NFL Draft Profile: Peyton Hendershot, Indiana Tight End
Peyton Hendershot's dive for the pylon came up a yard short in Indiana's matchup with Maryland on Oct. 30, 2020, but his 31-yard catch and run set the Indiana all-time tight end record for receiving yards.
Despite Indiana's 38-35 loss, Hendershot set the record in style, hauling in six catches for 106 yards and two touchdowns. Hendershot's 136 career receptions are also an Indiana tight end record, which he set against Ohio State on Oct. 23, 2020.
“You believe it and you envision it in your mind,” Hendershot said after the Maryland game. “But when it finally starts to come to fruition, it’s eye-opening.”
In five seasons as a Hoosier, Hendershot was a three-time All-Big Ten selection and finished second among Indiana tight ends with 14 touchdowns. As a senior, Hendershot was tied for first on the team with 46 receptions and led all Hoosiers with 543 receiving yards and four touchdowns.
This record-setting season led to Hendershot earning Indiana’s Anthony Thompson Most Valuable Player Award and the team's Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the Year Award.
Hendershot arrived in Bloomington as a three-star recruit, the No. 1,086 player in the class of 2017 and the No. 53 tight end in the nation. Standing at 6-foot-4, 254 pounds, Hendershot attended Tri-West High School in Lizton, Ind. where he hauled in 157 receptions, 2,170 yards, and 22 touchdowns. This led to Hendershot's inclusion on the 2016 Indiana Associated Press 6A all-state team.
And after etching his name in the Indiana record books, Hendershot will now pursue an NFL career with the draft beginning on Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET.
Hendershot received a 5.68 prospect grade from the NFL Next Gen Stats, categorizing him as a "candidate for bottom of roster or practice squad." At the NFL combine, Hendershot recorded a 4.8-second 40-yard dash, 32.5-inch vertical jump, 117-inch broad jump and a 4.25-second 20-yard shuttle time.
NFL analyst Lance Zierlein said Hendershot has small hands for a tight end, won't outrun many linebackers down the seam, fails to latch into his block and stick with his hands and has a February 2020 arrest that will require examination from NFL teams. Hendershot faced four charges after an altercation with his ex-girlfriend and later pled guilty to a criminal trespass charge as part of a plea agreement.
Hendershot said before Indiana's 2021 season that he worked on becoming a better runner after the catch. His background as a basketball player is also intriguing to Zierlein, who listed Hendershot's strengths as being athletic and tough in his run after catch, a hands-catcher with quick pluck-and-go, present effort and willingness as run blocker and controlled footwork at the break point.
Overall, Zierlein projects Hendershot as a seventh-round selection or a priority free agent.
