(NFL Combine) Matchup nightmare: Oronde Gadsden
Coming out of high school Oronde Gadsden II was a highly touted 3-star recruit at wide receiver. In 2022 Gadsden moved inside to play tight end in Robert Anae's pass-heavy offensive scheme. A move that at the time may have come as questionable, but one that Oronde is probably thankful for by now.
Now the year is 2025 and Gadsden has decided to forego his fifth year of eligibility and declared for the NFL draft. And on Thursday at the combine he explained to the media that he was every defensive coordinator's nightmare, and every offensive coordinator's dream.
"Too big for safeties and too fast for linebackers, just being able to use my route running ability, my catch radius and my hands to beat anyone in any situation," Gadsden said when 247's Kobe Scales asked what experience he brings to the tight end position from the outside.
And he's right. With his natural athleticism and straight-line speed, Gadsden poses a deep threat to defenses. As a tight end, he's capable of lining up in multiple spots across the formation. From the slot, he overpowers smaller nickel defenders on inside routes and easily outpaces linebackers and safeties on vertical patterns like seam routes or slot fades.
At 6'5 236 Gadsden is about 5 inches taller than the average safety. And while he hasn't run the 40-yard dash, his original position being wide-receiver suggests he's faster than a linebacker. Unlike the top tight-ends in this draft there's not endless amounts of film on Gadsden.
His position change came in 2022, that year he put up almost 1k yards, most in the nation by a tight end on 61 catches and six touchdowns in 12 games. In 2023 poised for another breakout season, ready to burst onto the scene a Lisfranc injury caused him to only play the first two games tallying seven receptions 67 yards and a touchdown. Back from injury and with Kyle McCord at the helm, also on his fourth offensive coordinator in 2024, Gadsden totaled 73 receptions 934 yards and seven touchdowns.
The now projected third round pick can only imagine if he had the full highlight of a 2023 season. The Gadsden name would be spoken about with the likes of Tyler Warren, Colston Loveland, and Harold Fannin Jr.
Nonetheless if you ask Gadsden who he models his game after he still looks to wide receivers along with the tight ends. A sign that at this point he doesn't care what or where he plays, he just wants the chance to catch the ball.
"Those dudes that always find a way to get open even though they're not the fastest guys on the field… Guys like Keenan Allen, Devonte Adams later on in his career, Travis Kelce, Cooper Kupp, not the fastest guys, but they always find ways to get open and create a lot of separation," said Gadsden.
While those were interesting picks, I look at a guy like Darren Waller at the height of his career. If you have watched Darren Waller; I shouldn't have to explain this. Specifically the height of Waller's career because coming out of college Waller's career receiving yards only amounted to 971. But teams took a chance on a guy who was bigger than the safeties and faster than the linebackers. At the combine, Waller weighed in at 6'6 236, the same weight only an inch taller than OG. But for Waller, the position change to tight end did not come until the NFL.
But at the height of his NFL career, Waller proved to be an elite pass catcher with amazing downfield capability. Waller even set the single season record for receptions at 108, broken this season by another great tight end, Brock Bowers.
But while Gadsden may be the full package as a receiving tight end, as is the case with most receiving tight ends; it comes with a downfall, blocking inside. Gadsden is fully aware of his struggles blocking inside. But fellow Orangemen and NFL draft hopeful, Fadill Diggs has been a big help in that department.
"Just doing it every day in practice, especially when Fran[Brown] got there. He recruited all these guys, we had Fadill Diggs, from Texas A&M. We used to go at it a lot in fall camp and spring ball… Just big guys that you have to block in practice so it's easier in the game," said Gadsden.
These things will come with time and experience, and as long as OG continues to make plays in the passing game, he will be okay. NFL teams have come to love spread tight ends, and have packages and different players for blocking plays. But if OG truly wants to be like Kelce he'll learn to block as an undersized tight end on the line sooner, rather than later.
For now, OG will continue to attack fifty-fifty balls with everything he has, like his father Oronde Gadsden Sr. OG Sr. played in the NFL from 1998-2003.
"My hands ain't quite the same size as his, not yet, but if somebody throws up the fifty balls; I'm going to go get it," said Gadsden.
Jr. and Sr. hold rare company as only the second father-son duo to have a father compete as a wide receiver and the son as a tight end. The first duo; Randy Moss and Thaddeus Moss.
Randy Moss was one of the greatest wide receivers to ever play the game of football, Gadsden plans to be remembered as one of the best to ever come out of Syracuse University and a hall of famer.
