Lions 2023 draft preview: Finding an upgrade at tight end is a must

Over the next several days, leading up to the 2023 NFL Draft, we’re taking a position-by-position look at the Detroit Lions’ roster and evaluating how the team might address each unit. Today: Tight ends.

▶ Current roster: Brock Wright, James Mitchell, Shane Zylstra, Derrick Deese Jr.

▶ Short-term need: Seven out of 10

▶ Long-term need: Eight out of 10

▶ Top prospects: Michael Mayer, Darnell Washington, Dalton Kincaid

▶ Day 2 options: Luke Musgrave, Tucker Kraft, Luke Schoonmaker

▶ Late-round considerations: Brenton Strange, Zack Kuntz, Blake Whiteheart

▶ Analysis: General manager Brad Holmes decided to go in a different direction with the tight end position in the middle of last season. With T.J. Hockenson due for a contract extension and massive raise, the team unceremoniously parted with the former first-round pick, shipping him to the Minnesota Vikings ahead of the trade deadline.

That left the team to lean on the young, inexperienced trio of Wright, Zylstra and rookie Mitchell. And while none of the three emerged as a consistent component of the team’s passing attack through the second half of the season, they all seemingly had a nose for the end zone, combining for nine touchdown grabs.

Admittedly, there’s plenty of meat on the bone with the trio. None of them have come close to reaching their potential with two or fewer seasons under their belts. Heck, Zylstra and Mitchell have logged fewer than 500 combined offensive snaps. The real question is what is the group’s ceiling?

Wright, an undrafted rookie in 2021, is a solid hand. A block-first tight end in college, he’s proven to be more versatile than that tape suggested, catching 30 passes through his first two seasons. And with a couple seasons of experience, there’s reason to believe his subpar blocking will start trending more toward what we saw from his time at Notre Dame.

Zylstra was a surprisingly effective blocker last year, but it’s difficult to say it will be sustainable given his leaner frame. Still, the former college receiver, who was a touchdown machine during the offseason program, should see continued production growth as a flex option.

Of the three, it’s Mitchell who has the highest ceiling. Snagged in the fifth round of last year’s draft, the Lions felt they got a bargain because he was recovering from a torn ACL suffered during the 2021 season. He’s got the frame to be an effective dual-threat and should be able to offer more than the 26 catches and 435 yards he peaked at during the 2020 campaign at Virginia Tech.

Regardless, no matter how much optimism the Lions might have with those three, there’s clearly room to get better. That might not mean drafting a tight end in the first round for the fourth time since 2009, but the Lions could if they wanted. With the No. 18 pick, they’d likely have first choice in what many consider to be one of the deepest pools of talent we’ve ever seen at the position.

It will be interesting to see where Washington, the Georgia standout, winds up going in the draft. A mauler of a blocker, he saw his receiving production suppressed by the talent on the Bulldogs’ roster, including Brock Bowers, the projected top tight end in next year’s draft.

Still, Washington proved at the combine, both with his athletic testing and his showing in the positional drills, there’s a world of untapped potential in his hulking 6-foot-7, 265-pound frame. On the off chance he lingers to the middle of the second round, the Lions should pounce. It would arguably be worth trading up into the early portion of that round to secure his services, given the potential impact he could have in Detroit’s scheme as a run blocker and over-the-middle outlet for quarterback Jared Goff.

If the team misses out of Washington, the Lions could look to their backyard with Schoonmaker. Starting last season as the backup for the Wolverines, he emerged as a reliable, athletic dual-threat when Erick All went down with an injury.

On the draft’s third day, another Big Ten performer in Strange could be a fit. While not offering the biggest frame, Strange, out of Penn State, is a solid blocker who could offer modest contributions in the pass game.

Or if Detroit is looking for high-ceiling athleticism, Kuntz posted some of the best athletic testing ever recorded for a tight end at the combine. He’s raw, with just 15 starts at Old Dominion against a lower level of competition, but with proper development under new position coach Steve Heiden, the 6-7, 255-pound Kuntz could be a legitimate matchup piece in a year or two.

jdrogers@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @Justin_Rogers