If the Packers want a tight end, Oscar Delp is the play

And while certainly not an elite run blocker, Delp got the job done. Take blocking grades with a grain of salt, but among 200 players with at least 200 blocking snaps last year, Delp was Pro Football Focus’s 73rd graded tight end in the ground game. Again: not elite, but if the bar for “not elite” is still roughly in the top third, I think you can live with that.

Teams should be exceptionally willing to live with that because Delp offers some tantalizing physical gifts. Standing 6-foot-5 and weighing 245 pounds (admittedly a bit light, but certainly not disqualifying; more on that in a second), Delp ripped off a 4.48-second 40-yard dash at Georgia’s pro day after missing the NFL Combine with a hairline fracture in his foot. It’s not just track speed, either; he routinely outruns defensive backs on tape, due in part to his excellent 1.61-second 10-yard split in the 40. He’s fast and reaches his top speed in a hurry, and he couples that speed with other elite physical attributes, including a 38-inch vertical and a 10-foot, 5-inch broad jump.

Now, it’s true that Delp is built a bit light. 245 pounds is on the smaller end for a tight end, and he’d be the second-lightest end on the Packers’ roster if they brought him to Green Bay. Only (actual real person, I promise) McCallan Castles is lighter at 244 pounds. There’s legit concern that a Y tight end like Delp could get ragdolled by big defensive ends or even ambitious linebackers at the NFL level. But we’ve seen players succeed at that size before. Former Packers tight end Robert Tonyan was just 240 pounds and played at a Pro Bowl level prior to blowing up his knee, and even on the current roster, we’ve seen Josh Whyle have some success at just 247 pounds, and he’s two inches taller than Delp. And just because he’s 245 pounds now doesn’t mean he can’t bulk up. He could probably play comfortably in the 255 to 260 range without sacrificing much athleticism, and he’s got athleticism to burn.

There are also some productivity concerns in Delp’s college career. He never really turned his prodigious athleticism into significant production at Georgia, and I think that’s fair to point out. Comparable athletes in this class like Kenyon Sadiq at Oregon and Eli Stowers at Vanderbilt both had much better statistical profiles, so what gives?

Delp has a built-in excuse for his first two years: Brock Bowers. Who would you throw to: an unproven freshman or sophomore or one of the most exciting tight ends in recent college football history? Right, I’d throw to Bowers, too. But Bowers was gone after 2023, and it’s difficult to explain what happened for Delp after that. He just wasn’t a big contributor in the passing game. He was seventh on the team in receptions in 2024 and fourth in 2025; hardly dominant performances. When he did get the ball, he did good things, sporting a career average of 12.2 yards per catch, but it’s hard to get around the fact that he didn’t get it all that much. How you explain why (or why not) will probably shape your opinion toward Delp a lot.

Delp has been climbing draft boards steadily as we trudge toward the draft. As of this writing, he’s number 84 on the NFL Mock Draft Database consensus big board. Would the Packers really burn a third round pick on a tight end? In truth, they probably shouldn’t this year. But if they did — say, if he somehow slides into Day 3 — I think Delp is the guy.