Latest / Scouting the League / 2027 Draft Scouting - Brett Norfleet - Missouri TE
Transcript
- Rodrik David: Hey everyone and welcome to our 2027 Draft Scouting series here on Scouting the League. Tight end Brett Norfleet of Missouri is our guide today. Does he have the upside of Tradez Green from LSU, who we've already talked about? We will see today, and we will stack him on our board before we are all done. But before we jump in, make sure you head over, like, subscribe, share this podcast wherever you are listening, and hopefully today watching as we get a little bit of film pulled up here. Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube, of course. Make sure you hit those buttons, comment, and share this with a friend. Subscribe, of course. That all really helps us out. Head over to Twitter as well. Give me a follow at rightstep A D V. If you like what you hear and want more, leave a comment on future players you want. or on any other content you want. Yesterday we talked about getting into camp time. 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We'll let you know what you like, what you love, what you want more of from the Scouting the League podcast. And With that, let's get into it today as I go ahead and throw some film on of our tight end from Missouri, Brett Norfleet. Brett, a big body man. You see the those those measurables. You see that height and weight. Man, you get excited about who this guy's gonna be. 6'6, 260. And he looks all of that, maybe a little under 260, but looks like he's got the length, a true senior in 2026, four-star prospect out of O'Fallon, Missouri, freshman all-American. He's been a three-year contributor. 18 receptions in 23, 26 and 24, and 31 receptions last year, 10 touchdowns across those three years. I put on all his targets from 2026. Again, we'll talk about why big man, big frame. Again, with tight ends, they are a dynamic position to watch because depending on the offense, they can ask you to do a lot of things. And really, there's two different roles, maybe three. You got your tight end Y, your Big body inline blocker. You got your tight end F. Hey, maybe a little bit smaller, maybe hit that 235, 240 mark, more of a route runner, more of a receiver. You get your tight end H. Hey, I can do both of those at a sufficient level, and I can play a little bit of fullback lead from the backfield. So again, who are we looking at? Again, at the size, right off the bat, my mind goes to tight end wide. Now, That's not who Brett is. We'll talk about why. But again, because of the size, I have to look at the blocking. I want this guy in line. So really I'm going to be looking at the same old line trades. I had initial quickness, run blocking blocking, pass blocking, his position and how he uses body, his hand use and his feet. On the receiving side, because he is a tight end, he is working in that F role as well. You want to see hands, you want releases, routes, run after the catch and his blocking. again, let's go back to the game. We're not going to get it on this highlight tape just because I want to. Talk and showcase kind of what he does best, and that is the route running. As a blocker, he is average. And a lot of that comes down to his temperament, his willingness, his intensity as a blocker. This guy has good levels of initial quickness. But he is an average blocker because he does not use great head and hand position. He does not use strength. He doesn't have a lot of want to. This guy wants to be an F. He wants to be a receiver, which means he is turning down contact. He is kind of throwing flippers. He's kind of throwing a pad in there. He's not even really getting down to a good base, which he can do. That is the thing with Brett, is you see the ability to move in the pass game right here on the highlights. Tape again, the cut up that we're watching, but he does not do it in the run game. A simple position block. He is big enough and he is strong enough to do it. He just does not show a consistent want to and willingness to get in there. He's got good enough feet. He has good enough position. He's got good enough strength. He's got the quickness to work in his own scheme. Even if you don't want this guy to be a road grader gap scheme, move people off the spot. This guy has to do more. To get on, make initial contact, maintain balance, stay sticky down the field in his own scheme if he wants to get the most out of the talent and the traits that he has. As we work down from the run blocking to the pass blocking, again, this is a guy with good hands. He Catches away from his body. He can use his frame. He wants to get the ball. He wants to get down the field. He's got sufficient releases. Again, this is a 6'6 body at 260 that is not overly exposed. I think he's got sufficient levels of explosion and vertical speed to get and acceleration to get into his routes. Again, that's not going to be the strong suit when he's lined him up out wide. He's not going to be breaking off and winning a lot of one on one situations. He's a sufficient route runner. And that's a lot of times because he just is not refining. He's a little bit sloppy. He gets a little bit high, a little bit loose in and out of breaks. Again, a guy that can snap down, but doesn't get back to the quarterback. He can fade in his routes just a little bit. So again, the route running, again, there's good signs there. I think there's good levels of athleticism to get better, but this guy has to get better at all of it. His run after the catch, again, that's where this guy wants to operate. He wants the ball. This guy views himself. As an athlete, you can tell the way he plays, kind of the swag, the demeanor he has. This guy views himself as an athlete, as an F tight end. Get me the ball. Let me go work in the pass game, catch the rock, get up vertical. I think he's got good run after the catch. He's going to make some guys miss. He's got some slippery, he's got some wiggle. He's going to catch the rock and look to gain yardage, which is good. You want that in your tight end. But again, it's got to be paired with some of the rest of the stuff. Again, as and as a blocker, again, we talked about that. He works better in space. He can work from the slot. But again, the willingness, the want to, the desire has got to get better. And that, you know, that's really kind of the story for Brett Norfleet is there's a lot to like. There is a lot of stuff on this player. Like they don't make them at 6'6, 260 that can move like this real often, which is going to keep him on a lot of boards for a lot of. long time and you're going to want him to show you just a little bit more that says hey you can come into the NFL and be a again a top three. Again most teams carry three tight ends to be one of those three tight ends move into a potential starting role. But again, this player could really help himself out this fall. This guy could end up being that second round tight end. This guy could end up being a fifth round tight end too. So let's jump over. let's hit pause on the film. Let's go over to our beautiful big board here brought to you by Kyle Morgan To talk about where we like Brett Norfleet. again, with Brett, you are where's my share screen? There we go, and there's that share screen. With Brett Norfleet, you're talking about a big body guy that's got a lot of really good tools and traits. You've got again, good athletic ability, you've got the size, the frame, you've got good hands. Again, at the end of the day, I think this guy's a role starter. Again, with tight ends, you've got to have a defined role. Are you going to be our nasty road grader? High temperament, big get in the in line and block no matter who's in front of you. That's not Brett Norfleet. That's clearly not Brett Norfleet. Is he going to be the matchup nightmare in the slot? If you stick him in line, he's going to beat linebackers. I don't think he's got the quickness twitch to do that as well, which means at the end of the day, I think this guy's a backup Y and F if he takes that F level up just a little bit, which at this point in the year. As a scout, I get to assume he's going to. I get to assume at Missouri they're going to work with him this offseason. He's going to listen to a good advice. I'm going to throw a fourth round grade on him right now, knowing that that grade could end up higher or end up lower because he's got to answer a lot of questions for me. Again, I am not going to put a special teams tag on him because I don't think special teams coaches are going to love a lot of the value again, the temperament, the speed. Again, this guy will have a role, but I'm not going to tag him there because I'm not necessarily going to want him there. I'm going to put a fourth round. roll starter great on this player. Because again, I think that's where he's going to live. He is going to be probably tight in two or three for a lot of rosters. He is going to be the backup to our dude, our guy that can do everything. Our yeah our our player that is going to be lined up in 11 personnel every snap, snap in, snap out can do everything. But again, you are either probably going to have a nasty Y or A really dynamic F is the other guy, and this guy's gonna be able to just back up. He's gonna be an 11 personnel guy if your starter gets hurt. He can play some 12, he can play some 13. He's not gonna do any of it at a very good, at a maybe even a good level consistently in the NFL, but he can get the job done. And this is the type of tight end three you want on your roster because of all he brings to the table. I think this player can get better. Do I think he's going to? Man, without knowing the character, without getting into the building, his his lack of willingness in the run game is a major concern for me. And again, when you don't want to get after it and do again what should be easily done, snap in and snap out when you're only catching one to two balls a game, you got to embrace that if you want to take it. So with Brett, I'm gonna stick him in here and I'm going to stick him right behind Terence Carter, who we haven't talked about on this podcast, but have done some work on. Terrence fits that H role, which provides a little bit more value, a little bit more up to effort, a little more intensity, a little more get after it. I think Brett's a good player. He's a four. Fourth round type player. Again, could move himself up a little bit if he really gets after a big year. But again, this player could certainly hurt himself if his improved doesn't if his film doesn't improve this fall. He could end up in that fifth, sixth round, where again, we're gonna take a chance on a big body like this, big frame, big catching. But again, got to see more from Brett. And again, hopefully for this Missouri roster and some of the players on that, again, he does elevate his game. So upside yes, but need to know more. But what do you think? Let me know at right step ADV. Who do you want to hear next as well? If it's not your thoughts on Brett, who do you want to hear about? A tight end, an O lineman, D lineman, quarterback, who do you want to hear about? Let me know at right step ADV. We're taking all requests. Happy put the film on. But if I don't hear, I get to keep picking. And if I get to keep picking, I'm probably gonna end up back in the trenches soon because that is where the games are won and lost. And you know, along with it, everything I'm gonna do, I'm going to keep scouting.