A tight end was a logical choice for the Jacksonville Jaguars after allowing both Chris Manhertz and Dan Arnold to reach free agency, but the selection of Penn State’s Brenton Strange raised eyebrows.
With Georgia’s Darnell Washington and South Dakota State’s Tucker Kraft still on the board, the Jaguars picked a tight end that few expected to be a second round selection.
So who is the newest Jaguars tight end? Here are five things to know about Strange:
1. Strange's combine performance turned heads
Brenton Strange was drafted with pick 61 of round 2 in the 2023 draft class. He scored a 9.09 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 102 out of 1105 TE from 1987 to 2023. https://t.co/Apw5zXGmEs pic.twitter.com/sREwcpMOv5
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 29, 2023
At a hair under 6’4, Strange is not the lengthiest tight end. But he put together an impressive combine performance compared to most tight ends.
His 124-inch broad jump was in the 92nd percentile among tight ends in recorded combine history, he was in the 91st percentile in the 10-yard split on his 40-yard dash, and his 36-inch vertical was in the 82nd percentile.
2. Strange was targeted just 92 times in the last three seasons
While Strange’s athleticism makes his status as a Day 2 selection logical, his production does the opposite.
In three full seasons at Penn State (he redshirted after only two games in 2019), Strange was targeted just 92 times and never more than 40 times in a single season.
While he maximized those opportunities — catching 32 of 38 targets in his final season and scoring 11 touchdowns — Strange became just the third tight end in the last decade to go in the first two rounds despite having less than 800 career receiving yards.
3. Strange had no contact with Jaguars prior to draft
In a conference call with reporters immediately after he was picked, Strange said he expected to go in rounds two or three based on the conversations he had with NFL teams.
That didn’t include the Jaguars, though.
According to Strange, he never met with, interviewed with, or communicated at all with Jacksonville prior to the phone call he received Friday night.
4. Strange was an accomplished basketball player
Just like the Jaguars’ first-round pick Anton Harrison, Strange was a basketball player as well as a football player in high school.
At Parkersburg High School in West Virginia, Strange earned third-team all-state honors in his second sport.
In football, not only did Strange rack up huge stats on offense in high school, he also had 10 tackles for loss, six sacks, and three interceptions.
5. Strange's first college touchdown came from Will Levis
Before Will Levis was the quarterback at Kentucky and long before Levis and Strange were both on AFC South rosters, they connected for a touchdown in August 2019.
It was the first touchdown grab of Strange’s collegiate career and it came in his first ever game. He spent most of the rest of the year on the sideline as he redshirted that year.
