UPDATE (10:20 a.m. ET): NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, citing conversations with NFL coaches, scouts and executives, also mentioned Cole Kmet as a player who could hear his name called in the first round.
“If you want him, you’re going to have to take him late first or early, early second,” an AFC coach told Pelissero. “Big dude, can catch, knows how to use his body. He’s probably one of the top inline Ys in the last couple years. Super smart. High character in every way.”
ORIGINAL STORY: Cole Kmet has been mentioned as a potential New England Patriots target on Day 2 of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Chris Simms can’t see him falling that far.
Simms, a former NFL quarterback and current NBC analyst, said Monday on “Chris Simms Unbuttoned” that he’d be “shocked” if Kmet is not selected in the first round Thursday night.
Several outlets, including ESPN, have Kmet ranked as the best tight end in this year’s draft class, but he’s widely considered a second- or third-round prospect.
“It’s not a deep tight end class, but Cole Kmet’s going to get drafted in the first round,” Simms said. “I have no bones about it. I will be shocked if he doesn’t get drafted in the first round. I really will be. I’ll be shocked. … There is no doubt he is a first-round talent, and I will be shocked if he doesn’t go somewhere between (Nos.) 20 and 32 in the first round. I really would be. He’s as talented as some of the tight ends we’ve seen come out in the last few years.”
? from @CSimmsQB
"I'll be shocked if TE Cole Kmet does not get drafted in the first round. I'll be shocked."https://t.co/eor28LegmW
— Josh Norris (@JoshNorris) April 21, 2020
The Patriots, who have a dire need at tight end, could target Kmet with the 23rd overall pick. The 21-year-old had just one productive season for the Fighting Irish (43 catches for 515 yards and six touchdowns in 2019) but boasts ideal size (6-foot-6, 262 pounds) and enticing potential as a two-way tight end, though he must improve his blocking.
“Something I’ve really got to work on still is my blocking technique — hands, all that type of stuff,” Kmet, who also played baseball at Notre Dame, said at the NFL Scouting Combine in February. “That’s still something I’m trying to improve today.”
Kmet tested well in explosiveness drills at the combine (first among tight ends with a 37-inch vertical jump, tied for second with a 123-inch broad jump) but poorly in agility drills (7.44-second three-cone; tied for second-worst among tight ends).
Other highly regarded tight end prospects in this year’s draft include Dayton’s Adam Trautman, Florida Atlantic’s Harrison Bryant, Washington’s Hunter Bryant and Missouri’s Albert Okwuegbunam. Notre Dame wide receiver Chase Claypool, Kmet’s former teammate, also has the size (6-4, 238) to move to tight end at the NFL level.
