{"id":109621,"date":"2021-04-10T12:00:46","date_gmt":"2021-04-10T16:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=109621"},"modified":"2025-09-25T12:01:41","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T16:01:41","slug":"2021-nfl-draft-noah-gray-player-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2021\/04\/10\/2021-nfl-draft-noah-gray-player-profile\/","title":{"rendered":"2021 NFL Draft: Noah Gray Player Profile"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Noah Gray 2021 NFL Draft Overview<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Position: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tight end<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Height:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 6-foot-3 \u215d\u201d<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Weight: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">240-pounds<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Arms: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">31 \u00bd\u201d<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Hands: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">9 \u215c\u201d<br \/>\n<\/span><b>School: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Duke<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Pro Day Performance Data<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>40-yard dash: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4.52<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Vertical: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">35\u201d<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Broad: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">115\u201d<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Three-cone: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6.72<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Bench press: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">15<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2021-nfl-draft-profiles\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>More 2021 NFL Draft Profiles<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><b>Noah Gray 2021 NFL Draft Profile<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a Massachusetts native, Gray played his high school football for Leominster Senior High School where he earned himself a three-star recruitment ranking. After committing to Duke, Gray saw immediate playing time as a true freshman in 2017. It was an underwhelming season in which he caught just five passes for 37 yards and two touchdowns. While Gray again played in all 13 games the following season as a 2018 sophomore, he pieced together just an average season. Gray caught just 20 passes for 234 yards and one touchdown as he built upon his previous season. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, as a Junior in 2019, Gray had his best statistical collegiate season as he played in all 12 games and made 11 starts. Gray hauled in 51 passes for a total of 392 yards and three touchdowns and earned himself a second-team All-ACC selection as well as Academic All-ACC honors. Last season as a senior, Gray put together a solid year given the Covid-19 circumstances. Gray was named a team captain and started in all 10 games in which he caught 29 passes for 285 yards along with two touchdowns. Gray ranked second among ACC tight ends in catches and receiving yards as well as earning himself an invite to the Reese\u2019s Senior Bowl and again earning Academic All-ACC honors.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Strengths<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">High school quarterback who made the switch into a productive college tight end;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gray\u2019s natural hands and natural feel for route running jumps out;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Impressive three-cone time which translates to his route running quickness on the field;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brings versatility as he spent time within the backfield as well as the slot for Duke;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gray has nice size for the move tight end position.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Weaknesses<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite his size, he needs to add much more functional strength for the NFL level;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Will be less than ideal within an in-line blocking role due to his lack of strength;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Does not have elite vertical speed and will likely struggle to separate on downfield routes at the next level;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just average yards after the catch ability.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>NFL Comparison: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/K\/KeenDa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dalton Keene<\/a>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Teams With Need at Position: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers, Tennessee Titans<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Projection: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fifth Round<\/span><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<h3><b>Bottom Line on Noah Gray<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gray certainly has upside to his game, but he also has several holes. His route running and natural hands coupled with his background as a quarterback will intrigue some teams. However, Gray\u2019s lack of strength and ability to block limits his role significantly and will be a scheme fit, snap specific player at the next level. Furthermore, Gray will need to produce on special teams if he hopes to stick within the NFL as he develops the physical side of his game. Additionally, Gray\u2019s limited speed and after the catch production puts his ceiling as an athletic, quality number two tight end. Gray&#8217;s athleticism, short-area quickness, and versatility to align within the slot as well as the backfield will make him an asset on underneath routes and situation-specific downs. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2021-nfl-draft-profiles\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>More 2021 NFL Draft Profiles<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Main photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"IMaJK-p4RVVZCixBm8rS4A\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1043670058\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'IMaJK-p4RVVZCixBm8rS4A',sig:'rFOJe3VAYTOMj1oyQrYOBNfYFaOsmV-phEl07qasy0Y=',w:'594px',h:'475px',items:'1043670058',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Noah Gray 2021 NFL Draft Overview Position: Tight end Height: 6-foot-3 \u215d\u201d Weight: 240-pounds Arms: 31 \u00bd\u201d Hands: 9 \u215c\u201d School: Duke Pro Day Performance Data 40-yard dash: 4.52 Vertical: 35\u201d Broad: 115\u201d Three-cone: 6.72 Bench press: 15 More 2021 NFL Draft Profiles Noah Gray 2021 NFL Draft Profile As a Massachusetts native, Gray played [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3217,"featured_media":109688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1647,33760],"tags":[2030,7960],"class_list":["post-109621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-draft","category-profiles","tag-nfl-draft-profiles","tag-noah-gray"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109621"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247007,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109621\/revisions\/247007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}