Where could Notre Dame TE Cole Kmet land in the NFL Draft?

Notre Dame tight end Cole Kmet will likely be one of the first two players off the board at his position. Here are his most likely destinations.

Unless you live under a rock, you’ve heard that Notre Dame tight end Cole Kmet has decided to enter the 2020 NFL Draft. It’s a sad day for Irish fans, but an exciting day for Kmet. We should all be supportive of his decision and wish him the best of luck wherever he ends up playing on Sundays.

Speaking of that, there are a number of destinations that make sense for the standout tight end. As of right now, The Draft Network has Kmet ranked as the No. 2 overall player at his position heading into the NFL Combine. Barring a catastrophic performance during his workouts in Indianapolis at the combine, he’s not likely to drop lower than No. 3 overall.

That gives him a real chance of being drafted in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. 16 tight ends were selected in the 2019 draft, and two of those went in the top ten.

As of right now, only the top 20 spots of the first round are set in stone. None of the teams that own one of those first 20 picks has an immediate, pressing need at tight end.

The Chicago Bears and Pittsburgh Steelers do have needs at the position, but they would need to trade up into the first round in order to land Kmet. I’m not sure Kmet is the sort of player you give up draft picks to acquire, but I could be wrong.

The only team with a first round pick who has a clear, immediate need at the tight end position is the New England Patriots. The loss of Rob Gronkowski this past offseason took a toll on the Patriot offense that was easily seen every week. Like Gronk, Kmet excels as both a receiver and a blocker, and has a similar build and athleticism.

Because of that, if Kmet is going to be taken in the first round, he would likely land in New England.

If he falls into the second round, the Bengals and Panthers would both make sense. Both teams have tight end depth issues along with aging starters and injury issues.

Regardless of where he ends up, Cole Kmet is likely to see the field early and often. He’s simply too dangerous of an offensive weapon to keep on the sideline.