Cincinnati Bengals draft Arizona tight end Tanner McLachlan in sixth round of NFL Draft

Former Arizona tight end Tanner McLachlan was drafted by the the Cincinnati Bengals at No. 194 overall in the sixth round of the NFL Draft on Saturday. McLachlan is the first UA tight end drafted since Rob Gronkowski. 

McLachlan is the first Arizona tight end drafted since four-time Super Bowl winner Rob Gronkowski in 2010.

McLachlan became the third Wildcat drafted this year, joining first-round offensive lineman Jordan Morgan, who was selected by the Green Bay Packers at No. 25 overall, the highest-selected UA player since Chris McAlister in 1999, and wide receiver Jacob Cowing, who was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers with the 135th pick in the fourth round on Saturday. It's the first draft Arizona has produced three picks since 2014.

McLachlan bolsters Cincinnati's tight ends room that just signed former Dolphins and Patriots tight end Mike Gesicki to a one-year contract, and Erick All, the former Iowa tight end who the Bengals drafted in the fourth round on Saturday. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor worked with former UA head coach Jedd Fisch with the Los Angeles Rams, and visited Tucson during McLachlan's career.   

McLachlan has come a long way from being that “skinny, 190-pound basketball player” at American Leadership Academy in Queen Creek after living in Alberta, Canada, for most of his life. Preparing for the NFL was a pipe dream not too long for McLachlan, who had one scholarship offer out of high school to Southern Utah, before he transferred to Arizona in 2022.

Between his two-year stint at Southern Utah and first season at Arizona, McLachlan didn’t have the medical staff handy to lean on to guide him through an ACL injury, so he learned how to rehabilitate his knee through YouTube videos.

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McLachlan ascended Arizona’s depth chart and became a two-year starter and the most productive tight end since the best to ever play the position at Arizona in "Gronk". McLachlan’s 79 career receptions passed Gronkowski for the most ever by an Arizona tight end. McLachlan concluded his UA career with 984 yards and six touchdowns. Arizona's pro-style offense under Fisch "prepared me for my next journey through the NFL,” McLachlan said.

“I wouldn’t change it at all. It was a great approach. Running the pro-style offense, I loved it. I don’t know why you would do anything different," he told the Star last month. "At the end of the day, you can say you love college ball, but every guy in college ball is trying to get to the NFL. To have something like implemented in, I don’t know why you would go a different direction. ...  It became easier and easier and I know that’s going to help me be more prepared when I go into NFL meeting rooms and see how well I know these offenses.”

The 6-5, 244-pound McLachlan ran the 40-yard dash in 4.61 seconds, the third-fastest time for tight ends at the NFL Scouting Combine this year. He posted a 35-inch vertical jump and nine-foot, nine-inch long jump. McLachlan received a 75 grade by NFL’s “Next Gen Stats,” which is the seventh-best grade for tight ends at the combine.

In his analysis of McLachlan on NFL.com, NFL Draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote, “He plays with the spirit of an in-line tight end and flashes what it takes to execute blocks, but he’s missing the mass and play strength for one to confidently project him as a pro blocker at this point.”

“While McLachlan has short arms and average speed, he still finds ways to go get the football outside his frame and does whatever it takes to add yards after catch,” Zierlein said. “There are boxes that go unchecked, but his ‘whatever it takes’ mentality is the kind of intangible that often turns prospects into pros.”

While McLachlan has “the utmost confidence in my hands and catching the ball and I always find a way to get open,” his run-blocking is his most prominent weakness as a pro prospect. McLachlan had a 54.6 run-blocking grade by Pro Football Focus this past season at Arizona. 

“If you turn on the film, a lot of people would say the same thing — and that’s the feedback I’ve been getting,” McLachlan said. “Converting from wide receiver to tight end, it is what it is, and I think I’m relatively new to the position, but on the same token, it shows I have a lot of growth still to be made. I’m an older guy in this draft class, but my ceiling is very high and I have a lot of football left in me.”