect of 2017. In time, he would become the latest Cardinal tight end who had potential at the next level.
Parkinson was fairly productive despite occupying a reserve role as a true freshman, scoring four touchdowns on just 10 receptions. A year later, he formed a dynamic tight end partnership with Kaden Smith as the two combined for 1,120 receiving yards and nine touchdowns with Parkinson accounting for seven of them. His production from a scoring standpoint took a bit of a hit in 2019 as he managed just a single touchdown catch. But he did total a career-high 589 yards receiving and garnered second-team all-conference recognition from the Pac-12.
Strengths
- quintessential traits prospect with ideal size/build for an NFL-caliber tight end;
- boasts an ideal catch radius;
- capable of making underneath and over-the-top catches;
- can line up all over the line of scrimmage;
- route-running has impressive crispness;
- effortlessly hauls in catches with soft hands;
- able to find the gaps in zone coverage;
- has legitimate Y-tight end value.
Weaknesses
- contested catch ability is a bit subpar;
- doesn’t haul in balls that he should given aforementioned catch radius;
- a bit of a foot-gatherer when changing direction;
- struggles to anchor defenders effectively when run-blocking;
- has issues separating from physical defensive backs;
- gets out-leveraged by maulers as a blocker;
- pretty easy to bring down for a player of his size;
- declared for the draft despite just a single touchdown catch as a junior.
NFL Comparison: Jesse James
Teams With Need at Position: Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins
Projection: Fourth to fifth round
Bottom Line
It’s pretty obvious at first glance that Colby Parkinson looks the part of an NFL tight end. His 6’7″ stature is just what pro teams with a need at the position are looking for and there are plenty of indications that he can use that size to dominate as part of a dynamic passing attack. He’s a confident catcher of the football and can make plays on all three levels of the defense. Simply put, he fits the mold of the modern NFL tight end from an overall skill set standpoint.
But Parkinson is far from a finished product. Being able to make an impact at tight end in the NFL requires significant blocking acumen and he has a lot of work to do in that regard. He does make sharp route transitions but gathers his feet too much at the stem which makes it hard for him to separate from athletic corners and safeties. Being able to fine-tune these deficiencies in his game will ensure that he eventually garners regular reps as a starter at the next level.
