Ko
Kieft.
Ko
Kieft.
Minnesota
"Twelve catches in five college seasons and twelve starts as an NFL rookie: the rare sixth-round pick whose value was never going to show up in a box score, and never needed to."Pre-draft read
A blocking tight end in the oldest sense of the job. At 6-4 3/8 and 259 pounds at his pro day, with 33-inch arms and 9 1/2-inch hands, Kieft is a sixth offensive lineman who lines up in a three-point stance, drives his feet through contact and finishes defensive ends into the ground. He is comfortable in-line, in the wing, in the backfield and on the move.
The athletic profile is exactly what the role asks for and no more: a 4.98 forty, a 1.80 ten-yard split, a 7.07 cone and 21 bench reps. He is not a route runner and never pretended to be. Speed off the line is limited, separation against man coverage does not exist, and defenses can ignore him as a receiving threat the moment he releases.
A run-heavy offense with real 12 and 21 personnel usage that wants a sixth blocker attached to the formation on early downs.
Year 1: blocking tight end in heavy packages and core special teams. Ceiling: a decade-long TE2 who starts on early downs without being targeted.
A spread offense in 11 personnel that asks its tight end to win from the slot and detach into routes on every snap.
His value is entirely tied to whether the offensive coordinator still believes in the run.
GI Video 2018: Ko Kieft
Early Minnesota footage of the in-line blocking that got him drafted.
Every Ko Kieft rookie season touchdown, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The full receiving output of a 12-start rookie year.
Ko Kieft and Luke Goedeke with key blocks to spring Rachaad White
The job he was actually drafted to do, shown in the run game.
Kieft redshirted at Minnesota in 2016 and spent six years in the program under P.J. Fleck, a run-first offense that valued exactly what he did well. As a freshman in 2017 he played 12 games with two catches for 17 yards, and in 2018 he appeared in 13 games and caught one pass for 19 yards. Neither year was about the ball.
His 2019 season was the purest version of the profile: 12 games played, zero receptions, a full year of in-line blocking on a Gopher offense that won 11 games and the Outback Bowl. The shortened 2020 season limited him to four appearances, and he made them count with two catches for 29 yards and his first career touchdown, plus a single rushing attempt for minus two yards.
His final year in 2021 was the most productive: 13 games, seven catches for 101 yards at 14.4 yards a reception and a touchdown, on a team that ran the ball as well as anyone in the Big Ten. He finished a 54-game career with 12 receptions for 166 yards and two touchdowns, the kind of line that only gets a player drafted if the blocking tape is unusual. At his pro day he ran the drills of a lineman and tested like one, and Tampa Bay took him in the sixth round as a specialist.
- 01
In-line blocking is a genuine plus trait
he plays with lineman leverage and finishes defensive ends rather than screening them.
- 02
Positional versatility inside the run game
in-line, wing, fullback and lead-blocker looks were all part of his Minnesota usage.
- 03
Professional-grade technique
six years in a run-first Big Ten program under P.J. Fleck, so the assignments and the assignments are already professional-grade.
- 04
Functional strength
259 pounds with 21 bench reps and 33-inch arms, enough mass to hold up against NFL edge setters.
- 05
Reliable hands on the rare targets he saw
14.4 yards per catch as a senior on seven receptions with no drops of note.
- 01
Almost no receiving production
12 catches in five seasons of play, so there is no route tree to evaluate on tape.
- 02
Slow off the line
a 4.98 forty with a 1.80 ten-yard split, which caps him as a seam or checkdown option at best.
- 03
Personnel tell
defenses read the formation the moment he enters the game, tipping run and removing the play-action value a tight end should add.
- 04
No kicking-game résumé
zero notable coverage or return work, which narrows the roster paths for a sixth-round tight end who cannot run.
| Yr | Team | G | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Minnesota | 12 | 2 | 17 | 0 |
| 2018 | Minnesota | 13 | 1 | 19 | 0 |
| 2019 | Minnesota | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | Minnesota | 4 | 2 | 29 | 1 |
| 2021 | Minnesota | 13 | 7 | 101 | 1 |
| Career | — | 54 | 12 | 166 | 2 |
Season and career lines come from Sports Reference's college table, and the 2021 line is confirmed independently by cfbstats at 13 games, seven receptions, 101 yards and one touchdown. The zeros in 2019 are verified rather than assumed: he played 12 games without being targeted for a reception. He redshirted in 2016, so that year is not listed. Season receptions, yards and touchdowns sum exactly to the career totals of 12 catches, 166 yards and two scores. His single career rushing attempt for minus two yards in 2020 is omitted from the table because the position family does not carry rushing columns.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Low-target tight end who held a roster spot for years on blocking and special teams value.
Blocking tight end who turned pure in-line ability into a career that lasted into his late thirties.
Blocking specialist who bounced between practice squads without settling into a role.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Tampa Bay took him 218th and used him immediately. He caught a 19-yard pass from Tom Brady in Week 4 against Kansas City for his first NFL reception, scored his first touchdown against Cleveland on November 27, and finished a rookie year of 17 games and 12 starts with seven catches for 80 yards and a score. For a sixth-round blocking specialist, starting 12 games as a rookie is the whole return on the pick.
The role held. He appeared in 16 games with six starts in 2023 and caught a touchdown against Green Bay in Week 15, then played all 17 games in 2024 with one start and most of his value coming on special teams. A leg injury against the Jets in Week 3 of 2025 ended his season on injured reserve on September 23, and the Buccaneers re-signed him on March 13, 2026 on a one-year, $1.65 million deal, his fifth season with the only team he has played for. Eight career receptions for 82 yards does not describe the value; four years of steady in-line work for one organization does.