CBS Sports put out a DAY 2 Mock Draft, and with Pick #55, they have Miami selecting…
Round 2, Pick #55: Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE – Texas
“The Dolphins had a sleek, pass-catching tight end to the loaded skill-position grouping already residing in Miami.”
Even before Sanders made the leap from Denton Ryan High School in Denton, Texas, he was destined for the NFL. He was an All-American who played on both sides of the ball, and if he wanted, he could have had a future as a defensive end.
As a high school junior in 2019, Sanders was a first-team All-State performer at defensive end with 11 sacks. But in 2020, he started to play a more significant role on offense, and it became clear that a receiving role was where he’d shine in college.
Once he was able to focus primarily on offense, Sanders dominated, hauling in 63 passes for 1,161 yards and 16 scores as a senior. He was a consensus five-star recruit and a top-five player in the powerhouse state of Texas, and he chose to stay in-state and join the Longhorns.
After a true freshman season spent primarily on the special-teams unit, Sanders exploded as a sophomore. He broke the Texas TE record for receptions in a season with 54, and his 613 receiving yards were the second most by a Longhorns TE in school history.
Even as Xavier Worthy reached career-highs in 2023 and transfer addition Adonai Mitchell emerged, Sanders still remained productive catching passes from future quarterback prospect Quinn Ewers.
In 2023, Sanders again broke the school’s TE yardage record with 682, while catching 45 passes and two touchdowns. He averaged 15.2 yards per reception and eclipsed 100 yards against Alabama, Baylor, and Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship Game.
Sanders’ production in college was indicative of his rare talent, and so too was his testing at the NFL Combine — running an 82nd percentile 4.69 40-yard dash with a 1.6 10-yard split in the 91st percentile. But looking at his full scouting report, how does Sanders project to the NFL?
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