Before the Cincinnati Bengals drafted tight end Drew Sample in 2019, Sample kept hearing he was the best blocking tight end in the NFL Draft.
He heard it on TV when the Bengals drafted him. He heard it from coaches he spoke with before the NFL Draft.
It wasn’t always meant as a compliment. For some of the evaluators who said it, it was a roundabout way of saying that Sample lacked upside in the passing game.
Still, the Bengals drafted Sample in the second round because they saw value in a tight end whose best attribute was his blocking ability.