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NFL Draft: Letting Jake Butt Slide Was Probably A Bad Idea

By Tyler Fenwick

Mar 3, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Michigan tight end Jake Butt speaks to the media during the 2017 combine at Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 3, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Michigan tight end Jake Butt speaks to the media during the 2017 combine at Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Coming off a torn ACL, it’s easy to see why teams were nervous about taking Jake Butt, but letting him to slide to the fifth round of the NFL draft? C’mon.

Yes, Jake Butt is coming off of an ACL injury. And yes, there is always some unpredictability there. But letting him slide all the way to the fifth round of the NFL draft like that? That seems a little ridiculous.

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The Denver Broncos got an absolute steal with the first pick in the fifth round (145th pick overall) with Butt, who was one of college football’s best tight ends last season. The 2016 John Mackey Award winner registered 46 receptions for 546 yards and four touchdowns in his senior season season at Michigan.

Butt was the second-leading receiver for the Wolverines and was a staple of the offense for his final two seasons. He doesn’t have a great top-end speed, but Butt showed many times that he can run just about every route, and he consistently had one of the most reliable pairs of hands for Michigan.

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If he doesn’t recover quickly, his rookie season with the Broncos will essentially be a redshirt year. Even if he is able to see the field this year, he probably won’t be playing up to his potential.

After that, though, I have a good feeling we’ll be wondering why in the world teams got so scared of Butt’s injury when the upside was this great.

Before injuring his knee in the Orange Bowl against Florida State, Butt was widely considered to be one of the top tight ends available in this draft class. NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said Butt was “locked in” as a second-round pick before the injury.

He ended up being the eighth tight end taken.

The reservations some teams obviously showed is justified. It’s not like Butt was far and away the best tight end in this class. He was probably in the No. 2-4 range and then suffered a serious injury. To see him drop was not a surprise.

Seeing him go all the way to the fifth round, though—that was.

The immediate reaction after Butt’s selection was that the Broncos are getting a piece that’s going to enhance their offense, if not this season then next.

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And when Denver looks back at this pick sometime down the road, they might feel obligated to send thank-you cards to those teams that took a pass.

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