Jermaine Gresham: NFL Draft Profile

We will take a look at Oklahoma tight end Jermaine Gresham as he enters the 2010 NFL Draft.  We’ll examine his strengths/weaknesses, college career and our expectations for his upcoming NFL career.

Strengths
•       Size: Gresham is very big (6’6, 261 lbs).  He creates a discouraging matchup problem for defensive coordinators league wide
•       Speed: He won’t smoke you off the line, but he can stretch the field, which is always a plus for a tight end
•       Intelligence:  Is adept at finding the soft spot in a zone defense and exploiting the hole for more yardage

Weaknesses
•       Durability:  Gresham tore his Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in high school, and he just missed the entire 2009 season because of another knee injury.  For many NFL franchises, the injury risk will supersede his outstanding ability
•     Hands:  He isn’t terrible at catching the ball, but you find that he catches more balls with his body than his hands.  This habit must change in the pros
•       Ball security:  Has been known to have “butter fingers” at times, needs to tuck the ball away better, especially in traffic

(All statistical information obtained from ESPN.com and NFLDraftDog.com)

The last two years of college were just an insight into the potential he brings with him to the pros.  While his 2009 season was a bust, Gresham still brings a lot of momentum into the league after having a breakout year his junior campaign at OU.  He became Sam Bradford’s favorite target as he was seemingly always open to give Bradford a constant outlet in tight situations.

Gresham’s best quality in college was his ability in the red zone; he would always make himself available for the jump ball and 9 out of 10 times, he would come down with it.  Gresham career numbers at OU are quite impressive, especially in his junior year where he caught 66 balls for 950 yards and 14 touchdowns.

His career numbers are as follows: 111 receptions, 1,629 yards and 26 touchdowns

Gresham’s career numbers all come without playing his senior year due to injury.  After a huge junior year, it would have been fun to see what kind of numbers the big tight end out of Ardmore, Oklahoma would tally in his senior year.

Gresham will enter the NFL with more questions than answers because of his history of knee injuries.  If he remained healthy throughout his career at OU, then it seems obvious that Gresham would have been a top ten pick in this year’s draft.  The expectation is that Gresham will be rusty, but that should subside after a year of playing special teams.  While Gresham “gets his feet wet” again, he should pack on another 10-15 pounds of muscle so he will be able to withstand the pounding that he will receive at the pro level.

Barring injury, it is our expectation that Gresham will be a fanatical pro with “an ax to grind” after sitting out the entire 2009 season.  His game is similar to that of Antonio Gates with his great size and outstanding speed; the advantages of being an immense athlete who can stretch the field for his quarterback along with being a tough cover for a linebacker, safety or cornerback.  Watch out for this kid out of Oklahoma, there is a very good chance he could be the next great tight end in the league.