Ja'Tavion Sanders scouting report: Exploring the Texas tight end's strengths and weaknesses

A five-star recruit in 2021, Ja'Tavion Sanders redshirted his first year at Texas, before setting a Longhorns single-season record for tight-ends with 54 catches in his actual debut campaign, accounting for 613 yards and five touchdowns.

Ja'Tavion Sanders caught nine fewer passes and only reached the end-zone twice in 2023, but put up 682 yards and helped Texas win the Big 12 along earning a CFP berth, while making first-team all-conference individually.

Profile: 6-foot-4, 245 pounds; RS SO.

Breaking down Ja'Tavion Sanders' scouting report

Blocking:

• Can fire out of a three-point stance, with a former defensive end background (20 TFLs and 11 sacks as a high school senior) and provides great leg-drive
• Able to dish out powerful drive-blocks on the move and more than just “securing” targets in space – you see him ride DBs out of bounds every once in a while
• Continues to bring his hips around and is able to reach-block the point-man on perimeter-oriented run concepts
• The Longhorns put Sanders at H-back a ton and tasked him with a variety of assignments in the run game, whether he was pulled out to the corner or was brought across the formation on split zone or counter, where he’d wrap around for linebackers
• Reliably lands the near-shoulder into the inside half of edge defenders on kickouts, in order to force them to work around him
• Excellent at locating and latching onto targets on the move as part of end-arounds, reverses, etc.
• Has some tremendous showcases of effort, to actually pass his teammates and getting a piece of defenders way down the field
• You saw Ja'Tavion Sanders work underneath the formation and pick up legit edge rushers as part of the protection on play-action and holding his own for a few reps against names like Alabama all-world guy Will Anderson Jr.

Releases & route-running:

• Has easy acceleration off the line, with the speed to blow by the second level and split the safeties in two-high looks if you let him release cleanly
• Could become a nightmare for linebackers in match-coverages when he runs benders and forces them to turn with him
• His change of direction skills for a guy at his measurements are pretty rare, throwing in hip-shifts
• Offers the quick feet and ability to turn his shoulders away from defenders to elude press-attempts and put guys in catch-up mode
• Continues to swipe and swat the near-hand of defenders trying to stick to him across the field
• Effectively applies pacing on double-moves, baiting defenders to undercut the initial break before bursting away from them
• Had PFF receiving grades of 76.1 and then 79.0 these past two years

Approaching the catch & YAC:

• Showcases excellent flexibility and sticky hands to deal with suboptimal ball-placement – didn’t drop a single pass (45 receptions) in 2023
• Can shield the ball with body and seems unbothered by contact as he’s extending for it
• You see plenty of catches that allow the defender back into the catch window and Sanders being able to bail out the quarterback – posted a 53.6% contested rate in his career
• Whether he has to embrace an oncoming hit by a safety barreling down on him or turn his body away from shallow zone defenders underneath him as he secures the catch, Sanders avoids opportunities for the ball to be jarred loose regularly
• Has that instant burst once the ball is in his hands, to challenge the pursuit angles of defenders – averaged 7.7 yards after the catch this past season
• Displays splendid lateral quick to side-step or jump-cut defenders in the open field, yet is also capable of running through safeties in his way when he drops the pads on them, converting speed to power effectively
• Was put on lots of chip-releases and became a dump-off option with RAC opportunities, and Texas also set up screen passes for him (very first snap of the 2022 Alabama game)

Weaknesses:

• His hands do slide outside the frame of front-seven defenders and he ends up holding quite a bit – was penalized ten times over the past two seasons combined
• As a slot receiver. Sanders has room for improvement in terms of breaking down and putting his body in front of DBs on screen passes
• The foot quickness is there, but currently he’s too upright trying to release out of two-point stances and doesn’t counter the initial jam effectively enough
• Needs to work on his ability to freeze the feet of defenders in man-coverage, particularly when he has the advantage by leverage and allows those guys to stay in phase anyway (to disrupt the catch-point)
• Has some balance issues after the catch trying to get up the field when he takes dump-offs underneath

Ja'Tavion Sanders' 2024 NFL Draft prospect

Being TE2 in a class with a talent at the top like in this draft is sort of an unenviable position, because the rest of the group is barely being discussed. However, in many other years Ja'Tavion Sanders would at least get a lot more attention.

The urgency out of his stance and the ability to block on the move are excellent. As a receiver, Ja'Tavion Sanders offers quick acceleration from any alignment, showcases impressive of change-of-direction, catches pretty much anything in his vicinity and offers an impressive blend of speed, agility and power after the catch.

He did not test like the athletic freak you were expecting at the combine, running a 4.69 at 245 pounds, and he needs refinement as receiver to avoid contact early and separate from it during the route.

Ja'Tavion Sanders’ best role in the NFL is one as an H-back and big slot, although it will not exclude in-line duties from his task list. So depending on his development, he could land anywhere from a Pro Bowl-level F tight-end to a WR3 with mismatch ability as the baseline. I would be willing to invest a top-50 pick in him.

Grade: Top 50