4 Senior Bowl Tight Ends That Should Be On The Cleveland Browns Radar

The Cleveland Browns front office and coaching staff are embarking on the most crucial offseason of the regime's tenure. With several defensive cornerstones already in place, the biggest task the Browns face is retooling the offensive side of the ball. The grocery list for the 2025 offseason includes every offensive positional group.

2018 Browns NFL draft primer: Tight ends - The Athletic

The tight end room is one positional group that should see more attention than it did in the 2024 offseason. There has been a groundswell for the Browns to lean back into head coach Kevin Stefanski's bread and butter on offense. Schemes and concepts aside, at the core of Stefanski's offense is the marriage of the run and the pass, and the ability to make them identical pre-snap to keep opposing defenses off balance. Playing under center and utilizing multiple tight ends is the easiest way to disguise a team's offensive intent.

Currently, the Browns only have two tight ends under contract, David Njoku and Tre' McKitty. With 12 picks in the upcoming NFL Draft, the Browns will have the opportunity to add a prospect to their tight end room. Here are four tight ends participating at the Reese's Senior Bowl that should be on Cleveland's radar.

TE No. 4: Elijah Arroyo, Miami(FL)

Redshirt junior tight end, Elijah Arroyo projects to be a better pro prospect than he was as a collegiate player. Arroyo was a promising freshman who suffered a torn ACL four games into this sophomore season. The injury also caused him to miss the first seven games of the following season.

Then Cam Ward entered the transfer portal and landed in South Beach. With Ward at quarterback, Arroyo was able to demonstrate his athleticism and raise his draft stock considerably. Prior to Ward's arrival, Arroyo had 11 receptions for 163 yards and one touchdown in 23 games. However, in just 13 games with Ward, Arroyo had 35 receptions for 590 yards and seven touchdowns.

While Arroyo having only one year of production will scare some scouts off, the physical abilities that he put on tape in 2024 are enough to entice most NFL teams. Arroyo is a fluid athlete who can separate at the second level. He consistently demonstrated the ability to pluck the ball with his hands outside of his frame while on the move. Arroyo's athleticism and ball skills make him an ideal player to be an extension of the run by way of the screen game and also allow him to be a vertical threat up the seams.

If teams are looking for a plug-and-play 11-personnel tight end, Arroyo won't be their cup of tea. It will likely take Arroyo two to three years to fully develop as an in-line blocker, but from a physical standpoint, the tools are there to be developed. However, if teams are searching for an H-back/move tight end to play right away in 12-personnel, then Arroyo should be on their board. Arroyo will have the opportunity to firmly entrench himself as an early day three pick next week in Mobile.

TE No. 3: Mason Taylor, LSU

LSU's Mason Taylor possesses every tool that NFL scouts and general manager's look for in a tight end prospect. Taylor has the prerequisite size, at 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds, and ball skills to project as a 10-year starter at the pro level. He also produced consistently since he stepped on campus in Baton Rouge, catching no less than 36 passes in each of his three seasons at LSU.

Taylor is a younger prospect, who will turn 21 years old on the first night of the 2025 NFL Draft, which will endear him to some NFL teams more than others. To top it off, Taylor has NFL bloodlines, as he is the son of NFL Hall of Fame edge rusher Jason Taylor. But for the sake of breaking down the player, one must approach the exercise as if his last name was not Taylor.

Taylor has prototypical NFL size, and he is a teach-tape hand catcher of the football. He has a phenomenal catch radius and has no problems plucking the ball outside of his frame, be it at the highpoint or low and away from his body. Taylor also does not give up ground with lateral moves after the catch and is an immediate up-field turner to get what is there.

Taylor is not a twitchy athlete who gets immediate separation and will need to tighten up his breaks coming out of routes to create separation against NFL linebackers. However, his ability to use his considerable frame to box out defenders is evident on tape. Where Taylor impresses the most is his football IQ as an outlet receiver who quickly recognizes defensive voids.

He was used mostly as a motion-centric H-Back type tight end at LSU, who was rarely tasked with digging out edge rushers in the run game. But Taylor is a willing blocker at the line of scrimmage when called upon, who will need to work on the technical aspects of the craft, like sinking his hips into blocks to generate force at the point of attack.

Given his size, most NFL teams will see Taylor as an eventual prototypical in-line tight end who will need time to develop. NFL teams will want to see if Taylor gets after it in blocking drills in Mobile next week. If he demonstrates the willingness to get dirty in one-on-one opportunities, Taylor could cement himself as a day two pick in the upcoming draft.

TE No. 2: Gunnar Helm, Texas

If teams are looking for a solid traditional tight end to serve as a security blanket for a young quarterback, then look no further than Gunnar Helm. At 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, Helm is a chain mover with strong hands who understands spatial awareness as an outlet receiver.

As a senior, Helm racked up 60 receptions for 789 yards and seven touchdowns. Helm was a significant producer despite playing alongside two NFL-caliber receivers, Matthew Golden and Isaiah Bond. He has a versatile route tree and excels at hitches, crossers, and seam routes. Helm has a basketball background, which shows up often in contested catch scenarios, by boxing out defenders and attacking the ball at the high point.

As is the case with most tight ends entering the league, Helm will need time to work on refining his blocking technique. Helm is a plus-effort blocker on the line of scrimmage but needs to work on his pad level and hand placement to become a full-time in-line tight end. Given his length, Helm could add five to ten pounds to his frame without hampering his movement skills.

Of all the tight ends that will be participating in the Senior Bowl, Helm is the most pro-ready and projects to be an impact player early in his rookie contract. Helm is quarterback-friendly and possesses the physical intangibles that cannot be coached. If Helm puts together a solid three days of practice, he could find himself getting his name called early on day two of the 2025 NFL Draft.

TE No. 1: Harold Fannin Jr., Bowling Green

Bowling Green's Harold Fannin Jr. is the wildcard of this tight-end draft class. While Fannin is not looked at in the same light as Penn State's Tyler Warren or Michigan's Colston Loveland, who are both expected to go in the first round, the junior who led all of college football in receptions (117) and receiving yards (1,555) will have a considerable market come late April.

In an NFL landscape thirsty for players who create mismatches Fannin brings an enticing skill set that offensive coordinators will covet. At 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds, Fannin is on the small side for a tight end, but his alignment versatility and playmaking ability make him a valuable chess piece. The ability to line Fannin up next to the quarterback, use him as a motion player, or as a big slot, allows for serious creativity in the playbook of the NFL team that drafts him.

From a pure receiving standpoint, Fannin is the top tight end in this draft class. Fannin is an easy answer provider for quarterbacks. While Fannin does not possess breakaway speed, his short-area quickness and play strength allow him to turn quick game receptions into explosive plays.

Fannin has a full route tree but excels at shallow crossers, go routes, and hitches. The variety of screen game Fannin will open up for an NFL team is invaluable. He displays phenomenal concentration at the catch point and can attack all three levels of the field.

However, his lack of mass combined with inadequate blocking technique limits what he can do from an in-line perspective. Fannin keeps a narrow base at the point of attack limiting the power he can generate. It is possible that after a season or two in an NFL strength and conditioning program along with technical refinement, Fannin could evolve into an adequate blocker, but that would just be the cherry on top.

The mold for a player of Fannin's physical dimensions at the tight-end position already exists. Tight ends like Baltimore's Isaiah Likely and Washington's former tight end Jordan Reed are the template for Fannin's route to success at the next level. While those players were taken in the fourth and third rounds respectively, due to his versatility, Fannin should garner earlier round interest. If Fannin shows out in Mobile, he could find himself going early in the second round on April 25^th.