Luke Musgrave NFL Draft 2023: Scouting Report for Oregon State TE

HEIGHT: 6'6"

WEIGHT: 253

HAND: 10 3/8"

ARM: 32 5/8"

WINGSPAN: TBD

---

40-YARD DASH: 4.61

3-CONE: TBD

SHUTTLE: TBD

VERTICAL: 36"

BROAD: 10'5"

---

POSITIVES

— Tall, lean build with long arms. Great build for the position.

— Positional flexibility. Can play in-line Y, wing and wide receiver alignments.

— Great top-end speed. Excels on vertical and horizontal stretches.

— Good flexibility and explosiveness for his size.

— Good route-runner, even from wide receiver alignments. Smooth mover with quick, light feet.

— Above-average ball-tracking skills and hands to locate ball away from his frame.

— Good blocker. Plays with ample strength, good leverage and proper hand placement.

---

NEGATIVES

— Poor ability to fight through contact on routes. Gets rerouted too easily and often.

— Below-average energy and physicality at contested catch points. Allows defenders to fight back into position.

— Hands tend to waver in traffic.

---

2022 STATISTICS

— 2 GM, 11 REC, 169 YDS (15.4 AVG), 1 TD

---

NOTES

— DOB: September 2, 2000

— 3-star recruit in 2019

— 15 starts in four seasons

— Suffered a season-ending knee injury in 2022; missed all but two games

---

OVERALL

Luke Musgrave is a highly athletic tight end who may need to add some strength before he realizes his full potential.

In simple terms, Musgrave is too tall and fast to cover easily. He's 6'6" but plays with airy change-of-direction skills and long, explosive strides that allow him to separate in the open field. He excels on deeper routes, such as seam routes, deep overs and corner routes that allow his athletic tools to shine. Moreover, Musgrave has the twitch and route-running chops for a full route tree, even from wide receiver alignments.

Musgrave is fairly snappy at the top of his routes and can explode out of them in order to generate separation, a tough skill to find in most players his size. Combine that with his ability to track and reach the ball outside his frame, and you have a receiver who thrives in space.

Musgrave is a solid blocker, too. His raw strength is about average, but he brings his game up a tier through great technique. Despite being 6'6", he does well to find good leverage and play with a sound base under him. Likewise, he plays with smart, active hands and rarely ends up whiffing on his targets. He may not be a people-mover, but he gets the job done reliably.

Where Musgrave struggles is with play strength as a pass-catcher. He is prone to getting jammed up at the line of scrimmage or rerouted early in routes. He doesn't have the raw strength nor the crafty hand usage to combat it right now. Likewise, Musgrave can struggle when battling for position on the ball. He too often concedes positioning and allows defensive backs to get to the ball, disrupting his ability to finish plays in traffic. That's going to be an issue against bigger, stronger NFL athletes.

In all, Musgrave's height, athletic tools and baseline blocking skills give him everything he needs to be a weapon. He can succeed as a field-stretching tight end who doesn't have to leave the field on run downs, which gives him access to aggressive play-action concepts to make use of his speed. He will need to add weight and muscle in order to handle himself in traffic and over the middle of the field, however. Hopefully a year or two in an NFL weight training system can do the trick and unlock his potential.

---

GRADE: 7.4 (High-Level Backup or Potential Starter/Round 3)

OVERALL RANK: 59

POSITION RANK: TE5

PRO COMPARISON: Darren Waller

---

Written by B/R NFL Scout Derrik Klassen