Colorado State tight end Trey McBride wows in front of New York Jets’ Ron Middleton
Despite being seen by many evaluators as a non-first-round prospect in the 2022 NFL draft, Colorado State tight end Trey McBride is a player that New York Jets fans cannot seem to stop gushing about during the early goings of the draft process. Countless mock drafts across the internet feature the Jets selecting McBride with one of their two second-round picks.
McBride took the field at the NFL Scouting Combine on Thursday. While McBride did not run the 40-yard dash, he did take part in drills that showed off his pass-catching ability.
In one clip shared by the NFL’s Twitter account, McBride can be seen making an acrobatic catch in which he leaps in the air, contorts his body backward, and high-points the football well above his head.
Okay, we see you Trey McBride. 👀@mcbtrey | @CSUFootball
📺: #NFLCombine on @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/ZYg2Y4NHTy
— NFL (@NFL) March 3, 2022
Keen-eyed Jets fans may have noticed a familiar face in the background of the McBride clip: New York’s tight ends coach, Ron Middleton.
Ron is already prepping to celebrate his TDs pic.twitter.com/A8bS4LDBnn
— Michael Nania (@Michael_Nania) March 3, 2022
Jets fans who love McBride’s game certainly hope that the above snapshot is the first of many highlight grabs that McBride makes in front of Middleton this year.
The Combine was not the first time McBride has shined in front of New York’s fan-favorite assistant coach. Middleton is familiar with McBride from their time together at February’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. McBride was a part of the National Team roster, which was coached by Middleton and other members of the Jets’ coaching staff.
Middleton would undoubtedly love to get the chance to coach a gifted young player like McBride next season, especially after a season in which he didn’t exactly have an overflowing pool of talent at his disposal in the tight end room.
Catches like the one above are all over McBride’s tape at Colorado State. He ranked second among FBS tight ends with 17 contested catches in 2021, per Pro Football Focus.
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The Combine cameo by Middleton continues the unusual penchant for screen time he has developed over the past few months. He’s been popping up in the public eye more often than arguably any other position coach in the NFL.
In December, Middleton served as the Jets’ temporary head coach for one game while Robert Saleh sat out due to COVID-19 protocols, and he led New York to a 26-21 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars at MetLife Stadium.
Middleton would then serve as the head coach of the Senior Bowl’s National Team in February. McBride scored a touchdown in what amounted to a 20-10 victory for Middleton’s squad, triumphing over the Detroit Lions-coached American Team. Middleton’s epic pre-game speech earned rave reviews.
Who knows? Perhaps Middleton’s incredibly impressive stretch over the past few months will amplify his voice in the war room, allowing him to successfully “bang the table” for a guy like McBride.
He didn’t run, and there have been quetsions about his speed. Do you see this as a problem? That was a great catch and I have loved just about everything about him but if he can’t separate we are back to “the pass catchers for the Jets can’t beat man coverage” article. Maybe he’s got the size and athleticism that it doesn’t matter. I am certainly a fan of drafting him, and another later in the draft.
I think that’s a little less important at TE where guys can be dangerous just by being incredibly adept at finding soft spots in the zone and making things happen after the catch, but being able to separate and win man-to-man is definitely the trait that puts star TEs over the top, and it’s super rare for the position. Based on everything I’ve read and heard about him it does seem like a legitimate concern but that’s why he is probably going R2 and not R1, so I think I could live with it if he does not turn out amazing in that category.
Promisingly, though, he did have good numbers vs. man. No drops and earned a position-leading 36 targets vs. man which is a good indicator that he was getting open against it. Caught 27 of them for 282 yards
This is a winner, folks! He is the closest thing to Kittle in this draft. We need touchdown makers. This guy is one. If we trade down and end up at 20, I would pick him at 20.