The shadow as a second-generation football player can loom large, but Syracuse tight end Oronde Gadsden II has done a great job of making a name for himself.
As the son of the former Miami Dolphins wide receiver of the same name, Gadsden has football in his blood. After a successful collegiate career at Syracuse, he now looks to make a name for himself when he’s selected in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Oronde Gadsden II’s Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 6’5″
- Weight: 236 pounds
- Position: Tight End
- School: Syracuse
- Current Year: Redshirt Junior
Scouting Report
Gadsden grew up in Florida, and he was born during his father’s final season with the Dolphins in 2003. The younger Gadsden attended American Heritage School in Plantation, Fla., for high school and was a three-star recruit at wide receiver, according to 247Sports. He was also a track athlete in high school, and he committed to Syracuse after tallying 13 touchdowns in his senior year.
Starting as a wide receiver in his freshman year, Gadsden played in eight games as a true freshman. His receiving numbers were modest — he had just two receptions for 24 yards and no touchdowns — but he played a key role in the Orange’s special teams units, particularly in the field goal blocking group.
The 2022 season served as a massive breakout year for Gadsden, running routes primarily out of the slot in a receiver-tight end hybrid role. He finished as a first-team All-ACC member after catching 61 passes for 966 yards and six touchdowns with a 6.2% drop rate. His reception, receiving yard, and receiving touchdown numbers led all Syracuse players that season.
Heading into 2023, there was NFL buzz surrounding Gadsden given his impressive production as a true sophomore. His year didn’t last long, however, as he suffered a season-ending Lisfranc injury on the first offensive play of the Orange’s second game of the year.
He caught seven passes for 67 yards and a touchdown between his first game and his lone target in the second game, playing just 32 offensive snaps in total. He used a medical redshirt for the year.
Gadsden bounced back from injury in a major way in 2024, topping most of his impressive numbers from 2022. He finished the season with 73 receptions for 934 yards and seven touchdowns with a drop rate of just 5.2%.
Syracuse used him primarily out of the slot again, but he also saw a significant increase in traditional in-line tight end reps. Through his first three seasons, he only played a combined eight snaps as an in-line tight end, but he played 183 snaps there in 2024, totaling 32.6% of his offensive snaps.
Strengths
- Offers impressive length, giving him a large catch radius that enables him to win above the rim consistently over smaller defenders.
- Has ideal foot quickness running fade routes near the goal line, allowing him to work across a defensive back’s body and create separation with a speed release.
- High points the ball well in 50/50 situations, showing off the body control needed to contort himself to make difficult grabs.
- Quicker out of his breaks than a player his size has any right to be.
- Intelligent big-slot receiver who has a good feel for how to exploit soft spots against zone coverage using adjusted route tempo and depth.
- Understands the importance of leverage as a route runner and adjusts his stems accordingly to exploit defenders’ blind spots.
- Added roughly 20 pounds of muscle to his frame in his transition to tight end without sacrificing speed or agility.
- Athletic enough to stretch the field vertically, whether it be across the seam or down the field on go routes.
- Natural hands catcher who does a good job of making snags away from his frame.
- Has a deeper route tree than the average tight end coming out of college due to his experience as a wide receiver.
- Effort is there as a run blocker, and his long arms give him a physical advantage when attempting to lock out defenders from the inside of his chest.
Weaknesses
- Underwent two surgeries for his Lisfranc injury in Sept. 2023 and April 2024.
- Still largely unproven as a traditional in-line tight end, especially as a blocker.
- Maintains a high center of gravity as a blocker, thus affecting his pad level and making it difficult to win the leverage battle at the point of attack.
- Did a good job of adding weight before the 2024 season, but he’s still roughly 10-15 pounds underweight for the tight end position.
- Anchor strength is lacking, which can see him get moved around relatively easily when tasked with blocking edge rushers.
- Not particularly reliable in 1-on-1 blocking situations at this stage.
- Lateral quickness after the catch is just OK, limiting his YAC ability.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Gadsden plays the tight end position like a wide receiver, for better or worse.
He’s a significantly better athlete than most collegiate tight ends, showing the straight-line speed and foot quickness needed to create separation and unlock opportunities down the field for his offense.
His route-running ability is above average for a tight end due to his spatial awareness, route-running IQ, and overall burst coming out of his breaks. Being as tall and lengthy as he is, he maximizes his frame on jump balls with his ball skills and body control.
Putting on healthy weight is no easy task, and Gadsden deserves props for how he managed to get stronger in 2024 without sacrificing much at all in the way of athleticism. That said, for him to maximize his potential at the NFL level, he’s going to need to push on more weight. He’s light in the pants and still pretty raw as an in-line tight end, even though his reps there as a redshirt junior were very helpful.
Gadsden will likely be limited as a rookie, and given the continued learning curve of becoming a full-time tight end, he could struggle early on.
When you combine that with the strength of the 2025 NFL Draft tight end class, it’s hard to see him selected in the first two rounds come April. His upside as a pass catcher is too big to ignore, though. He projects best as a fourth-round pick and a backup in Year 1 with the potential to grow into a bigger role in due time.
