STRENGTHS
David has the potential to become an excellent football player if he wants to be. He does a good job catching the ball and gaining yardage after the catch. He has good speed and he likes the physical part of catching the ball and gaining yardage after the catch. Inside the red zone he smells the end zone with the enthusiasm of a lioness in the wild looking for a fresh kill to feed her cubs. David shows on film the good hands to catch the ball down the field and can be used as a slot receiver in the middle of the field and out wide or in the slot when in the red zone. This enthusiasm to score makes him a match up nightmare and a potential touchdown maker. There is a ton of “upside” to David’s game I’m just not sure what side will go up, his personal side or the team’s side?

CONCERNS
David is a child in a man’s body right now. When he is on the line of scrimmage in a three point stance he looks like a frog sitting on a lily pad. His blocking boarders on the worst I have ever seen to… pitiful. His three point stance alone shows a lack of interest and defiance to coaches and his route running against man to man boarders on the worst to pitiful also. He does good against zone coverage’s but truthfully at this point of his career I don’t see him developing into a tight end, maybe a slot receiver and third down red zone receiver but a true tight end…not going to happen. He might be a decent H-back but from what I see in his interest in blocking…that’s questionable also. David has a lot of work to do to at the next level and the fact he doesn’t want to block, his three point stance is frog like and that he is coming out early suggest to me a maturity level not ready for the NFL.

BOTTOM LINE
Most fans out there think that Seahawks Jimmy Graham is great and you need him to get into the playoffs. I think Jimmy Graham is a coach killer who doesn’t think about his teammates and doesn’t like to be coached. David reminds me of Jimmy and although I see the potential talent I’m not convinced (like others) that its worth selecting him any higher than the third round because I’m not convinced David is anything (at this point in his career) more than a “me” player. The truth is from his play on the field I find it hard that David would even have a chip on his shoulder if he was to fall to the third round and that scares the crap out of me also. Here’s the catch, nothing I have said will affect if David is going to be a good Tight End or a great Tight End or even a great receiver. All of it is up to David how good or great he wants to be but with what I see on film he has a ton of work to do and decisions to make. From what I see David is a very talent “project” and I’m not sure how quickly that project could turn into a good football player because he is only a half of a good football player at the college level now. But as I always say…I’ve been wrong before and you never know maybe David will prove me to be wrong now.

Drew Boylhart  FEB.2017