Isaac

Nauta

Nauta is not an NFL-caliber receiving tight end. He’s averaged 3.2 yards on his five targets through two seasons. The seventh rounder will spend most of his time on special teams and as a run-blocker.

The team’s former seventh-round pick from last year, Nauta played 41 snaps (4%) in six games behind T.J. Hockenson and Jesse James. A fringe athlete at the Combine with a 4.91 forty, 28-inch vertical, and 7.45 three-cone time, Nauta has a few years of developmental reps remaining before he’s considered an impactful NFL player.

It is Detroit’s second tight-end addition this weekend after they drafted T.J. Hockenson with the No. 8 overall pick. Nauta (6’3/241) turned pro as a true junior after making 27 starts for the Bulldogs, recording a career 68/905/8 (13.3 YPR) receiving line and securing 30-of-31 catchable targets in 2018. A solid college starter who will likely struggle in his NFL transition, Nauta was exposed as a fringe athlete at the Combine with a 4.91 forty, 28-inch vertical, and 7.45 three-cone time, amounting to fifth-percentile SPARQ results. An undersized H-back type, Nauta would do well to earn an extended big-league stay.