XFAlpha Podcast Notes - Episode 6

In Episode 5, Jonah and I finally give some personal information about ourselves so you can get a deeper understanding into our football bonafides. More importantly, we hit up the tight ends. This position isn't the sexiest out there, but there are some high upside guys that I'm looking forward to. As always, my notes are below.

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1. Dallas Renegades
1. Sean Price - Tight End at South Florida that scored 5 TDs his senior year in 2015. 
2. Donald Parham - Bounced around some minicamps after not getting drafted in 2019 out of Stetson. He tore it up for Stetson with 85 catches, 1300 yards, and 13 touchdowns in only nine games. 
3. Romello Brooker - Had a solid senior season for Houston with seven TDs in 2018. 
2. Seattle Dragons
1. Jace Amaro - Put up ridiculous numbers for a tight end during his final year at Texas Tech with over 100 catches, 1300 yards, and 7 TDs. He tested out fairly well at the combine and became a second round pick by the Jets. In 2014, he had a good rookie year with 38 catches. Unfortunately, he tore his labrum in 2015 and was waived by the Jets in 2016 before playing a little with the Titans. He didn’t make the Titans roster in 2017 and didn’t make the Chiefs roster in 2018. He did not get a chance in 2019, and a guy with that pedigree will get as many chances as possible, so he’s likely cooked, but he’s definitely the biggest tight end name in the league. 
2. Evan Rodriguez - Graduated from Temple in 2011 where he had a good enough senior year to be drafted by the Bears in the fourth round. He had four receptions in 2012 but never got another catch as he hung in the NFL for another two years. Has a fairly decent rap sheet including allegedly beating up a woman, so even at 31 years old, not really a feel good story. 
3. Cam Clear - Had nine total catches during his career at Texas A+M. Somehow got invited to the combine where he showed that he was very heavy at 277 pounds and nothing else. 
4. Connor Hamlett - Had a good career at Oregon State. But he made it to the pros and all he did was score touchdowns. Literally. He caught one ball as a Brown for a 17 yard touchdown from Charlie Whitehurst, so he is used to catching balls from XFL level talent. 
5. Colin Jeter - Possibly Derek Jeter’s cousin. Caught 23 passes during his LSU career, but he graduated in 2016 which makes him a young buck compared to a lot of his teammates at tight end. 
6. Ben Johnson - Had 30 catches during his senior year at Kansas in 2017. Caught 14 balls on 17 targets in the Alliance and was second in tight end touchdowns, with 2 which got him a shot with the Chargers but he was cut on the final day. Although he was selected last, I think this is my favorite to be Seattle’s starting tight end. 
3. Tampa Vipers
1. Nick Truesdell - Had some big issues in college as he got kicked off the Cincinnati team for stealing from the bookstore, transferred to Grand Rapids and immediately tore his ACL and quit football. But he’s made a comeback. Led all tight ends in receptions in the Alliance with 24 and even more impressively, he did it on just 27 targets. Big issue here is he’s already 29 years old so he’ll start the season older than Gronk was when he played his final game in the NFL. He’s definitely got less wear and tear than Gronk, but he’s probably on the downslope for athleticism. 
2. Cole Wick - Not super productive at Incarnate Word, but ay 6’7” 255, there’s a lot to like about that frame. Got some NFL time with the Lions in 2016 and the Niners in 2018. Was a late cut by the Titans this year. 
3. DeAndre Goolsby - An okay tight end from Florida.
4. Colin Thompson - Didn’t do anything at Temple and graduated in 2016. 
4. Los Angeles Wildcats
1. Brandon Barnes - Has bounced around NFL rosters since 2017 but never been on an active roster.
2. Scott Orndoff - Had a good senior year for the Pitt Panthers in 2016 with nearly 600 yards receiving. Not much of an athlete but has bounced around rosters and is actually currently on the Eagles practice squad. 
3. Cordon Moog - Played at Baylor, played Rugby at Baylor.
4. Johnny Stanton - Nebraska and UNLV backup quarterback trying to become a tight end.
5. DC Defenders
1. Khari Lee - He only put up okay numbers at Bowie State. He was signed by the Texans, then the Bears traded a sixth round pick for him because that’s just what the Bears do. He had one catch for the Bears in 2015, bounced around some more, and got another catch for the Bills in 2018 which gives him some of the most recent NFL experience. 
2. Orson Charles - Georgia tight end who had 45 catches and nearly 600 yards during his senior year in 2011. But I’m not here to talk about that. 35 BENCH PRESS REPS - HELL YEAH - 99th percentile. Who would you rather fight Orson Charles or 8 Tyrann Mathieus? The answer is the Mathieus, because eight of them would still fall three short of Orson’s bench press numbers. He ended up getting drafted in the fourth round by the Bengals. He has been on an active roster every year since outside of 2015 and this current year, but he never topped his eight catches his rookie season. If they made a football as heavy as a medicine ball, he’d be the best tight end in the league. 
3. Adrien Robinson - Wasn’t productive at Cincinnati, but he was productive at the combine as he was in the 90th percentile of tight ends for broad jump, vertical jump and 40 time. The Giants selected him in the fourth round off of that potential, in which he had zero catches his first two years but did get 5 receptions in 2014. Unfortunately, Robinson appears to be an athlete that never really learned the position. 
4. Dimitrios Tsesmetzis - Played at Western Connecticut State.
6. New York Guardians
1. EJ Bibbs - Originally committed to the University of Iowa to attend Tight End U, but couldn’t make the grades, went to Community College, and had to settle for a career at Iowa State. Had a productive two years for the Cyclones, even scoring eight touchdowns his final year. He still went undrafted but signed with the Browns after the draft. He played in seven games for the Browns in 2015 and made one reception. He was cut by the Redskins before the 2017 season and has not been on an NFL roster since. 
2. Keith Towbridge - Played college ball at Louisville and tied for third in receptions in the Alliance. 
3. Jake Powell - He was only able to start five games his senior year for Monmouth. More impressively, he helped the Yankees win the World Series every year from 1936-1939, although that may be a different Jake Powell. 
4. Jake Sutherland - Was just fine at Morehead State. 
7. St. Louis Battlehawks
1. Wes Saxton - Had a great Junior year in 2013 but fell off for his senior year. He showed some strong physical skills at the combine which led to him getting signed by the Jets as a free agent. He played one game with the Jets but recorded no stats, and he has bounced around the league since. He was tied for third in tight end receptions in the Alliance.
2. Connor Davis - Played more offensive line than tight end for Stony Brook. Also might have played more defensive line than tight end in college. 
3. Cole Hunt - Didn’t do much at Rice or TCU in college. 
8. Houston Roughnecks
1. N/A