Scouting New York Jets tight end Kenyon Sadiq

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 23: A screen shows Kenyon Sadiq of Oregon after being selected 16th overall by the New York Jets during Round One of the 2026 NFL Draft at Acrisure Stadium on April 23, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Lauren Leigh Bacho/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Over the next few months, we'll be breaking down all of the rookies added by the Jets during the draft and as undrafted free agents. We continue today with tight end Kenyon Sadiq.

The 21-year old Sadiq is listed at 6'3" and 241 pounds and was the 16th overall pick out of Oregon. He was an all-Big Ten first teamer last season, as he caught 51 passes, including eight touchdowns.

Background

Sadiq was a four-star high school recruit who started off as a running back before converting to wide receiver. He headed to Oregon to play tight end, but didn't play much in his first season as he had just five catches for 24 yards and a touchdown.

In 2024, his role increased and he had 24 catches for 308 yards and two touchdowns. By then end of his second season, he only had three career touchdowns but it was notable that they were all in big games as one was in the Fiesta Bowl and two were in the Big Ten title game.

He broke out last season and ended the year with 560 yards and eight touchdowns on 51 catches as he started 14 games. He did not have a 100-yard game in his career, though.

In the pre-draft process, he boosted his chances of being drafted in the first round with a tremendous performance at the combine.

The Jets selected Sadiq with the 16th overall pick, which was acquired from Indianapolis last season in the Sauce Gardner trade.

Let's move onto some more in-depth analysis of what Sadiq brings to the table, based on in-depth research and film study.

Measurables/Athleticism

Sadiq, who was a 205-pound wide receiver when he was recruited by Oregon, is slightly undersized and doesn't have a big catch radius, although he has big hands. He weighed 241 at the combine, although apparently his weight got as high as 255 while he was at Oregon so he could potentially add to his frame if it was felt necessary.

As noted, he had a terrific workout at the scouting combine, headlined by his 4.39 in the 40-yard dash. Some consider this to be an all-time record, although some sources have Vernon Davis' combine 40 time to be 4.38 while others have it down as 4.40. Either way, Sadiq is comparable to one of the most athletic tight ends in NFL history.

Sadiq didn't just run a fast 40-yard dash. He also managed a 43.5-inch vertical jump and 133-inch broad jump. The vertical is tied for second-best among all combine athletes in the past three years and the broad jump is tied for the second-best among all tight ends at the combine in the past nine seasons.

His strength is decent too, as he showed when he posted 26 reps in the bench press. He has also posted excellent numbers for maximum bench (435 pounds) and power-clean (365).

Usage

Sadiq has been versatile, with reps as an in-line tight end, in the slot, out wide and in the backfield at various times. He has also lined up as an offensive lineman in unbalanced line formations.

In high school, he also played as a running back, wide receiver and on defense. He also carried the ball as a runner nine times for 42 yards in his college career.

Deep threat

Sadiq's speed could make him a matchup nightmare at the NFL level, but he hasn't necessarily been used as a big play threat in college. He didn't have a single 40-yard play in his career.

Nevertheless, he can stretch the field by getting down the seam and can get behind the defense on wheel routes.

Five of his eight touchdowns in 2025 actually came on passes thrown more than 20 yards past the line of scrimmage.

Routes

Sadiq's ran a varied route tree in 2025 and did well within that role, so that looks to be something he can build on at the NFL level.

He's not very experienced in terms of running downfield routes, though. in fact, 21 of his 29 receptions in his first two seasons were caught behind the line of scrimmage.

He is smooth and balanced as he looks to have a decent foundation in this area, with sharp breaks, good use of his frame on his route stem and some deception in his footwork.

Hands

Sadiq caught an eye-popping 93 percent of his targets in 2024, but - as noted above - a high proportion of these were dump-offs.

Still, his catch rate was impressive in a more varied role last season too - ending up at 76 percent.

Nevertheless, drops were a bit of an issue last season as he had six of them, a few of which were focus drops.

He does display strong hands and good concentration in contested catch situations, and has the body control to adjust and come up with tough catches beyond his frame.

Red zone

As noted, the majority of Sadiq's touchdowns last season came on downfield throws. However, he has a skill-set that can make him a good option down near the goal line.

After the catch

As noted, Sadiq was primarily used on dump-off passes in his first two seasons and generated plenty of yards after the catch with his ability to break tackles and run over people.

He has also shown that he can create good yardage after the catch on downfield passes, with a particular knack for hurdling tacklers.

Sadiq had one fumble in his college career, on a play where the ball was punched out from behind in a tackle, but he landed on the ball and recovered it immediately.

Blocking

Sadiq is an effective blocker, who has typically graded out well on analytical sites and contributes both in-line and in space. The effort you see from him tends to be consistent.

Unlike many other pass catching tight end prospects, he's someone that is often employed as a lead blocker, sometimes pulling across the formation or trapping, and Oregon also used him a lot as the primary blocker on receiver screens to the outside.

He gets his angles wrong sometimes, though, and does have a tendency to lunge into his blocks, so there is some work to be done on refining his footwork and technique.

As a pass blocker, he saw more work in 2025 and that was perhaps indicative of the Ducks coaches having more faith in him to handle those assignments. He didn't actually give up any pressures in 59 pass blocking snaps in his career, but he let his man get a clean get-off a few times.

Physicality

Sadiq looks like someone who could still grow into his body as he has a good base with excellent lower body strength but is sometimes outmuscled in terms of his upper body strength.

When running routes he has good body control to compete at the catch-point or box out his man, leading to a contested catch rate of over 50 percent in his career.

He only had four penalties during his college career.

Special Teams

Sadiq has some experience on special teams, where he had three tackles in kick coverage during his career. He has also blocked on the kickoff return unit and in pass pro.

In his freshman season, he blocked this punt.

Instincts and Intelligence

Sadiq has a good knack for finding the open area in zone coverages or coming back to the football when plays get extended, perhaps benefiting from having played some other positions while he was in high school in terms of how well he can read coverages.

As a runner, he displays adequate vision and a feel for how to maximize yards after the catch and he doesn't seem to make any obvious mistakes in his blocking assignments.

Attitude

Despite only being 20 at the time, Sadiq became more of a leader last season following the departure of Terrance Ferguson to the NFL. He leads by example with a good work ethic and was starting to become more of a vocal presence.

Off-field issues and on-field discipline have not been an issue with Sadiq either.

Injuries

Sadiq was troubled by an ankle injury last season, which he suffered in week five and it noticeably limited him in a game two weeks later. He then sat for one game. Prior to this, he hadn't missed any time during his career.

Scheme Fit

There's been plenty of discussion this week about how 13 personal packages (one back, three tight ends) looks set to become increasingly popular around the league and Sadiq could facilitate the Jets' ability to operate those alongside Mason Taylor and Jeremy Ruckert.

He'll also line up in the slot from time-to-time, giving the Jets a chance to operate with two tight ends and then align themselves with three receivers instead. While he is best known for his athleticism and expected to contribute as a pass catcher, Sadiq is not as one-dimensional as someone like Mike Gesicki would have been as they entered the league.

Sadiq hasn't been a teammate of any current Jets players but it's not out of the question he could be reunited with Dante Moore next season. Moore, Oregon's starting quarterback, is one of the quarterbacks the Jets could potentially draft next season and would of course have good chemistry with Sadiq.

Conclusions

The Jets' offense should have some added dimensions next year with Sadiq and Omar Cooper each bringing things to the table that the Jets' starting pass catchers previously did not.

Looking at them as a pairing, it's notable that both had modest production in 2024 before breaking out to a degree last season.

However, while Cooper was already showing promise as a downfield receiver whose production soared when he got more dump-offs last season, Sadiq was a player who had primarily produced on dump-offs previously but expanded his game last season and built his production around being a more versatile weapon.

He perhaps has some work to do in terms of his upper-body strength, route running and blocking technique, but Sadiq brings the Jets an athletic mismatch-creator, who New York will be looking to feature heavily in the years ahead.