Giants Country

New York Giants Draft Prospect: TE Jake Briningstool, Clemson

In Jake Briningstool, the Giants would get Clemson's all-time leader in career receptions by a tight end (127).

Nick Falato

Dec 21, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Clemson Tigers tight end Jake Briningstool (9) against the Texas Longhorns during the CFP National playoff first round at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
Dec 21, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Clemson Tigers tight end Jake Briningstool (9) against the Texas Longhorns during the CFP National playoff first round at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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Record-setting Clemson tight end Jake Briningstool finished his college career tied for the seventh-most receptions by a tight end in ACC history, his three career 100-yard receiving games a Clemson tight end school record.

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Jake Briningstool

  • Height: 6’5 ¼”
  • Weight: 234 lbs
  • Class: Senior
  • School: Clemson
  • STATS

A former four-star recruit out of Ravenwood High School in Tennessee, where he was the number one recruit in the state and the third-graded tight end in the 2021 recruiting class. He was the 86th-ranked player in that cycle.  

Briningstool is Clemson’s all-time leader in career receptions by a tight end. He broke Jordan Leggett’s mark and has 127 career catches, which helped him earn two All-ACC honors. He played in 35 career games and has 1,380 career snaps. He attended the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl.

Strengths

  • Excellent height with long limbs (32 ¼” arms – 6’6” wingspan)
  • Solid overall athlete at TE
  • Build up speed player with good acceleration 
  • Will spin and juke in space to try and gain extra yards – solid agility/COD
  • Good leaping ability and lower-body explosiveness when going vertical
  • Limited route tree but FLASHED smooth nature on pivots and double-moves
  • Clemson used him as the target on several decoy plays – sneaky slipping into space 
  • Sure handed receiver with good catch radius
  • Several critical catches with elite reaction time – turned last second to find the football and secured it; excellent for QBs that throw with anticipation 
  • Understands space – read defense and sat against soft leverage, resulted in many catches
  • Caught 48% of his collegiate contested catches – goes up and gets it!
  • Good eyes and tracking when locating the football
  • Physical with the football in his hands
  • Lowers his shoulder and falls forward through contact frequently 
  • Gets in the way well and is annoying as a run blocker in space
  • Positions himself well on crack-toss and other down blocks – uses his frame to create barrier
  • Will be an effective mismatch weapon against TEs and SAFs
  • Effective slot player – 59% of snaps from slot
  • Red zone threat

Weaknesses

  • Narrow frame is not conducive to playing in the trenches 
  • Doesn’t have breakaway speed for a 234-pound tight end
  • Small 8 ⅞” hands
  • Not very sudden or explosive when running
  • Very limited route tree – ran a lot of quick curls
  • Play strength in the trenches is a concern
  • Anchor and push as an overall blocker is marginal
  • Run blocking must improve at the next level
  • More of a big WR than a true Y tight end
Jake Briningstool
Dec 21, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Clemson Tigers tight end Jake Briningstool (9) in action during the game between the Texas Longhorns and the Clemson Tigers in the CFP National Playoff First Round at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Summary

Jake Briningstool provides a massive, reliable target over the middle of the field. He possesses soft hands, an ability to climb the proverbial ladder, and an effective ability to locate footballs within his large catch radius. While he isn’t sudden, he does build up speed well and falls forward through contact, usually spinning and attempting to make people miss.

He had a rudimentary route tree at Clemson, which was frequently used in the slot. Briningstool’s 240-pound frame hinders his ability to block in-line, which is a critical vulnerability of his game. He can be a valuable asset as a mismatch TE against smaller LBs, but his down-to-down usage will be affected by his inability to block with success on the line of scrimmage consistently. 

GRADE: 5.94

Nick Falato's Draft Grade Chart
Nick Falato's Draft Grade Chart / Nick Falato

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Nick Falato
NICK FALATO

Nick Falato is co-host of the Big Blue Banter podcast. In addition to Giants Country, his work has appeared on SB Nation.