The Denver Broncos concluded the second day of the draft Friday night by selecting Ohio State tight end Jeff Heuerman in the third round.
Here are five quick things to know about the the former Buckeyes standout:
- The 6-foot-5, 255-pound TE was a skilled hockey player in youth leagues on through high school and comes from an athletic family with his father, Paul, playing basketball at Michigan and his brother, Mike, playing tight end at Notre Dame.
- Heuerman started every game of his junior and senior seasons at Ohio State, finishing with 52 collegiate catches for 792 yards and seven TDs and earning second-team All-Big Ten honors this past fall as a senior. Heuerman, though, did not catch a pass in the Buckeyes’ 42-35 national semifinal win over Alabama or the 42-20 victory over Oregon in the national championship game.
- He has been hampered by a nagging Lisfranc foot injury, undergoing surgery a year ago this spring and then again in August. The issue helped limit Heuerman to only 17 receptions for 207 yards and two TDs in his senior season after finishing with 26 catches for 466 yards and four scores as a junior in 2013.
- Scouting reports say he has the athleticism to split out wide or play in the slot, and his blocking grades truly run the gamut with NFL.com’s Bryan Fischer labeling him as “the best blocking tight end in the draft,” while the Pro Football Now Draft Preview magazine says “he’s not a strong blocker” and “might not love contact.”
- Heuerman’s strength and power don’t grade out well in a number of scouting reports in terms of on-field performance, but he had the second-best showing by a tight end in the bench press at the NFL Scouting Combine in Feburary, benching 225 pounds 26 times. After being limited to the bench press in terms of Combine workouts due to the ailing foot, he went on to clock in at 4.8 seconds in his pro-day 40-yard dash and hit 34.5 inches in his vertical jump and 10 feet in the broad jump.
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