Joe Royer

● Densely built throughout, with quality bulk in his arms and bubble ● Natural athlete and more fluid than dynamic in movements ● Outstanding hands and grabs almost everything in his catch radius ● Appears undaunted in crowded catch points ● Quick to turn upfield; ranked No. 5 among FBS tight ends in 2025 in YAC/reception (8.9) ● Willing blocker in the run game and competes through the whistle ● Able to seal backside runs versus bigger defensive ends ● Scheme versatile — split snaps evenly between attached and detached in college ● Battled injuries at Ohio State but started all 25 games at Cincinnati the past two seasons

● A tad bow-legged, with disproportionately shorter arms compared to his longer torso ● Doesn’t have speed to easily escape man coverage ● Not a route technician and needs to be better with the little things ● Will battle for extra yards, but you’d like to see him break more tackles ● Mediocre aggression as an inline blocker ● Tends to be late with his hands, especially in space ● Managed 50-plus receiving yards in just three games in 2025 ● Because of injury, missed more games than he played at Ohio State

A two-year starter at Cincinnati, Royer was a Y tight end in former offensive coordinator Brad Glenn’s scheme and split his snaps evenly between the slot (49.3 percent of snaps) and inline (45.4 percent). After injuries derailed his time at Ohio State, he reinvented himself with the Bearcats and in 2024 broke Travis Kelce’s single-season school record for catches by a tight end. However, his usage and production took slight declines in his final year (4.2 catches per game in 2024 to 2.2 in ‘25). Royer is a smooth athlete for the position, with the impressive hands needed to easily adjust and frame the football, regardless of the placement. Although he is more of a one-speed receiver down the seam, he runs hard and has some giddy-up with the ball in his hands (only FBS tight end with multiple receptions of 60-plus yards in 2025). Though competitive as a blocker, his execution must improve for NFL coaches to trust him. Overall, Royer lacks an explosive gear as both a receiver and blocker, but his ball skills are above average, and he is well-rounded everywhere else. He projects as a functional TE2 for an NFL offense.