Sophomore Spotlight: Scouting top 2027 tight ends
It’s never too early to begin looking at the next stars of college football, so welcome to the Sophomore Spotlight. Each week Rivals national data analyst Austin Cochran will highlight a number of prospects from each position who made our initial 2027 Rivals250.
We continue this week looking at tight ends.
SOPHOMORE SPOTLIGHT: Scouting top 2027 quarterbacks | Running backs | Receiver
Player comp: George Kittle
Bowman has a serious mean streak that’s a ton of fun to watch. He is a great, nasty blocker that tries to finish every block like a scene from “The Blind Side”. He shows strength and physicality at the point of attack. The four-star prospect is a great athlete with good speed and some solid change of direction ability to do damage after the catch. He has excellent body control and strong hands to be able to make tough catches.
Playing for the No. 1 high school team in the country brings a lot of eyes to you and Bowman hasn’t disappointed. He has 29 total offers so far, with offers from LSU, Michigan and Notre Dame among others.
Player comp: Sam LaPorta
Brewer looks to be the next great tight end to come out of the great state of Iowa. He’s an all-around player with blocking ability, solid hands and really good athleticism to do damage after the catch. He’s not the most natural pass catcher – he jumps unnecessarily or just makes the catch harder than it needs to be – but he still makes the catch and has a really good ability to get yards after the catch.
Brewer has 11 offers, all from Power Four programs. It may be hard to lure him out of his home state, but with offers from Georgia, Michigan and Penn State, it’s clear a lot of programs are going to make a hard push for the four-star prospect.
Player comp: Evan Engram
A three-sport athlete who excels on both sides of the ball, Cartwright is a freak athlete. He projects at tight end because of his size, but he almost exclusively lines up out wide at receiver right now on offense. He has length, raw athleticism and speed, and will probably also get some offers at defensive end.
Cartwright is a strong runner and very hard to take down. He is a very natural pass catcher and does a good job getting open, but he will need to develop his game as a true tight end, lining up inline and blocking. He has a ton of potential and it will be interesting to see which side of the ball he trends to as he continues to develop.
Cartwright has been very popular this season. He has 18 total offers and has taken visits to Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and Michigan, with a visit scheduled this weekend to see Penn State take on Ohio State.
Player comp: Kyle Pitts
At 6-foot-7, 230 pounds, Hudson is also an elite basketball player. He has incredibly long arms and legs, and tons of raw athleticism. He’s still growing into his body and at times looks off balance, but still makes a lot of plays. Hudson has solid speed because he takes such long strides and has good hands with an outrageous catch radius. He still needs a lot of fine tuning to his game, but his potential and natural gifts are off the charts.
Hudson has 11 total offers with his most recent coming from Ole Miss. He visited Texas A&M last weekend to watch its game against LSU.
As Cartwright continues to develop both his game and physically, more and more teams will come calling for his services. There just aren’t too many players with his size and ability.
Player comp: Pat Freiermuth
Niemi is a really nice blast from the past. He plays a very traditional, pro-style tight end. He’s a very good, strong blocker who’s a good man-mover. He runs good routes and does a great job finding space and getting open. Niemi has very reliable hands. He has solid top-end speed, but it takes him a bit to build up to it, and he doesn’t have a ton of wiggle, but he is an extremely reliable and consistent player.
Niemi currently has 13 total offers with the most recent coming from Michigan State.
The four-star prospect is a very complete player and as he continues to develop athletically, he should pick up more interest from teams.
