Sports Info Solutions (SIS) brings you the second annual edition of The SIS Football Rookie Handbook, with scouting reports and statistical breakdowns on over 280 college football players who are likely to be drafted or signed as rookie free agents in 2020 (a glossary for the below stats can be found here). New features for this year include unique and informative NFL team pages, research deep-dives by the SIS R&D team, and—for the first time ever—the NCAA version of their flagship football statistic, Total Points

For our second tight end preview, we will look at Harrison Bryant, who finished in the top five at the position in Total Points each of the last two seasons. A brief explanation of our tight end grading scale can be found in our preview of Jared Pinkney from earlier this week.

Harrison Bryant: TE Rank 7 of 21 | Final Grade: 6.5

Report by Jeff Dean & Tyler McLatchy

One Liner 

Bryant has the physical gifts to be a mismatch in the passing game and the grit and tenacity to work sufficiently as a blocker, but he’ll need to add strength and more reliable hands to reach his full potential.

Overall 

Bryant is an H-tight end in Florida Atlantic’s RPO-heavy offense, seeing more time split out as a receiver than as a tight end this season. He has played in 48 career games with 35 starts. He is a very good athlete with great size who can still sit his hips into breaks and cut quickly. He was an All-State offensive tackle as a junior in high school before earning the same accolade at tight end as a senior. He is a fierce competitor who plays with very good toughness and grit.

Pass Game 

Bryant is a mismatch in space who utilizes his combination of size and speed to create separation. He has good initial quickness to get off the line and has crisp footwork at the top of his routes. He has a very developed route tree and was asked to run a variety of short and deep routes from in tight and the slot. He has a knack for finding holes in zones and works well to get open in scramble situations. Bryant is faster than many linebackers and bigger than most secondary defenders, making him difficult to cover in man. He has inconsistent hands and drops more passes than desired for a tight end. He has a tendency to catch with his body in unnecessary situations and struggles to win 50-50 balls, despite his size. Although he was the best receiving threat on his team, he did not see many red zone targets. He fights through contact after the catch and is tough to bring down. He also has the ability to outrun some defenders and can stretch the defense on vertical routes but is not a home run threat.

Run Game 

Bryant is a very willing blocker, but will need to add strength to handle defensive linemen at the next level. He is a sufficient run blocker in most situations and a good pass protector, but struggles with wide hands. He plays with a nasty streak and will deliver big hits when possible. He works well as a second level and perimeter blocker against smaller linebackers and defensive backs. He is a determined blocker, which makes up for some of his strength and technique deficiencies. He was not used much in-line, but he has some history there, and his effort could allow him to grow into a more well-rounded player.

Last Word 

Bryant projects as a low-end starting H-tight end in the NFL, who fits best in an offensive scheme that can get him in space and in advantageous blocking scenarios. He needs to improve his reliability at the catch point to become a go-to target on third downs, but he has a high volume of targets in his career and has been a very successful receiver. His toughness and speed should be useful assets on special teams, but his blocking technique could hinder him. Bryant has great potential if he can continue to polish his overall game.

StrengthsWeaknesses
Size/speed mismatchBlocking strength
Nasty blocking streakContested catches
Developed route treeInconsistent hands

Critical Factors

CategoryGrade
Blocking Ability5
Receiving Ability6
FBI6

Positional Factors

CategoryGrade
Run Block5
Pass Block6
Play Strength5
Play Speed6
Mismatch6
Release6
Catching Skills5
Separation6
Run After Catch6
Clutch Performance5
Toughness7
ST Value5

Basic

Receiving
YearTrgtRecComp%YdsAir YdsYACTDYds/TrgtDrops
201612650%63511205.32
2017393179%405132273510.40
2018684566%65720445349.72
20191006565%10045914137108
21914767%21299781151169.712

Advanced

Advanced ReceivingEPAPositive %
YearOn-Trgt Catch %Catchable Catch %YAC per RecTrgt ShareADoTRec RatingTotalPer Targetvs. Manvs. Zone
2016-55%24%10.130.9-8.6-0.7220%33%
2017-100%8.811%5.5149.529.70.7658%80%
201890%85%10.119%5.998.720.70.347%65%
201989%87%6.421%9.5117.357.70.5759%66%
89%86%7.814%7.7113.499.50.4554%66%

Deep Dive

Lined UpRoute RunningBlown Block %Total Points
YearSplit Out %Routes RunYards Per Route RunRun PlaysPass PlaysRecBlockingTotal
201827%1743.80.00%0.00%261339
201958%2993.40.70%0.00%35843
42%4733.50.30%0.00%612182