Height: 6’7” | Weight: 245 lbs | Class: Senior | School: Houston
Position: Tight End | PFF 2024 Grades: Receiving – 89.4 | Blocking – 54.7
Career Receiving Yards: 2,101 | Career Touchdowns: 23 | Draft Projection: Round 3–4
Overview
Across stints at Ball State and Houston, Tanner Koziol has been one of college football’s most reliable volume targets at tight end — piling up 318 targets, 221 catches, 2,100+ yards and 23 TDs. After heavy production in the MAC, he moved up to Houston and into the Power Five, responding with a strong 2025 season that proved his game scales against better athletes.
Koziol’s frame is the headline. At 6’7” with an ultra-lean, almost Slenderman build, he looks more like an Eastern European stretch big than a traditional NFL tight end. But the length and catch radius are outrageous, and his hands are as sure as they come. He routinely plucks throws outside his frame, wins late at the catch point and expands windows for his QB in ways that don’t show up in the box score.
Most of his work comes from the slot and other detached alignments, where his **feel vs. coverage** really shows. Koziol is a smart, crafty zone beater who finds soft spots, settles down on time and presents a tall, clean target. In the red zone he understands leverage, working to the “right side” of defenders and using his albatross wingspan to shield and finish. A big chunk of his Ball State production came off play-action concepts where he leaked or climbed into space and simply didn’t miss.
For a guy this thin, he’s more competitive after the catch and in the run game than you’d expect. He’ll run through arm tackles and finish forward, and as a blocker he’s capable of quick seals with decent pad level. His 2025 tape shows improvement in pass protection, even if he’s still not someone you want living as a full-time in-line Y against true NFL LEOs and power ends.
The limiting factors are tied to his **movement profile and mass**. Koziol is slow to spool up, not a sudden mover, and his routes can look loose-to-sloppy at the top. Outside of the red zone he doesn’t put a lot of sharp, NFL-style option routes on film, and when he doesn’t get a clean cushion you see the lack of sink and short-area twitch. He’s caught a little between archetypes — not quite twitchy enough to live as a WR/TE hybrid, and not quite dense enough to be a true box-dwelling Y.
Even with those questions, his length, hands and zone chops are real NFL traits. In an offense that embraces him as a big slot and matchup piece rather than forcing him into a classic in-line role, Koziol has a clear path to snaps as a chain-mover and red-zone weapon.
Top 5 Tight Ends for the 2026 NFL Draft | Houston Draft Prospect Tracker 2026
Athletic profile
Koziol is a true skyscraper tight end with rare length but an unusually lean build for the position. He carries his 245 pounds lightly, and it shows: long levers, narrow frame, high-cut lower half. The upside is that he moves more like a tall big-slot than a lumbering in-line Y — his strides open up once he’s rolling, and his body control at the catch point is impressive for someone this tall.
He’s not a sudden, twitched-up athlete. Koziol is gradual in and out of breaks, slow to accelerate from a standstill, and doesn’t have the kind of sink you see from tight ends who can legitimately run a wide receiver route tree. But he does understand pacing and tempo, throttling up and down to manipulate safeties and linebackers in zone. His stride length and tracking ability let him threaten seams and deep crossers enough to stress coverage, even if he’s not separating with pure speed.
From a physicality standpoint, the frame is more functional than it looks. Koziol plays with decent leverage for his height, uses his length to keep defenders off his chest, and has just enough lower-body strength to hold his own on angles and seals. Still, he’s unlikely to ever be a true point-of-attack weapon; adding a bit more mass without sacrificing mobility will be key to surviving the weekly NFL trench grind.
CutCall 2026 NFL Draft Big Board
Strengths
Skyscraper frame with elite wingspan and genuine “throw it near him and it’s his” catch radius.
Very secure hands; plucks away from his body and consistently finishes through contact and traffic.
Smart, crafty zone beater from the slot — finds voids, settles on time, and presents a big, friendly target.
Red-zone leverage understanding; works to the correct side of defenders and uses body to shield the ball.
More competitive than his frame suggests after the catch and as a blocker; fights through arm tackles and delivers quick run-game seals.
Experienced producer with proven volume at Ball State and a successful transition to Power Five competition at Houston.
Weaknesses / Areas to Improve
Ultra-lean build for a 6’7” tight end; may struggle to add enough functional mass to live in heavy traffic snaps.
Lacks suddenness and short-area twitch; slow to spool up and doesn’t sink well enough to run a true WR-style route tree.
Route running can be loose and rounded; not a consistent separator on sharp breaks or timing-heavy option routes outside the red zone.
Blocking is more about position and effort than raw power — can get walked back or displaced by NFL-caliber edges when they convert speed to power.
Role fit is tricky: caught between big-slot mismatch and traditional in-line Y, which could limit his landing spots and early-career usage.
Draft projection
Koziol earns a low Green Chip grade and projects in the late Round 3 to early Day 4 range for teams that know exactly what he is. He’s unlikely to ever become a full-time in-line hammer or a twitchy WR-style mismatch, but as a big-slot TE with length, hands, and zone IQ, he offers real value.
CutCall 2026 NFL Draft Big Board • Houston Draft Prospect Tracker 2026
prospect comps • mike gesicki
system fit • spread / 11 personnel, RPO and play-action heavy; less ideal for teams that demand an every-down in-line mauler at Y
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