Everyone Is Talking About the Wrong TE’s in the 2026 NFL Draft
Year in and year out, the headliners of the NFL Draft media cycle are QBs and the players that impact them the most. However, in a draft class with limited stars at those premium positions, more focus will be shifted to the less sexy roles. Coming off a year in the NFL where TEs and their usage were more important than ever, it’s only fitting that this year’s class is chock-full of talent from top to bottom with a variety of body types and skillsets.
Players like Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq and Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers get all the hype because they put up the stats and fantasy points that everyone loves. The problem is that players of that archetype don’t actually get on the field and contribute to their team on a three-down basis due to their inability to block inline. Three players in this year’s class can’t match the production of their flashier counterparts, but they do bring the traits teams look for when it comes to selecting starter-quality players at the TE position.
Oscar Delp – Georgia (No. 11 TE on the Consensus Board ) Delp is probably the most relevant name nationally of the three, as the Georgia TE has been a key contributor to multiple highly successful Bulldog teams over the past few years. The reason he falls on this list, even given his name value, is the lack of production.
Delp was tagged as the next successor to Brock Bowers but never lived up to the hype, with his career-best yardage total coming in 2023, where he topped out at 284 yards. Despite the lack of production, there’s one big factor that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet that will make teams feel comfortable ignoring his lackluster numbers: his blocking. While not overly big at 245 pounds ( 21st percentile ) or long with 31⅝-inch arms ( 6th percentile ), his size is functional enough, and Georgia was more than comfortable with leaving Delp inline.
He translates his strong first step burst into power at the point of contact and plays with outstanding leverage and technique to work his feet and seal off his assignment. Delp’s combination of toughness, technique, and flexibility will allow his future NFL coach to trust him with the blocking responsibilities needed to get on the field early in his career. Oscar Delp inline blocking.
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