1) Tight ends put on a show. As Lance mentioned earlier in this post, Elijah Arroyo was one of the standouts of the first practice on Tuesday — and I had a chance to talk to him and Miami head coach Mario Cristobal about Arroyo’s breakout season in 2024. Arroyo finished the first practice with a great catch and was a clear winner from the day.
Then the second practice began, and LSU’s Mason Taylor was giving Arroyo a run for Tight End of the Day honors. He’s also the son of former Dolphins great Jason Taylor, who was on the sideline watching his son’s every move on Tuesday.
“He’s a natural route runner,” Jason told NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero. “(He) catches the ball naturally … kinda takes the ball out of the air and doesn’t fight it.”
The younger Taylor, who checked in at No. 35 on Daniel Jeremiah’s initial Top 50, ran great routes and made several eye-opening catches — including a one-hander on a ball from Alabama QB Jalen Milroe that was outside Taylor’s frame. Taylor also stood out in the blocking sessions as he tries to prove he’s an all-around tight end.
Another exciting part: Taylor is still only 20 years old, with plenty of upside.
“They’re getting a really mature guy for his age,” Jason Taylor said.
Arroyo also is filled with untapped upside. His 2022 and 2023 seasons were marred by a knee injury that held him back, but good health and the arrival of QB Cam Ward helped unlock a lot of that talent in a strong 2024 season.
“He was healthy. That was the biggest thing — the only thing — holding him back,” Cristobal told me. “Speed, power, size, strength, length, catch radius, ridiculous ability to accelerate and decelerate. Quite frankly, I wish we had him another year.”
Cristobal believes Arroyo is in the mold of “the old Miami tight end — Jeremy Shockey, Greg Olsen, Jimmy Graham” and others and will be an early-impact player in the NFL, even with his interrupted career with the Hurricanes.
“He’s a phenomenal human being, and he’s ridiculously smart, which will prepare him well,” Cristobal said. “He’s the total package now that he’s healthy.”
Arroyo said he played last season around 250-253 pounds, which falls in line with his Senior Bowl weigh-in of 251. He wants to mold his game after the Lions’ Sam LaPorta and the Ravens’ Isaiah Likely.
“I feel like they play how I want to play (in the NFL),” Arroyo said.
