NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah Surprises With His TE2

The tight end position is very fluid this season and NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah has a surprising player as his TE2.

Nov 18, 2023; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats tight end Tanner McLachlan (84) celebrates / Zachary BonDurant-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL Draft is a fascinating process. Not only are there a lot of prospects that have real potential, but the rankings across the media landscape are fascinating to take a look at. Once you get outside of the first round, rankings for players that will be selected on day two and three can vary significantly.

One example of this is when the Minnesota Vikings selected USC cornerback Mekhi Blackmon at 102nd overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. He ranked 185th on the consensus board, which was 83 spots higher than where analysts across the industry had ranked him in aggregate.

Each analyst will have players they are higher and lower on and within those, some can be a surprise. NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah has one of those players this year with Arizona tight end Tanner McClachlan being his TE2 over the likes of J'Tavion Sanders and Ben Sinnott.

Finished up my top 150 list. It'll come out in next few days. One guy I know I'm higher on than those in the league-- AZ TE Tanner McClachlan. I just loved his feel for the position and athleticism. He ended up as my number 2 TE. No idea what round he ends up in.

— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) April 20, 2024

This isn't necessarily the strongest tight end class in recent memory so seeing some different rankings isn't a big surprise. However, McClachlan hasn't been discussed among even the top five tight ends in the class. On Arif Hasan's consensus board, which includes 75 big boards from across the industry, McClachlan ranks 190th overall and TE12. That strays significantly against consensus, but that doesn't mean that Jeremiah is wrong.

One of the older prospects at 25 years old, McClachlan thrived as a pass catcher for the Wildcats over the last two seasons. He has the size and athleticism to attack the seams at a high level. The difficult part with his evaluation is that tight ends tend to take time to develop and that could mean McClachlan is near 30 by the time he's at his peak. That can be problamatic for the future.

With analysts consistently displaying their big boards, more and more anomalys like this will come out and generate some interesting discussion.