Former CSU star Trey McBride has makings of a first-round talent

The Colorado State Rams have a great prospect for the 2022 NFL draft in tight end Trey McBride. Not only is he the best tight end in this draft class, I think McBride should hear his name called towards the end of the first round.

On Wednesday, I traveled to Ft. Collins to attend the Colorado State pro day. The facility around the new stadium is beautiful, and the Rams put on a great show for scouts, family and media in attendance. Everyone was there to see McBride perform, and he did not disappoint.

McBride has the makings of a star player in the NFL. We got to see glimpses of what he could be at the NFL level during his pro day on Wednesday.

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Hay Is In The Barn

Like me, McBride is from rural Colorado. McBride grew up in the farming community of Ft. Morgan, and from an early age that country work ethic was imprinted upon him. Hard workers can come from anywhere, but in the country there are no days off. McBride approached his football career with the same mindset.

The time between the end of the season for the Rams and the draft has gone by in a whirlwind of activity for McBride. He was invited to and participated in the Reese’s Senior Bowl earlier this year, and McBride was one of the standout players at any position at that game. McBride then had to get ready for the Scouting Combine a few weeks after that. Even though he didn’t participate in all the drills at that event, McBride did have to go through the testing process and interview process with 32 teams and thousands of media members hovering around him daily.

None of this has seemed to rattle McBride. He’s taken his workmanlike attitude and moved forward to the next step. On Wednesday, that was performing at his pro day – and he crushed it in front of the scouting community.

Trey McBride putting on a clinic at CSU’s pro day pic.twitter.com/JLm8AFCh9A

— Dave Kluge (@DaveKluge) March 30, 2022

The work is now done with McBride. As he said multiple times in his post-pro day press conference, “The hay is in the barn.” McBride’s work is done, and now he is going to travel the country for individual private workouts. Based on the attendance at his pro day, with all 32 teams represented, McBride should rack up the frequent flyer miles over the next month.

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Tight End With WR Talent

I have McBride as the top tight end in this draft class because he’s a tight end who has wide receiver traits to his game. Today’s NFL is all about finding players who can create mismatches, so teams have taken to finding big wide receivers they’ll try to line up at tight end. The idea is that this wide receiver playing tight end will be faster than linebackers tasked with covering him and stronger than safeties that may be covering him as well. When this formula works out, the results can be great (see Darren Waller) but too often teams are left with a player out of position and the experiment doesn’t work.

McBride is not an “old school” tight end who is merely a blocker that sometimes can go out for passes. Instead, he’s a well-rounded tight end who has the willingness to block, can be effective when blocking, and he’s a dangerous receiver. There is no doubt about it, McBride is a tight end who can do wide receiver things – not the other way around – and that’s an important distinction.

At his pro day, McBride was able to show off that receiving ability. Catching passes over this shoulder is no problem, and he really showed the ability to adjust to poorly thrown passes time and time again during his workout. McBride naturally adjusts to the ball in flight, and that means he can bail out his quarterback if a pass isn’t perfectly placed. That’s a wide receiver skill many tight ends cannot emulate.

Trey McBride looked really smooth out here today. #NFLDraft @1043TheFan @CSUFootball pic.twitter.com/SDB3lpjtpn

— Cecil Lammey (@CecilLammey) March 30, 2022

McBride can be a dangerous weapon in the NFL. He’s got the speed to get by defenders. He’s “country strong” and can run through arm tackles, keeping his feet alive to maximize yards after contact. Teams will have no problem lining up McBride as an in-line tight end, split out wide or in the slot, and he can even line up in the backfield as an H-back if asked. He can do it all, and that was made clear during his pro day performance.

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Fast 40
McBride didn’t run the 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine. Instead, he opted to do that drill in front of scouts for the first time at his pro day on Wednesday. Not only did McBride impress with is 40 time, but he also blew people away in attendance.

McBride registered a time of 4.56 seconds officially, although early times had him around 4.54 seconds – a blazing time which had all of us on the sidelines buzzing. On film, I knew McBride was going to test fast because his pad speed shows him pulling away from defenders. To see him run in person on field level, it was simply awe inspiring – mainly because he made it look easy.

https://t.co/NSf5UBhtxo pic.twitter.com/oZQF4Ct5WZ

— Trey McBride (@mcbtrey) March 30, 2022

He’s been running fast for years. I talked to a source around the program who told me they’ve tested him many times at 4.5 or faster – so the results were no surprise to those around the Rams. Had McBride tested at the Combine, his 4.56 40-yard dash would have ranked second in the event behind only Chig Okonkwo (Maryland, 4.52 seconds). McBride’s 40 time certainly helped move his draft stock up, and I think he should be a late first-round pick in the draft based on his film and all the work he’s done up to this point.
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