Washington Football Team 7-round mock draft: Rolling with Taylor Heinicke
By Ian Cummings
Round 3, Pick 81 – Miami TE Brevin Jordan
The emergence of Logan Thomas gives the Washington Football Team some flexibility in the 2021 NFL Draft. Before Thomas’ emergence, tight end was one of the team’s top needs. But Thomas didn’t just push that off to the side; he filled the need on his own.
After a 72-reception, 670-yard, six-touchdown 2020 campaign, Thomas is firmly locked in as the team’s starting tight end, and he’s legitimately grown into one of the better tight ends in the league. He’s supremely athletic with good size, and although he turns 30 years old this offseason, he has just over three years worth of games and just 23 starts under his belt, so there isn’t as much wear as you’d expect.
The Washington Football Team can reasonably get at least two more good years out of Thomas, but even so, they could use a dynamic No. 2 option beside him. Jeremy Sprinkle ain’t it, and neither is Panthers transfer Marcus Baugh, as much as Ron Rivera might want him to be. Luckily for Washington, Brevin Jordan is available at their latest pick, and he compliments Thomas well, while also providing his own long-term upside.
Jordan is a very good athlete at the tight end position, standing at around 6-foot-3, 245 pounds. He’s not quite the unicorn that Kyle Pitts is, but Jordan is incredibly dynamic. He has the short-area explosiveness, elusiveness, and contact balance to be an elite positional run-after-catch threat, and he’s also tough and flexible enough to convert in contested situations.
The biggest concern with Jordan is his health; he has a fairly lengthy injury history. He doesn’t have any major injuries on his profile, but he never played a full season at Miami, and was frequently nagged by minor ailments. That struggle to stay consistently available may persist at the NFL level, but if Jordan can find a way to stay on the field, he’s yet another exciting weapon for Scott Turner to use, and he could eventually take the reigns from Thomas.