Arizona Cardinals to meet with a top tight end prospect

The tight end position isn’t the biggest hole the Arizona Cardinals need to fill, but doing their due diligence on a top tight end prospect is smart football.

Per well known NFL draft insider Jared Tokarz, the Arizona Cardinals along with five other teams will have a private workout with Texas A&M standout Jace Sternberger. With the recent release of Jermaine Gresham, the meeting between the two becomes more than doing the Cardinals doing their due diligence on a highly coveted tight end.

After seeing minimal production at Kansas after redshirting his freshman year, Sternberger transferred to Northeastern Oklahoma A&M for a year. After his one year stint in Oklahoma, Sternberger was a hot transfer prospect and decided to join Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M. In his one season at College Station, Sternberger pilled up 48 receptions for 832 yards and 10 touchdowns.

At the 2019 NFL Combine, Sternberger performed well but didn’t turn heads. The 6-4, 251-lb tight end ran a 4.75 40-yard-dash, jumped for a 31.5-inch vertical, and had a 113-inch broad jump.

Kyle Crabbs of DraftNetwork.com has a high second round grade on him, as he said in a prospect breakdown article of Sternberger;

"Jace Sternberger is an excellent receiving threat from the TE position and his receiving chops should allow him to get reps early as a rookie. Sternberger has smooth breaks, soft hands, good concentration skills and enough blocking to not be considered a liability at the POA. He needs to continue to add some false breaks on his routes and really focus on his balance and lower body power as a blocker but his three year projection is favorable, can impact pass game year one."

According to most draft experts, Sternberger should be available in the second round and could slip all the way to the top of the third. If he falls to the third, the Arizona Cardinals would be wise to get a day one starter alongside Charles Clay for an offense that will surely emphasize production from a tight end.

The Arizona Cardinals are expected to attend the Texas A&M pro day on March 26th.