Getty 49ers TE George Kittle celebrates a touchdown.
Signs are indicating that for the fourth time in the John Lynch/Kyle Shanahan regime, the San Francisco 49ers will draft a tight end.
But the difference is, the need for an extra tight end comes with All-Pro George Kittle starting to get older — plus the Niners needing an extra red zone presence to take pressure off “The People’s Tight End.” Now, a “hot commodity” tight end has spoken to the franchise.
Per Justin Melo of The Draft Network on Tuesday, April 4, the 49ers held a virtual meeting with Old Dominion TE Zack Kuntz. The towering and athletic 6-foot-7, 255-pounder has been hailed as a hot commodity by Melo as the 2023 NFL Draft draws closer by being three weeks away.
‘Physically Imposing Figure’
Kuntz isn’t your typical small schools NFL prospect. He has the frame that makes him look more like an NBA small forward who can pound the basketball inside and use post moves to beat his opponents. Except he used his size and footwork to his advantage in football cleats:
Old Dominion TE Zack Kuntz blew up the NFL Combine:
6’7 255lbs
4.55forty yard dash (2nd)
1.57 split (2nd)
40” vertical (1st)
10’8” broad jump (1st)
6.87 3 cone (1st)
23 bench (1st)
A physical specimen who with this deep class of TEs could
Melo believes that Kuntz deserves more attention for this upcoming draft class.
“A physically imposing figure, Kuntz dominated the NFL Scouting Combine‘s weigh-in process by measuring in at 6-foot-7 and 255 pounds with 34-inch arms and 10.25-inch hands. Kuntz then stunned scouts by running a 4.55 in the 40. Kuntz had a 40-inch vertical and a 10-foot-8 broad jump,” Melo wrote in his one-on-one interview with the ODM star.
It’s also not like Kuntz is a stranger to facing Power 5 competition with teams featuring NFL caliber defenders. He originally began his career in Happy Valley by suiting up for Penn State before transferring to Old Dominion and playing in the Group of 5 realm. Kuntz told Melo he’s seen an uptick in NFL teams’ interest in him — which now includes the 49ers.
“There’s definitely been some added attention post-combine. That’s obviously a great thing for me. I appreciate having that momentum as we head into April and the draft,” Kuntz told Melo. “I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to display my skill set and athleticism at the combine. I think I showed the sort of impact I can have for an offense moving forward.”
Athleticism Should Overshadow 2022 Production
Kuntz is facing this dilemma: He caught just 12 passes for 144 yards and scored twice in his final college season — which was limited to four games with an undisclosed injury.
However, when he was given a full season, he showed his ability to be a downfield mismatch with 73 catches for 692 yards and scored five touchdowns in 2021. And that included five games that saw him grab 8-9 receptions and witnessed two 100-yard games.
ODM became convinced to plug him at the slot receiver spot and still created separation against defenders. He shows a knack for finding the soft spot in zone coverage and getting open. Given his impressive stature, Kuntz shows a rare above-average ability to sink his hips and still get out of his breaks on his routes.
Even with his impressive speed for a tight end, he’s not considered a blazer and won’t threaten teams deep. He lacks the moves to get around defenders after the catch. However, he channels an inner old school tight end and will fight for extra yards after contact is made. As a blocker, Kuntz’ frame unfortunately gets him to come up too high which exposes his chest — leading to defenders to gain the upper hand in controlling him then shedding his block. He’ll need to correct his form in the NFL especially if he plays for a run-first offense like the 49ers.
Kuntz, though, is still a high-energy tight end capable of adding an extra scoring TE option for the 49ers. He ended his interview with Melo by sending this message:
“I’m going to bring that juice every single day. I love what I do and I believe it shows in my work,” Kuntz said.