NFL Draft
12/31/24
6 min read
Elijah Arroyo 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Miami Hurricanes TE
Height: 6040 (unofficial)
Weight: 245lbs (unofficial)
Year: Redshirt Junior
Pro Comparison: Kyle Pitts
Scouting Overview
Miami Hurricanes flex tight end Elijah Arroyo projects as a dangerous receiving weapon at the NFL level. He’s a player who has struggled through injury for the heart of his career with the Hurricanes program but illustrated the full scope of his ability in 2024.
Arroyo has a massive wingspan, plucky hands, and explosive athleticism at his disposal — the Canes used that in many of their RPO, play pass, and screen game work this season. That level of receiving versatility is admirable and should be considered a template for what a role could look like in an NFL offense.
Teams with vanilla expectations in 11p may find him less useful for their offensive attacks, and he’s much more of a flex player than a traditional ‘Y’ tight end and should be planned for accordingly. As Arroyo has gotten in-line responsibilities, his effectiveness in such roles will be dependent on much development moving forward.
2025 NFL Combine Results
TBD
Positives
- Freakishly loose athlete for a player of his stature; offers excellent body control at top of routes and at catch point
- Explosive open-field ability and run after catch threat off screens and catching ball in stride
- Monster catch radius that can erase inaccurate passes up the seam or in tight coverage underneath
Negatives
- High cut, lean frame is not conducive to playing through contact after the catch and can easily be cut down by low tackle challenges
- Only one year of production at Miami and played 2/3rd of his career snaps in 2024
- Medical background checks will be a major bullet point for NFL teams in assessing his valuation pre-draft
Background
Arroyo is from Frisco, TX, and played high school football for Independence HS. He was a consensus 4-star recruit as a long, lean tight end recruit who also participated in track & field. Arroyo was a standout sprinter and jumper in addition to his time on the gridiron, and he garnered interest from a slew of major college programs including Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Texas, Penn State, Texas A&M, and others, before committing to the University of Miami as a member of their 2021 recruiting class.
Arroyo saw limited game action in 12 games as a true freshman in 2021 and appeared to be in line for a bigger role in 2022 before an ACL injury ended his season after just four games. His recovery lingered into the 2023 season, costing him more playing time before a monster breakout year in 2024.
Tale Of The Tape
This is an impressive athlete with outstanding natural receiving ability. Arroyo has startling fluidity throughout his frame, which is the first thing that leaps off the tape when you watch him running his routes. Whether he’s running quick-hitting hitches, adjusting to throws vertically down the field, or attempting to cut and maneuver around a would-be tackler with the ball in his hands.
His ability to disassociate his halves allows for sudden stop ability or extreme examples of a catch radius amid traffic. Most long-striders struggle with hard breaks but because of his lower body flexibility, Arroyo can create steep angles and generate more steep cuts with speed.
He’s confident in his hands when forced to catch the ball away from his frame. The only drop observed in film study was a ball up the seam that was behind him and forced a sudden reaction to adjust late. Arroyo does well running downfield and maintaining pace through the catch point as a vertical player or as a deep cross player working across the field. He shows equal competency with his hands when static and facing the quarterback.
The Hurricanes often implemented him in slice action across the formation for their RPO work and quickly got him the ball against soft edges underneath. He showed ability to delay release for tight ends screen opportunities and get his eyes up the field to identify areas to press with the ball and maximize yardage.
Arroyo is not the most creative ball carrier in the open field, but he has breakaway speed, so expect to see him wipe out some pursuit angles before ultimately succumbing to any tackle attempts that are able to get down around his legs.
Miami often moved Arroyo around, and a similar implementation would help expedite his role in the NFL. He’s aligned in-line on 12p and 13p opportunities in short yardage as the peripheral player, he’s been put in the backfield and released into routes from a fullback or H-back position, and he’s been asked to work from the slot and released quickly into a route stem.
Thanks to his mobility and quickness, he can create easy, free-access opportunities from the slot with outs, slants, or hitches. That threat comes in handy against man coverage as well in the event that he catches a linebacker in coverage — as he can win over the top with a fade or seam.
As a blocker, Arroyo will need to develop strike placement and power with his hands. Too often, his punches land wide or are secondary to his pad strike, and he will fail to secure the block. Defenders are quick to engage and detach from his frame in point-of-attack opportunities or seal blocks on the edge. Arroyo can be prone to landing these strikes high with his frame and would benefit from a lower aiming point and more discipline with his pad level.
These elements are secondary to where he wins, and while they would be nice to have, they would ultimately be the cherry on top for a passing game weapon.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Arroyo would be best served as a receiving tight end for an NFL offense that looks to attack the middle of the field vertically. Thanks to his looseness and acceleration with the football, he can also be a viable hidden option for underneath passes and screens.
He's the kind of chess piece that can hit defenses in a lot of different ways. That said, he can continue to develop his ability as a route salesman and, particularly, as a blocker — making him a more attractive weapon by the end of his three-year window than his year one role as a rookie.
Grade: 75.50/100.00, Third Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
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