NFL Draft 2020 Scouting Report: TE Harrison Bryant, Fla. Atlantic (QH)

*Our TE grades can and will change as more information comes in from Pro Day workouts, leaked Wonderlic test results, etc. We will update ratings as new info becomes available.

**Our TE formulas had some slight changes in the offseason—an adjustment to better identify and value TE prospects that are smaller physically and are primed for the era ahead...the era of Jordan Reed and Delanie Walker-type TEs. Our historical grades will have changed some on various prospects as well, to show their grades by comparison. 

Our Quick Hit (QH) scouting reports are a modified/shorter version of our full-scale reports. On these Quick Hits, I look at a lesser amount of tape and write a shorter amount of flowy words – these are usually designed more for sleeper prospects that I want to get more acquainted with and if something really jumps out, I’ll go deeper. It’s just me trying to get in and get out and deliver the pertinent notes to you for your consideration and for review later if they start to make waves in a year or two.

I’ll do a chunk of these pre-Draft and then more after the Draft, going through the players that caught my attention in the draft (because of how high they were taken) or that I stumble across in training camp or the preseason that catch my eye.

Most of my notes on these Quick Hits will be short and sweet bullet points versions of our full-scale reports. Enjoy…

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I did a quick preview of Bryant pre-Senior Bowl and Combine…and I didn’t see anything on tape that tripped my trigger positively. Our initial computer grades, post-Combine, on Bryant came back ‘average’ or ‘below average’…nothing special. I was not going to study him any deeper…but then I kept seeing him suddenly as the #1 TE prospect for some websites into April and I started to wonder – did I miss something?

Not that I care about what other people grade/think about players but considering that I’ve watched so many players the past 30-60-90 days…my head is spinning with info, and maybe my memory is fuzzy. I’m always flustered/mixing up the two ‘Bryant’s -- Hunter Bryant (TE Washington) and Harrison Bryant (TE FAU), my mind started wondering if I should re-look.

I felt this with Adam Trautman as well…much media consensus love, but guy I saw/graded as ‘meh’. I thought I’d take a deeper look at Trautman just to be sure…and, yeah – not much there. Don’t know what all the excitement is about. I feel like that will happen here with Harrison Bryant, but I want to leave no stone unturned. So, here we go…

BACKGROUND…

 -- High school offensive tackle prospect, moved to tight end for Florida Atlantic.

 -- Academic Award winner in Conference USA

 -- One of the highest ‘drop’ rates among tight ends in 2020…according to some tracking outlet on such things.

GAME TAPE AND RANDOM NOTES…

 -- Wasted my time here. There is no top TE prospect looking here. Can he play in the league? Sure. He’s a fringe NFL rosterable tight end. He may be more of an H-back or fullback. He’s like when Nick O’Leary was supposed to be such a great tight end prospect for the NFL. In reality…not so much on O’Leary, but he is still kicking around the fringes of the NFL for various teams drawing a paycheck. Bryant has the same feel for me.

 -- Fairly decent movement skills for a TE prospect, but nothing special…average-to-below average on most speed/agility items at the Combine.

8th of 17 TE prospects at the 2020 NFL Combine in 40-time (4.73)

2nd worst three-cone among 17 TE prospects at the 2020 NFL Combine (7.41)

7th best shuttle time among 17 TE prospects at the 2020 NFL Combine (4.37)

 -- The single worst/lowest bench press among all the tight end prospects (13 reps)

 -- Very shaky hands. Not a smooth catcher of the ball. Has good streaks as a receiver and has his issues. Against Ohio State, he butchered a few catches.

 -- Had 6 catches for 79 yards against Ohio State opening week of 2019 CFB season. You’ll see this line used as proof he’s a top NFL prospect and see discussion that he beat Jeff Okudah on some plays.

First off, OSU crushed FAU. It was 28-0 Ohio State cruising right before half-time before I tracked Bryant with his first catch of the game (he had two drops prior). When OSU was playing back in prevent before half…Bryant had a couple catches, finally.

Later in the blowout, with the defense playing soft and backup defenders rotating in…Bryant had a few more catches. He had a nice route against Okudah for a catch, but Okudah was playing back/soft to some degree.

I don’t see the Ohio State game as some window into Bryant’s greatness.

I don’t see any greatness or even any real ‘goodness’ in Bryant’s work. It’s very generic backup NFL guy work.

Harrison Bryant, Through the Lens of Our TE Scouting Algorithm:

 -- No TD catches his first 7 games of 2019, 1 TD his first 9 games…and then 6 TDs his last 4 games in a flurry with big games against Texas-San Antonio and Southern Miss. 

 -- Five ‘tough opponent’ games the past two seasons – vs. Central Florida 2x, Oklahoma, Ohio State and his UAB bowl game in 2019, Bryant’s averages in those five games: 3.4 rec., 40.0 yards, 0.20 TDs per game…nothing special. 

2020 NFL Combine Data:

6’4.6”/243, 9.5” hands, 30 5/8” arms

4.73 30-time, 2.77 20-yard, 1.63 10-yard

4.37 shuttle, 7.41 three-cone

13 bench reps, 32.5” vertical, 9’2” broad jump 

The Historical TE Prospects to Whom Harrison Bryant Most Compares Within Our System:

Our computer model comps spit out a collection of names I cannot even remember anything about – that is telling. 

*A score of 7.0+ is where we start to take a TE prospect more seriously. A score of 8.50+ is where we see a stronger correlation of TEs going on to become NFL good/great/elite. A score of 10.00+ is more rarefied air in our system and indicates a greater probability of becoming an elite NFL TE.

All of the TE ratings are based on a 0–10 scale, but a player can score negative, or above a 10.0 in certain instances.

**The ‘TE-Reed’ score is in honor of Jordan Reed’s 2015 season…looking at TEs in a different manner—the smaller, speedy receiving threats.

“Speed-Agility Metric” = A combination of unique metrics surrounding speed, agility, physical size, mixed with some on-field performance metrics. High scorers here project to have a better YAC and show characteristics to be used as deep threats/create separation.

“Power-Strength Metric” = A combination of unique metrics surrounding physical size profiling, bench press strength, etc.  High scorers here project to be more physical, better blockers, and less injury-prone.

“Hands Metric” = A combination of unique metrics surrounding on-field performance in college, considering the strength of opponents played. Furthermore, this data considers some physical profiling for hand size, etc. High scorers here have a better track record of college statistical performance, and project the combination of data for receiving success at the next level.

2020 NFL Draft Outlook:

I’ve seen a few people call Bryant the biggest sleeper among the TE prospects, but then rank him as a 5th-round prospect. I’ll assume 4th-5th-round because the NFL likes dull TE prospects for some reason.

If I were an NFL GM, Bryant is undraftable for me. 

NFL Outlook:   

Will be a backup in the NFL at best. Needs to add upper body to become a possible FB/TE low-end starter. I just do not see the reason anyone is excited about this prospect. 

4/20/2020