NFL Draft 2022 Scouting Report: TE Derrick Deese Jr., San Jose State

Derrick Deese Jr. went undrafted in the 2022 NFL Draft and was ultimately signed by the Lions. It’s a little surprising that Deese didn’t get drafted seeing how high some scouting services had him going into the draft (some had him a top 5 TE prospect).

And he was ranked that high because anyone who looked at his tape could see there was something there – a pretty good blocker but an excellent receiver, a near-dominant receiver (for a TE) in his 2021 season. I didn’t think that much of him since he didn’t get a Senior Bowl or Combine nod, but as soon as I started watching his game tape – I was hooked. One of my favorite non-Combine prospects of 2022.

When I dug deeper into why Deese didn’t get a nod for the Combine, etc., I found that there may be a reason/legit excuse that sunk his draft stock…but leaves him an intriguing UDFA sleeper/NFL prospect.

There are two excuses, really…

1) He worked on a terrible pass offense/with terrible QBs. His team split games/snaps between two bad QBs, who combined for 15 TDs/10 INTs and a 52%+ Comp. Pct. on the 2021 season.

Within that mess…Deese was the obvious top/desperation target on tape. He also led the team in catches and yards (300+ yards ahead of the next closest teammate), and in TDs (4…double the best anyone else on the team produced).

Low raw output never helps a prospect…even if percentagewise it was pretty solid+.

2) More importantly…Deese got injured in January and the effects rippled to his pre-Draft workouts.

Deese was an East-West Shrine invite, but he tweaked/hurt his ankle the first day of practices and missed the rest of the all-star week…a bummer. And that also set back his pre-Draft training, which likely cost him any fleeting shot at going to the NFL Combine.

Even though the ankle was still bothering him, Deese decided to work out and do drills at his Pro Day, and ran a terrible 4.93 40-time at 244 pounds – but the ankle may have cost him precious time. He looks more like a 4.7s tight end (which is ‘normal’/average) to me on tape. The 4.93 killed any draft hope, most likely. Had he run in the 4.7s, I think he would have been drafted.

Workout times aside, he’s a really good-looking tight end on tape. In 2021, he caught so many errant/off-line passes it was ridiculous. He was the most dominant receiver on the team and the one the very limited QBs were throwing to anytime they could. Here’s a 2-minute taste of some of what Deese looks like in action: https://youtu.be/kP7PCnoQhmo

Deese was a WR in high school and was gonna try to be one in college but he moved to tight end, smartly. He has receiver skills/training, and it’s obvious from the tape. He also has some pro education – his dad was a former starting OL for the 49ers a couple decades ago. Deese has good awareness. He also was an All-Academic performer in the conference. He’s a good kid with good training/awareness and nice receiving skills with decent blocking ability/effort. He’s a legit NFL prospect…and he might be a surprisingly dangerous receiver at TE, if he gets the chance to shine.

I’m a fan of Deese. I don’t think he’s a superstar…but he could be a plausible starting NFL TE someday…and the Detroit Lions got him for near nothing, potentially all because he hurt his ankle at a college all-star game at the wrong time.

Derrick Deese Jr., Through the Lens of Our TE Scouting Algorithm:

 -- Six or more catches in a game (career) among 2022 top TE prospects:

15 = Trey McBride

5 = Derrick Deese

4 = Greg Dulcich

3 = Jelani Woods *Used as primarily a blocker for 3 years at Oklahoma State

Deese doing his work with a far inferior passing game…just to give an idea how he was leaned on. Shows well for McBride when you look at it too…because he wasn’t in the greatest passing game either.

 -- Career TDs among top 2022 TE prospects:

12 = J. Woods (31 games) *Used as primarily a blocker for 3 years at Oklahoma State

11 = Deese (30 games)

11 = Dulcich (24 games)

10 = McBride (40 games)

2022 Pro Day Measurables:

6’3.2”/244, 10.25” hands, 33.6” arms, 82” wingspan (which gives him an extra boost in range in the receiving game as a ‘big target’)

4.93 40-time, 2.84 20-yard, 1.65 10-yard

18 bench reps, 31” arms, 10’0” broad

The Historical TE Prospects to Whom Derrick Deese Jr. Most Compares Within Our System:

It’s hard to do a comp on Deese…if you think the 4.9+ 40-time might be an error. To the best of our ability, allowing for more variation in the speed numbers…Deese comps with several TEs that made it in the NFL.  None of them had ‘wow’ careers, though they did have moments or a season…but no consistently great career.

*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.

2022 NFL Draft Outlook:

I would have projected Deese 7th-round before the draft, but he ultimately did not get drafted. He lands in a weak spot in Detroit, as a UDFA, because T.J. Hockenson is already in place, and they also drafted a very interesting TE prospect in James Mitchell.

If I were an NFL GM, I would have had Deese earmarked for a UDFA priority if I had need/desire for a slick receiving threat, developmental TE prospect. Deese shows flashes of being an impact receiver…I’d like to see if it came through in the pros.

NFL Outlook:   

It’s an uphill battle for any UDFA, and then a roster battle for Deese with more TE power ahead of him. His path might come from being poached off the Detroit practice squad at some point…and into a better-for-playing-time situation.

There’s hope here, but I need to see how he looks in the preseason – to see whether the 4.9+ speed is real or if the ankle was the issue, and then we can get excited (or not) from there.