Luke Schoonmaker 2023 NFL Draft Profile
The 2023 NFL Draft has a host of tight ends. In the middle of the pack is Michigan’s Luke Schoonmaker. Let’s take a look at Schoonmaker’s 2023 NFL Draft Profile to get a feel for how he projects at the NFL level.
Schoonmaker was a three-star recruit coming out of high school and spent five seasons at Michigan. In his time at Michigan, Schoonmaker struggled to work his way up the depth chart. In 2022, Schoonmaker was originally the No. 2 tight end behind Erick All. Schoonmaker eventually took over as the top TE after All had season-ending surgery. As the starter, Schoonmaker recorded 35 catches for 418 yards and three touchdowns.
Strengths:
Schoonmaker did not participate in on-field drills at the 2023 NFL Combine, but he still impressed with his combination of size and athletism. Schoonmaker was measured at 6-foot-5, 251 pounds, and ran a 4.63 40-yard dash.
Schoonmaker’s best trait is his run-blocking. At Michigan, Schoonmaker was tasked with a massive amount of run blocking due to the team’s run-heavy scheme. More importantly, he lived up to the task. Schoonmaker has the ability to move bodies at the line and block linebackers or defensive backs in the open field.
In the passing game, Schoonmaker does not provide anything special, but he gets the job done. For the most part, his production came from getting schemed open on crossing routes or play-action passes.
When Schoonmaker is tasked with getting open, he often gets the job done by finding openings in zone coverage. Against man coverage, he is a solid route runner on simple concepts like outs.
Schoonmaker also has dependable hands and catches open passes.
Weaknesses:
The biggest issue with Schoonmaker is that he does not have any elite traits. Yes, he is good at a lot of things, but he does not have a singular skill that he can rely on.
Schoonmaker, 25, is also a much older prospect. That limits his potential as he does not have much time to grow as a player.
As previously mentioned, Schoonmaker is a good route runner on simple concepts. The negative of that is that his route tree is fairly limited. At Michigan, Schoonmaker was regulated to outs, drags and screens. It does not help that Michigan often looked to freshman Colston Loveland when they sent a tight-end vertical.
Schoonmaker also did not look as athletic on film as his combine results would suggest. The combine performance was great, but it is not helpful if he can not utilize his athletism on the field. This is reflected in his limited ability to pick up yards after the catch.
Lastly, in the pass game, Schoonmaker does not use his size as well as you would like. At 6-foot-5 he should be able to capitalize on his size advantage more often, but he is not very physical at the catch point.
2023 NFL Draft Stock:
Luke Schoonmaker’s 2023 NFL Draft stock will take a hit due to the fact that this year’s draft is filled with solid tight ends. In other classes, he may go higher, but tight end needly teams can find better players in this year’s draft. That said, Schoonmaker is still worth a selection. I think the middle of Round 4 is the sweet spot for Schoonmaker. Although, he may sneak into the third if tight ends begin to fly off the board.
In the NFL, Schoonmaker will be a lower-end backup tight end or a solid third option. Schoonmaker can be used as a blocker and steadily produce on play action pass plays. That is worth something for run-heavy offenses. Although, do not expect Schoonmaker to turn into an elite tight end with receiving upside.
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