Draft Profile: TE – Zach Ertz

CBS Sports

Overview
A one-year starter, Ertz was a four-star tight end recruit out of high school, choosing Stanford over Arizona, California and UCLA.
After sitting out the 2009 season, he saw limited action as a redshirt freshman in 2010, finishing with 16 catches for 190 yards (11.9) and five touchdowns. Ertz saw more playing time as a sophomore in 2011, but was stuck behind Coby Fleener on the tight end depth chart, recording 27 catches for 346 yards (12.8) and four scores.

With Fleener off to the NFL, Ertz became the featured tight end in 2012 as a junior (14 starts), finishing with a team-high 69 catches for 898 yards (13.0) and six touchdowns, earning First Team All-Pac 12 and All-American honors. Ertz decided to skip his senior season and enter the 2013 NFL Draft.

Ertz was part of a crowded depth chart over his first few seasons at Stanford, but emerged as the team’s No. 1 offensive weapon in 2012 and led the nation in receiving yards by a tight end. He has developed as a blocker and is usually sure-handed, but still needs to improve his consistency in both areas. Ertz has very good body control and toughness for the position and plays like a wideout in the body of a tight end.

While he’ll fight with Notre Dame’s Tyler Eifert to be the top tight end drafted, it wouldn’t be surprising if some teams grade him as a better tight end prospect than Fleener a year ago. Projecting as a top 40 prospect, Ertz has a good chance to be the first tight end in Stanford history to be drafted in the first round.

Analysis
Strengths: Smooth athlete with good route quickness to create some separation and sneaky speed to get behind the defense. Sturdy, well-built frame, adding 30 pounds of bulk and muscle since he arrived in Palo Alto. Tough with the ball in his hands and isn’t afraid to deliver hits, lowering his pads and finishing runs. Not afraid to get physical as a blocker and gives good effort in this area, always looking for someone to block downfield.

Tracks the ball well and does a nice job adjusting his frame to make the tough catch, extending and plucking. Looks like he has glue on his hands with some of the catches he is able to make. Does a nice job selling his patterns, getting good depth in his routes and immediately looking for the ball out of his breaks. Can deceive defenders and find soft spots in coverage. Does a nice job making something happen after the catch, averaging more than 13 yards per catch in 2012.

Has experience all over the offense for Stanford, lining up in-line, in the slot and out wide, but looked most comfortable in the slot. In 2012, Ertz doubled Coby Fleener’s production from the year before, earning All-American honors as a Mackey Award finalist. Hard worker on and off the field and plans to graduate in June.

Weaknesses: Has done a nice job adding bulk to his frame, but needs to continue to develop his strength to sustain blocks at the line of scrimmage. Will round off some routes at times and needs to better control himself in/out of his breaks. Needs to do a better job coming down with contested throws and will drop some easy ones – seems to have at least one drop each game.

Will play timid over the middle at times, appearing to hear footsteps. Has only one season under his belt as the full-time starter and has been banged up over his career.

Compares To: Jason Witten, TE, Dallas Cowboys – Like Witten, Ertz is a strong, tough receiver who isn’t an elite athlete but gets the job done, finding ways to get open and create separation. Neither will impress with a 40-yard dash, but show good route quickness and aggressive hands.

NFL.com

Overview
Ertz had a strong incentive to leave The Farm after his redshirt sophomore season because high-profile teammates quarterback Andrew Luck, tight end Coby Fleener, and offensive line stars David DeCastro and Jonathan Martin are no longer around to aid his cause. But staying in Palo Alto for another year gave him the chance to be Stanford’s top offensive weapon and Ertz took advantage of the opportunity in 2012.

He was rated the top tight end recruit in the nation coming out of Monte Vista High School, which is located only one hour north of Stanford’s campus. After redshirting in 2009, Ertz became a regular contributor the next season (16-190, 5 TD), catching a touchdown in each of the team’s final three games. He started last season with the same type of streak, scoring once in each of the Cardinal’s three games, and played well throughout the first seven games. Unfortunately, Ertz suffered an injury to his right knee blocking while Stanford received the opening kickoff against USC. He missed the next three games and made a minimal impact against Notre Dame before appearing healthy again in the team’s Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma State (4-38, TD).

Ertz became the feature tight end in 2012 as a junior and started all 14 games, leading the team in just about every receiving category. He finished with a team-high 69 catches for 898 yards and six scores, earning first-team All-Pac 12 and All-American honors.

Analysis
Strengths: Smooth athlete with good route quickness to create some separation and sneaky speed to get behind the defense. Sturdy, well-built frame, adding 30 pounds of bulk and muscle since he arrived in Palo Alto. Tough with the ball in his hands and isn’t afraid to deliver hits, lowering his pads and finishing runs. Not afraid to get physical as a blocker and gives good effort in this area, always looking for someone to block downfield. Tracks the ball well and does a nice job adjusting his frame to make the tough catch, extending and plucking. Looks like he has glue on his hands with some of the catches he is able to make. Does a nice job selling his patterns, getting good depth in his routes and immediately looking for the ball out of his breaks. Nice job deceiving defenders and finding soft spots in coverage to make something happen after the catch, averaging over 13 yards per catch in 2012. Has experience all over the offense for Stanford, lining up in-line, slot and out wide, but looked most comfortable in the slot. In 2012 Ertz doubled Coby Fleener’s production from the year before, earning All-American honors as a Mackey Award finalist. Hard worker on and off the field and plans to graduate in June.

Weaknesses: Missed half of his sophomore year due to injury. Must prove his straight-line speed to scouts. Will not elude NFL defensive backs after the catch with pure quickness. Inconsistent in-line blocker, can get after his man but also loses the leverage battle and gets pushed back too easily. Misses second-level blocks when lunging at targets instead of getting position. Nice job adding bulk to his frame, but needs to continue to develop his strength to sustain blocks at the line of scrimmage. Will round off some routes at times and needs to better control himself in/out of his breaks. Needs to do a better job coming down with contested throws and will drop some easy ones – seems to have at least one drop each game.

NFL Comparion: Jason Witten

Bottom Line: Ertz was part of a crowded TE depth chart over his first few seasons at Stanford, but emerged as the team’s No. 1 offensive weapon in 2012 and led the nation in receiving yards by a TE. He has developed as a blocker and is usually sure-handed, but still needs to improve his consistency in both areas. While he’s No. 2 in the TE rankings for most, it wouldn’t be surprising if some teams grade him higher than Notre Dame’s Tyler Eifert as he is a better TE prospect than Fleener a year ago –- projecting as a top-40 prospect, Ertz has a good chance to be the first TE in Stanford history to be drafted in the first round.