2010 Tight Ends

This years crop of TE's features only one 1st round prospect but a bunch of very interesting second tier guys. Much like the WR group, if your team is looking for a playmaker at TE in rounds 2 or 3 you may be in luck. Before we get to those second tier guys though we have to touch on Jermaine Gresham. Gresham unfortunately suffered a season ending ACL injury before the 2009 season even began, but he is still a solid 1st round pick. He has elite pass catching ability, superb size, deceiving speed, decent blocking, and great hands. He is basically the total package as a pass catcher and isn't a liability as a blocker. His only main knock is that nasty ACL injury he suffered... in fact without that injury, Gresham could have been a top 10 pick I feel. He's that good. Unfortunately that ACL tear is nasty and combine that with just a so-so combine performance will push Gresham to the bottom of the first round where he could be a steal.
After Gresham come some very interesting guys. Rob Gronkowski is probably #2 on most peoples boards. He offers great potential but like Gresham is coming off of a big time injury. After him there are a handful of guys you could order in any way. The most intriguing of this group is definitely Jimmy Graham of Miami. The former basketball player is extremely raw, wasn't that productive in college, and has major question marks in the blocking and route running department. What Graham has going for him is a huge frame (6'6, 260) combined with elite athleticism (4.56 40 time). Thats pretty freaky stuff. He has an insane vertical, big and soft hands, and his tape shows a great motor with non stop effort. Graham is a big time project but his potential is through the roof. We could see the one year football player with mediocre production end up going as high as round 2 based on his insane upside.
One other guy we need to take a look at is Aaron Hernandez. A good athlete with good speed, Hernandez is a projected passcatching TE out of Florida. He has good hands, good speed, and is great at locating the ball in the air. Sounds good right? Well he never ran the route tree coming out of Florida and combine that with his biggest weakness( a lack of blocking ability and effort) and you have a big time problem. He has the potential to be a great receiver but as an inline blocker he won't do much. For a system player with only one dimension to his game, he may be overrated. Some places will have him as the #3 TE off the board but I think that may be a reach.
Here are my top 10 TE's.... OT's are up next.
1) Jermaine Gresham, Oklahoma (Round 1)
2) Rob Gronkowski, Arizona (Round 2)
3) Jimmy Graham, Miami (FL) (Round 2-3)
4) Dorrin Dickerson, Pittsburgh (Round 3)
5) Aaron Hernandez, Florida (Round 2-3)
6) Dennis Pitta, BYU (Round 3-4)
7) Ed Dickson, Oregon (Round 4-5)
8) Anthony McCoy, USC (Round 4-5)
9) Garret Graham, Wisconsin (Round 4-5)
10) Michael Hoomanawanui, Illinois (Rouind 5-6)