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With their first draft pick on day 3 of the 2021 NFL Draft the Indianapolis Colts selected an offensive player in tight end Kylen Granson with the 127th overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Mustangs ➡️ Colts
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) May 1, 2021
Welcome home, @theKCG18! pic.twitter.com/vDS0whM0VL
Granson, 6’2” 241 lbs, caught 129 passes for 1,879 yards with 16 touchdowns in four seasons spent at Rice between 2016-2017 before transferring and playing at SMU between 2019-2020. Granson was a First-Team All-AAC selection in 2020 for the Mustangs.
A new tool for the TE room.@theKCG18 | #ColtsDraft
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) May 1, 2021
NFLN/ESPN/ABC pic.twitter.com/sXgK5bk5h4
Here’s Granson’s draft profile from NFL.com:
Lance Zierlien: “Matchup tight end with acceleration and athleticism to create passing windows and make noise with his yards after catch. He’s a little tight getting into breaks, so a scheme that allows him to keep striding throughout the route is preferable. While he offers playmaking potential, the hand-eye coordination looked a bit shaky as a pass catcher. Granson doesn’t have the strength to do much blocking near the line of scrimmage, which limits how he can be used, but he might be functional enough from the slot. He has Day 3 potential and intriguing upside.”
Here’s what others are saying:
Kylen Granson was drafted with pick 127 of round 4 in the 2021 draft class. He scored a 7.72 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 213 out of 929 TE from 1987 to 2021. https://t.co/KU7CyUeS1R #RAS #Colts pic.twitter.com/R08SwRAR4x
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) May 1, 2021
Kylen Granson when targeted 10-19 yards downfield since 2016:
— PFF IND Colts (@PFF_Colts) May 1, 2021
751 receiving yards
8 touchdowns
140.5 passer rating generated pic.twitter.com/Sy5Lkohzrs
.@MoveTheSticks compares Granson to Jonnu Smith athletically.
— Jim Ayello (@jimayello) May 1, 2021
Says he's going to be a sensational special teams player.
Even had Kylen Granson as my cover photo for the Under-The-Radar TE series. Let’s gooooo pic.twitter.com/A0owqI3YOS
— Zach Hicks (@ZachHicks2) May 1, 2021
To me, it looks and sounds like Kylen Granson is an athletic pass catching tight end who doesn’t really offer much upside blocking but will be a very intriguing option in the passing game due to his athleticism.
The Colts have been in need of a pass catching move tight end since Eric Ebron left in free agency in 2020. The Colts did sign Trey Burton last year to do the part of the move tight end role last year but he was not re-signed this year and it appears Kylen Granson would be the direct replacement for Burton.
This pick makes a lost of sense due to the need at pass catching tight end and adds a potential weapon at tight end for new quarterback Carson Wentz to use. The Colts are still yet to draft a left tackle so drafting a tight end may shock a few but Granson fills a big need on offense too.