Dallin Holker scouting report: Exploring the Colorado State tight-end's strengths and weaknesses

Just outside the top-1000 national recruits back in 2018 as a wide receiver and safety, Dallin Holker was a member of BYU for five years, spending two of those on a mission. Across 29 career games with the Cougars, he recorded 42 receptions for 521 yards and three touchdowns.

For his final season of eligibility, Dallin Holker decided to transfer to CSU, where he put up career-highs across the board in catches (64), yards (767) and touchdowns (six), whilst being named second-team All-American.

Profile: 6-foot-4, 240 pounds; RS SR.

Breaking down Dallin Holker's scouting report

Dallin Holker: NFL Combine

Blocking:

• Regularly lined up at wing and H-back, where he was asked to execute insert, sift blocks, etc. and showed good effort, digging a shoulder into guys
• Continues to move and find work when used out of the backfield, often times going across the formation and wrapping around towards the defensive backfield
• Gathers himself and is able to fit his hands inside on moving targets when brought across the formation or working out into space
• Chooses appropriate angles detached from the line, to put his body in the way of guys in space depending on the direction of run plays, with the quick burst to still guide them off track enough if they are able to slip him or work around him
• The Rams used Holker as the lead-blocker on that swing screen element you see particularly Shanahan coaches incorporate into the pattern at times
• If one of his teammates catches the ball, Holker immediately transitions into being a blocker and shields defenders to spring those guys loose

Releases & route-running:

• Builds up plenty of speed working down the seams and on benders
• Very crisp in his breaks, to not lose any time going through and then accelerating out of them
• Can sink his hips and snap off hitches, curls and hooks effectively, to create space
• Understands how to use pacing and the right time to turn his head working against zone coverage, slowing himself from running into deep safeties
• Regularly lined up out wide and you’d see him legitimately win on fades and drags from the X-spot
• Shows an excellent awareness for when to work over a shallow zone defender and find open grass when his quarterback enters scramble mode

Approaching the catch & YAC:

• Tracks the deep ball well over either shoulder, not losing focus with someone on his hip
• Does well to use his large frame as a shield and absorb contact at the catch-point, leading to a 50% success rate in contested situations (10 of 20 such opportunities)
• Showcases the flexibility and natural hands to pluck balls off his toes, with above-average arm length for his height (33-and-¼ inches with 10-and-¼ inch hands)
• Had an unbelievable diving grab off a tipped pass on a Hail Mary to win the Boise State game in 2023
• Has the frame and grit to deal with hits by a hang-corner or safety coming from depth, yet get right back up
• Efficiently turns up the field after the catch and has better speed than he may give away at first with those long strides
• Slightly veers away from defenders, packs a good swipe-by arm and the contact balance to bounce off hits – forced 15 missed tackles on 64 receptions last season and basically half of his yardage came after the catch (379)

Weaknesses:

• Doesn’t have much twitch and his 4.78 he ran at 241 pounds at the combine is a little underwhelming
• Wasn’t asked to line up next to the tackle and create displacement with a shorter runway towards defenders in the box – never earned a PFF run-blocking grade above 57.5 in his four seasons
• Has a wasted backwards step coming out of a stagged two-point stance from detached alignments and will need to develop a more refined and varied release package
• Will drift on his route stems and tip off defenders prematurely, limiting his ability to actually create separation
• Not the most natural at contorting his body for off-target grabs and takes his eyes off the ball and tries to run with it without securing the catch a few times – dropped four 68 catchable targets last season (5.9%)

Dallin Holker's 2024 NFL Draft prospect

Dallin Holker really emerged as one of the better tight-ends in college football this past season. Colorado State could have a first-round wide receiver in Tory Horton next year, but watching him throughout the season, there was big number five running with the ball and breaking tackles regularly.

Dallin Holker projects more as an H-back at the next level, while needing to work on his ability to be an asset blocking in-line and getting off the ball better from one of the receiver spots if he wants to earn extending playing time.

Dallin Holker will need to be coached up in terms of his discipline at setting up breaks and there’s some inconsistency hauling in passes on the run, but I don’t think it’s an issue with his hands. He has plenty of impressive over-the-shoulder and combat catches on tape.

Plus, where Dallin Holker really stands out is that extra gear he has once he tucks the ball and runs through attempted tackles. Spending a fifth-round pick on a player like this seems worth it, if you think you can iron out some of the inconsistencies he currently shows.

Grade: Early fifth round