by J.T. Toth
Photo courtesy of Minnesota Athletics.
At Draft 412, the NFL draft talk never ends. We will keep you ready for the next set of gridiron stars—from today and all the way until draft night 2024. We will bring you mock drafts, player profiles, individual team needs, and everything else you may need related to the 2024 NFL Draft.
Today’s Spotlight - Minnesota, Tight End, Brevyn Spann-Ford
Name- Brevyn Spann-Ford
Pos- Tight End
Team- Minnesota
HT/WT- 6’7” 268 lbs.
Born- 12/27/1999
Home – Saint Cloud, MN
Brevyn Spann-Ford attended St. Cloud Technical Senior High School where he played tight end, wide receiver and defensive end. During his time in high school, he set school records for receptions (176), yards (2,657), and touchdowns with 38. Coming out of high school, he was ranked a consensus three-star athlete, and the #1 recruit coming out of Minnesota. He decided to stay home and committed to play football for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
He redshirted in 2018 after playing in only 4 contests. In the 2019 campaign, Spann-Ford played in 12 games and hauled in 4 catches for 25 yards and a touchdown. In 2020, he was used mostly as a blocking tight end and only played in six games and caught one pass, which happened to be a touchdown.
During his junior season in 2021, Minnesota started using Spann-Ford as a weapon in their offense. Though he only started 3 of the 13 games, he was able to catch 23 passes for 296 yards and a touchdown.
It was in his 5th season as a Golden Gopher Spann-Ford started to put himself on the radar of NFL scouts. He started all 13 games in 2022 and was a big part of the Minnesota offense. He ended the season with 42 receptions for 497 yards and 2 touchdowns. Many thought Spann-Ford was going to enter the NFL Draft but instead declared that he was going to come back to Minnesota for a 6th season.
Brevyn Spann-Ford has freakish size and athleticism for a 6’7” 268 lb. player. He possesses soft hands and always seems to haul in clean passes. You can tell he played some wide receiver in high school and has the ability to wiggle and cut for a larger man. He is a strong enough player to get clean breaks off the line and does a good job of shedding defenders when exploding off the ball. He uses his frame well when going for contested balls and tracks the ball efficiently.
On the negative side, Spann-Ford is not quite the blocker you think he should be and plays too upright at times to be effective. He is not going to be a big play tight end and will mainly be an underneath option. He is not a player who will continue on after his original route when a play breaks down and loses effort quickly. He has the potential to add some speed by cutting down on his weight.
A relevant NFL comparison for Spann-Ford is a player like Colby Parkinson (Stanford) when he entered the 2020 NFL Draft. Parkinson ended up a 4th round pick and that should be the area Brevyn Spann-Ford lands as well.
Strengths
Soft hands
Twitchy
Release off line
Contested passes
Weaknesses
Blocking
Too upright
Not a deep threat
Extending plays
Final Analysis
Brevyn Spann-Ford is a unique player who should get drafted based on size and athleticism. He will not be considered in the top tier of tight ends but should still go in the first half of the draft.
Draft 412 Draft Projection - Round 3 or Round 4