Tre’ McKitty 2021 NFL Draft Overview
Position: Tight End
Height: 6’-4”
Weight: 246 pounds
School: Georgia
Tre’ McKitty 2021 NFL Draft Profile
After spending his final year of collegiate eligibility at Georgia, tight end Tre’ McKitty hopes to continue his football career at the professional level via the NFL Draft. McKitty is coming off of a relatively disappointing year as a pass-catcher, recording just six receptions on nine targets for 108 yards and a touchdown. However, Georgia’s pro-style offense allowed him to show off his much-improved work as a blocker.
Tre’ McKitty began his college football journey as a three-star recruit. Having received offers from Auburn, Georgia, and Miami, the tight end eventually settled on Florida State. McKitty spent most of his time there as a receiver. Throughout his three years with Florida State, McKitty recorded 50 receptions for 520 yards and two touchdowns.
Strengths
- Good receiving ability for the position with a large catch radius;
- Strong runner that can pick up yards after the catch;
- Decent on-field athleticism that should translate to the NFL;
- Can catch the ball away from his body and isn’t afraid to take a hit;
- Has experience playing in the slot;
- Showed some signs of life as a blocker last year;
Weaknesses
- Even with improved tape in 2020, still profiles as a below-average blocker;
- Struggles to beat man coverage;
- Doesn’t run too many routes;
- Scheme-limited receiver that lacks the speed to blow past linebackers;
- Not much lateral agility, won’t shake too many NFL defenders with his cuts;
- 25th percentile dominator is not good for someone whose calling card is in the receiving game.
NFL Comparison: Tim Wright
Teams With Need At Position: New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers, Washington Football Team, Seattle Seahawks, Jacksonville Jaguars
Projection: 5th/6th Round
Bottom Line on Tre’ McKitty
Finding reliable pass-catching tight ends in today’s day and age is one of the hardest tasks in the league. Tre’ McKitty didn’t exactly light up the stat sheet throughout his college tenure, and he ended his career with his least-productive season as a receiver. That said, the Georgia product has the tools to haul in some passes at the NFL level.
Travis Kelce he’s not, but he’ll get his hands on just about anything thrown his way and is hard to take down after the catch. Athleticism is everything at the tight end position, and McKitty appears to have NFL-caliber athleticism. It’s impossible to know for sure with the NFL Combine (Pro Day numbers should always be taken with a grain of salt), but his film is encouraging. Blocking was McKitty’s biggest issue prior to 2020, but he put together some nice tape during his first season at Georgia. If you’re an optimist, you could say that the pro-style scheme played to his strengths.
However, the more likely option is that he a 22-year old dominating teenagers. That improved blocking probably won’t translate against the much higher competition on the NFL, so he’ll be a tight end in name only. This isn’t a great thing for McKitty’s outlook, especially considering he struggles against man and doesn’t have that big of a route tree. He also isn’t the fastest, which means that he’s really only as good as the scheme allows him to be. There’s room in the NFL for players like that, but he probably won’t ever develop into anything more than a league-average TE2.
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