The college football season is almost over, so FantasyPros will be taking a look at early NFL draft scouting reports before the combine in March. Here’s a look at Luke Lachey.

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2024 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Luke Lachey

Luke Lachey (TE – Iowa)

6’6” – 253 lbs.

Background:

Father Jim was a pro offensive tackle for 10 seasons. Redshirted in 2020, then started three of 13 games the following year, catching eight passes. Started six of 13 games in 2022, catching 28-398-4 (14.2) in what turned out to be his most productive season. Went down with an ankle injury three games into 2023,  at which point he had caught ten passes for 131 yards.

Positives:

Big-bodied son of a former pro, and comes from a veritable tight end factory. Has been productive when on the field the past two seasons. Able to line up inline and engage with form in the run game, showing adequate knee bend and good extension. Works hard to stay connected through the whistle, and shows pretty good grip strength. Not purely or even primarily a simple safety valve; was asked to run a lot of seam routes to the intermediate level of the field, as well as your typical deep ins/outs/overs. Accelerates smoothly and has pretty good speed to threaten defenses down the seams. Able to stay on his route through contact. Shows some snap at the route stem to create separation. Knows how to settle into soft spots against zone coverage. Presents a big target and does a good job of adjusting to throws away from his frame. Can use his size to shield defenders from the ball. Good concentration to make grabs in traffic.

Negatives:

Never started a full year in school, and even then he was rotating off the field regularly. Is coming off of ankle surgery, so medicals will be important. Doesn’t quite have the balance as a run blocker you’d anticipate given his size; when taking on smaller linebackers, gets the worst of it on contact a bit too often. Plays out a bit over his toes and can be ragdolled a little bit. Very rarely retained in pass pro. Doesn’t survive contact as a runner as well as expected.

Summary:

As we saw with Luke Musgrave last season (who incidentally has the same listed size), teams are willing to overlook injuries to draft a big, athletic tight end who can threaten the seams, which bodes well for Lachey. He’s not necessarily a finesse player, but offers the athleticism and natural receiving skills to work the intermediate level, and who competes as an inline run blocker. Assuming his ankle passes pre-draft medicals, teams may feel like they have a starter on their hands, especially if he continues to add functional strength.

Projection: Round 3-4