Iowa's Tight Ends

Iowa is on the verge of a historic feat. You know, in case you haven’t heard.

If T.J. Hockenson and Noah Fant are both selected in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, it’ll be an all-time draft feat. Forget that brag tweet. That’s like, put a shrine up at Kinnick that can be seen from outer space stuff.

I’m not sure if the average person even realizes how unbelievable it would be for Iowa to produce a pair of first round tight ends. It’s obviously different than having a pair of first round defensive linemen or even a pair of first round receivers. At a position with 1 starter, Iowa’s tight end feat is hard to put into context.

Well, let’s try to do just that.

Keep in mind that this is simply projecting. If Fant and Hockenson don’t both hear their names called on Night 1, it’ll be for naught. Sort of. I’d argue just getting to the point where several mock drafts have 2 tight ends from the same school is an accomplishment.

For it to be an all-time feat, though, the first round thing is kind of a deal-breaker. Why? Well because it’s never been done before. This is a position that averaged 1 first-rounder in the last 5 drafts. In fact, only 7 tight ends have been first-round picks this decade (2010-18). Only 22 have been selected that high this century.

Here’s the breakdown of first round tight ends by school since 2000:

Miami (FL) — 5

West Virginia — 1

Arizona State — 1

Colorado — 1

Washington — 1

Iowa — 1

Georgia — 1

Virginia — 1

Maryland — 1

UCLA — 1

Purdue — 1

Oklahoma State — 1

Oklahoma — 1

Notre Dame — 1

UNC — 1

Alabama — 1

Ole Miss — 1

South Carolina — 1

What do you notice there? Only one school has had multiple first round tight ends THIS CENTURY. And while Miami’s feat was certainly impressive — the Canes had a ridiculous 4 first round tight ends from 2000-07 — none of their first round tight ends came in consecutive years.