Joe Royer is a tight end and 2026 NFL Draft prospect who played his final two collegiate seasons at the University of Cincinnati after beginning his career at Ohio State. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Royer attended Elder High School and signed with the Buckeyes as a three-star prospect in the 2020 class, choosing Ohio State over offers from Michigan, Penn State, Arizona State, and others. He spent four seasons in Columbus appearing in 14 games with only four receptions before transferring home to Cincinnati ahead of the 2024 season. The move transformed his career. In his first season as a full-time starter with the Bearcats, Royer posted 50 receptions for 521 yards and three touchdowns, breaking the Cincinnati single-season reception record for tight ends previously held by Travis Kelce. He followed that with 29 catches for 416 yards and four touchdowns in 2025, finishing his two seasons in Cincinnati with 79 receptions for 937 yards and seven touchdowns across 25 starts.
Standing 6 feet 5 inches and approximately 255 pounds with an 80-inch wingspan and roughly 10.5-inch hands, Royer profiles as a prototypical receiving tight end with excellent size, reliable hands, and an impressive feel for exploiting zone coverage from the slot and inline alignments. His ability to run after the catch ranked among the best at his position in college football, and he consistently converted short and intermediate targets into chunk gains with physicality and contact balance. The most significant knock on his game is his blocking consistency, where he has struggled to sustain leverage at the point of attack and has too many negative reps in the run game for an in-line tight end of his size. NFL teams project him as a Day 2 selection with starting upside as a pass-catching tight end who can develop into a well-rounded contributor with coaching at the next level.
