At least one NFL scout is suggesting that Stanford tight end Coby Fleener is overrated, this according to Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
“He wasn’t even the best tight end on their team,” another scout said. “No. 11 (sophomore Levine Toilolo), that’s the real deal. He might be the most overrated guy in the draft. He’s awful as a blocker. Despite his workout numbers he’s really not a quick-twitch, dynamic-moving guy. He’s a straight-line, build-up player. All these reports about him being an athlete and this and that, they’re assuming that because he ran fast. He’s really just a red-zone, jump-ball player.”
Ah, we must be getting really close to the draft when these types of reports start come out. All of a sudden every prospect is a bust-in-waiting and nobody can play.
In no way am I trashing McGinn’s report. If I had spoken to a NFL scout and that’s what he told me about Fleener, I would print it, too. But a standard NFL scouting staff is made up of three senior-level guys and then a slew of younger scouts trying to move up the ranks by gaining experience on the road. Thus, did McGinn talk to someone with over 20 years of experience or was it some younger scout trying to make a name for himself?
It’s no secret that Fleener isn’t a very physical player and doesn’t block well in the running game. So nobody should be taken aback by what the scout said about the tight end’s inability to block. But in terms of Fleener being “just a red-zone, jump-ball player,” I couldn’t disagree more.
Fleener does a very good job of using his 6-foot-6, 247-pound body when matched one-on-one with defenders. He’s also a natural pass catcher and a very good route runner, which would dispel the notion that he’s just a “jump-ball player.”
Is he the best prospect in this draft? Not by a long shot. But he’s clearly the best tight end and given the pass-happy offenses that teams are running in the NFL, he’s a bona fide late first-round pick. There’s no question a team that employs a creative thinker as an offensive coordinator would absolutely love to draw up plays for a versatile pass-catcher like Fleener.
It wouldn’t surprise me if this particular scout is using the media to sully Fleener’s on-field reputation because his team is thinking about drafting the tight end in the late first or early second. You just can’t trust anything that comes out between now and the draft because teams will say anything in efforts to throw their opponents off.
