Jets seventh-round draft pick Zack Kuntz didn’t have the easiest path to the NFL, failing to get much playing time at Penn State, transferring to Old Dominion and suffering a knee injury that cut short his final season. But he has undeniable athletic talent.
That starts with his 6-foot-8 frame and includes his impressive athletic profile, which included being the best tight end in the Scouting Combine in the vertical jump (40 inches), the broad jump (10 feet, 8 inches), and three-cone drill (6.87 seconds). Jets coach Robert Saleh says a talent like that in the seventh round just doesn’t come along very often.
“There’s an old saying, ‘Always take the freak that loves ball.’ And if you do, usually they pan out,” Saleh said, via the New York Post. “So, he’s got freakish ability and he’s got a love for football, so now we just got to work with him.”
Jets General Manager Joe Douglas used the F-word (freak) for Kuntz as well.
“He tested through the roof,” Douglas said, “so we were sitting there at the top of the seventh round and just going through some of the guys who just had that freak factor to him and he was right there at the top — the size, the speed, the length, the jump, just everything and another guy who may have been drafted a little sooner if not for the injury this year.”
The Jets look forward to developing that freakish talent.