NFL Analysis

1/30/25

5 min read

Miami TE Elijah Arroyo Shines at Senior Bowl, Emerging as Top Receiving Threat

By James Foster

NFL Analyst
Nov 23, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Hurricanes tight end Elijah Arroyo (8) runs with the football as Wake Forest Demon Deacons linebacker Quincy Bryant (9) attempts a tackle during the second quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Miami tight end Elijah Arroyo entered Senior Bowl week as one of the most underrated players in this class, and his performance in Mobile has verified what he put on tape. Through the first two days of practice, he’s been the best tight end and one of the best players on the field. It would be a major shock if Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland weren’t the first two tight ends off the board, but the race for TE3 is wide open and Arroyo is separating from his competition.

Arroyo was a four-star recruit in the class of 2021, but only had 11 receptions in his first three seasons at Miami. He didn’t play much as a freshman and missed most of 2022 and 2023 with knee injuries. This year he was finally able to stay healthy for the entire season and emerged as one of the best deep threat tight ends in college football, recording 35 receptions for 590 yards and seven touchdowns.

He measured in at 6044/251, with 33.125-inch arms. Considering that he’s primarily a receiving weapon, these are very good measurements:

To get a sense of Arroyo’s speed, you don’t even need to watch him run a route. This chase-down tackle on a Cam Ward interception from Week 5 is a remarkable display of athleticism and effort:

But his speed and explosiveness also show up as a receiver, both on his Miami tape and at the Senior Bowl. On this play he closes the cushion between himself and the defensive back, before exploding upfield and attacking the defender’s outside hip. The defender is playing catch coverage, aligning five yards off the receiver and making contact at the top of the stem. But Arroyo swipes down his hand and swims through with his inside arm to power through the contact and stack the defender vertically. He then does an excellent job tracking the ball over his shoulder:

On this play he runs a stick-nod route. He breaks outside after a few steps, influencing the safety to drive on the out route, before crossing his face and accelerating vertically:

Arroyo’s ability as a vertical threat was on full display in 2024. He’s explosive off the line of scrimmage and fast enough to pull away from defensive backs down the sideline or linebackers down the seam:

In 2024, he had the third most receptions of 20 or more air yards among Power-4 tight ends:

Arroyo isn’t just a straight-line receiver, however. He’s a nimble, fluid route runner, who can separate cleanly out of horizontal breaks. He’s capable of sinking his hips to decelerate on whips and comebacks. He’s also a nuanced route runner, who uses the stem effectively to set up defenders and disguise the direction of his breaks:

This play from the Senior Bowl is a good example of his suddenness and technical nuance. He begins the rep like he’s running a seam route, closing the cushion and swimming through the contact to stack the defender. But at the top of the route he sells a break inside by turning his head and planting his right foot. He then breaks outside and brushes off the jersey grab to create separation:

In addition to his premiere separation ability, Arroyo is also extremely reliable catching the football. He only had one drop in 2024 on 47 targets. He is a bit unproven on contested targets, as he was mostly only thrown the ball when he was open and didn’t have many opportunities to win through contact.

Arroyo will primarily add value as a receiver, but he offers more as a run blocker than you might expect. He has a tenacious demeanor and plays with maximum effort in the run game. Half of the battle with tight end run blocking is effort and will, and Arroyo checks those boxes.

He’s a weapon blocking on the move, whether as a puller or a slice blocker on split zone. He’s coordinated connecting to moving targets at the second and third level and does a good job sustaining and finishing blocks once he makes contact.

There will be some inline blocking assignments that are too much for him to handle at 251-pounds, but he had his share of dominant finishes against defensive ends and could be serviceable with improved technique. At times when he’s outmatched physically, Arroyo will widen his hands and lower his head into contact in an attempt to compensate for his size disadvantage, resulting in some decisive losses. While he doesn’t project as a Y, he can hold up on the line of scrimmage better than most flex tight ends in this class.

Arroyo currently ranks 106th on the consensus board, but has risen steadily since December. Jordan Reid and Daniel Jeremiah have him in their top-50 and I’d expect him to continue to rise as more people watch his tape.

Tags: 2024 NFL Draft, College Football, draft risers See More

James Foster

NFL Analyst

James Foster is an NFL writer who creates film-based analysis of NFL players and teams. He previously worked for A to Z Sports.

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