The Minnesota Vikings may have gotten the steal of the sixth round by selecting Bucky Hodges, a tight end from Virginia Tech. Ranked 78th on the Consensus Big Board, the Vikings grabbed a player originally projected to go in the third round. Waiting on a talented tight end class to deplete itself worked out well for Rick Spielman.
Compared to Jimmy Graham by some NFL scouts, it’s unclear why Bucky Hodges fell so far in the draft. Hodges is a recent convert to the tight end position from quarterback and certainly has the athletic profile to warrant such a position change. At 6-foot-6 and 257 pounds, Hodges managed a 4.56 40-yard dash and impressive jumps—though he’s not the most agile at his position.
That 39″ vertical is unreal for a player of his size and his explosive power showed up in an impressive 11’2″ broad jump as well — a combine record for tight ends.
Over the past three years, Hodges caught 20 touchdowns for VT, including seven in his final year. He is the Hokies’ all-time leading receiver among tight ends.
Hodges will need a lot of work before seeing the field. He’s a poor route-runner with a tendency to tip and round his routes, making him predictable and easy to cover despite his speed. He doesn’t modify his speed within route and currently has issues planting and driving off the stem. He is inconsistent at tracking deep ball well and has iffy hands, which leads to drops—the 10.8 percent drop rate he sported in his final year was one of the worst among FBS tight ends.
That said, his roughness around the edges isn’t baked into the cake, like it is for many developmental prospects. Given how recently he converted from quarterback to tight end, it’s to be expected that he has troubles picking up the finer points of receiving. His record of production at VT speaks to how his assets overcome those weaknesses and he’s difficult to beat at the catch point. The touchdowns didn’t come magically.
One point in his favor is that his deep ball tracking issues only show up occasionally, as he seems to do a very good job at times of positioning for the ball, stacking the defender and bringing the ball in.
He isn’t much of a blocker at the moment, but his explosive capability means he has potential there.
Also, he shares a first name with Genghis Khan, otherwise known as Temuchin.
