Big Board ranking: #47

Positional ranking: #2

 

Overview

Position: TE

College: Texas

Class: Junior

Age: 21

 

Measurables

Height: 6’3 7/8”

Weight: 245 lbs.

Arm length: 32 7/8″

Hand size: 10 1/8″

 

Athletic testing

40-yard dash: 4.69 sec.

10-yard split: 1.59 sec.

Vertical jump: N/A

Broad jump: N/A

Bench press: N/A

3-cone drill: N/A

Short shuttle: 4.32 sec.

 

Strengths

Prototype size. Very smooth overall player. Tremendous athleticism and strength. Impressive toughness. Great acceleration and very good speed. Extremely soft hands. Terrific hand-eye coordination to see the ball late and get his hands on it. Excellent catch focus with defenders around. Exceptional reaching back for passes on his back shoulder. Outstanding feel for working down the seam. Will leverage defenders as a route runner. Catches the ball extremely comfortably down the field. Will slide to secure passes when needed. Flashes an ability to sink and burst in and out of routes. Crisp on corner routes. Throttles down to present a target for the quarterback underneath. Knows how to settle versus zone coverage. Excellent on stick routes and quick outs. Smooth turning up and accelerating on wheel routes. Quick to turn into a runner. Very good stiff arm. Does a nice job selling blocks before going out on routes. Advanced involvement as an in-line blocker. Tremendous as a lead blocker. Great pop/impact when connecting. Engages with his hands. Stays balanced and drives with his legs. Will take on defensive lineman. Generates a push on double teams. Impact blocker in short-yardage situations. Hustles to lead the way in space. Hits opponents squarely and with force in the open field. Effective using cut blocks on backside defenders. Exceptional blocker outside the numbers on screen passes. Has plenty of experience as a pass blocker. Mostly an in-line option but played the slot and out wide.

 

Weaknesses

Basic overall route tree. Needs more refinement as a route runner. Trying to be deliberate can lead to loopy routes. Can improve fighting through or avoiding contact as a route runner. Could be better taking routes back to the quarterback on broken plays.

 

NFL comparison

T.J. Hockenson

 

Conclusion

Overall, Sanders is an all-around tight end that blocks at a high level and showed plenty of natural ability in the passing game. Despite not being a featured target for Texas, he has the potential to be a more central weapon for an NFL offense.