Evan Jacobson

Physical Profile

Listed at 6-5/241 on A&M's roster after being carried at 6-6 to 6-7 and 220-230 pounds through his recruitment — meaning he has added roughly 15-20 pounds of good weight since committing in July 2025, which is the single most encouraging developmental data point in his file. The height listing discrepancy between recruiting services and the college roster is common with tall, thin frames, but even at 6-5 he plays with rare catch-radius and high-point leverage; he averaged 18.3 points per game and earned Iowa 4A first-team all-state honors in basketball, and that translates directly to boxing out defenders on seam and back-line throws. Frame is high-hipped with a naturally high center of gravity, and he still carries the narrow-based build of a multi-sport wing rather than an in-line Y — the ceiling on his blocking and his separation quickness both hinge on adding another 15-20 pounds through the hips and lower half without losing the fluidity that makes him valuable.

Play Style

He plays like a stretch big moved to the football field: a flexed, seam-attacking pass catcher who wins with length, timing and body control rather than with burst or physical dominance at the point of attack. On film he is at his best working the middle of the field on seams, corner routes and back-shoulder throws in the red zone, where his high point and frame make him nearly uncoverable by a strong safety or a nickel. He tracks the ball well over either shoulder, adjusts to off-target throws, and adds functional yardage after the catch by out-leveraging tacklers rather than by making them miss. As a blocker he takes on work willingly, flashes hand pop and finishes plays, but he blocks tall and wins more through effort and reach than through leverage, which is the tell that he is currently a move/flex tight end who will grow into in-line duty rather than the other way around.

Strengths

• Contested-catch and red-zone ability: basketball-honed hands, timing and body positioning make him a genuine back-line and seam target who can present a target well above the defender's reach — the trait every service agrees on and the reason 247Sports ranks him No. 12 at the position.
• Spatial awareness as a short-to-intermediate target: 247Sports' evaluation credits him with finding vulnerable spots in zone and providing sneaky run-after-catch, and his pass-catching production climbed as a senior after a modest 198-yard, 5-TD junior year — a rising arrow rather than a flat one.
• Blocking effort and hand pop: despite the high center of gravity, he is graded as a willing, 'convicted' blocker who plays with consistent strength and finishes — the effort baseline is already there, which is the harder thing to coach than technique.
• Elite competitive and athletic background: three-year letterman who helped Waukee to 18 wins and three straight 5A state playoff berths, two-time first-team all-district, second-team all-state as a junior, and a first-team all-state basketball player from a deep collegiate-athlete family.

Areas to Improve

• Sudden explosion and gear change — scouts describe him as a one-speed athlete; he needs to develop a release package and short-area burst off the line and out of breaks to threaten SEC safeties vertically rather than only occupying them.
• In-line play strength and pad level — the high center of gravity shows up when he has to sustain against SEC edge defenders; he needs functional lower-body strength, a wider base and consistent pad level to be trusted as a true Y on early downs rather than a flexed-out matchup piece.
• Route-running refinement and football volume — 48 career receptions is a small sample for a top-15 national TE; he is behind pure football prospects in route detail, blocking landmarks and reading coverage leverage simply because of split-sport reps.
• Sustaining football mass while pursuing basketball — he has stated an intent to play both sports at A&M, and the winter basketball calendar directly competes with the offseason lifting and mat-drill block where a 241-pound freshman TE builds his SEC body.

College Projection

Realistic redshirt or heavy special-teams/situational-package freshman season in 2026 while he adds weight and learns SEC blocking assignments. He landed in an ideal system — Collin Klein's offense is tight-end-centric, and TE coach Christian Ellsworth was a decisive factor in his commitment over Iowa State, Notre Dame and Stanford — so the developmental runway is real. Expect a Year 2 (2027) rotational role as a flex/move TE in 12 personnel and a designed red-zone target, with a starting job available by Year 3 if the body catches up to the frame. If he plays basketball as well, add roughly a full year to that timeline; the trait profile is a three-to-four-year build, not a plug-and-play one.

NFL Outlook

A legitimate Day 2-3 developmental draft candidate if the strength arc holds — 247Sports projects him as an eventual high-major starter who could develop into an NFL Draft candidate, and that is the honest ceiling read. The archetype (6-5-plus, basketball-background, contested-catch seam TE) has a strong NFL track record, but the league now demands that tight ends block in-line at least competently, and that is precisely where he is furthest from ready. His draft outcome will be decided by how much functional lower-body strength he adds between now and 2029 and whether he develops a second gear; without either, he profiles closer to a priority free agent or a big-slot/red-zone specialist than a mid-round pick.

Best Fit

A tight-end-driven, 12-personnel play-action offense with a patient development staff and a strong strength program — which is exactly what Texas A&M under Collin Klein offers. He is maximized in a scheme that flexes him into the slot and off the ball to attack seams and use him as a red-zone mismatch early, while gradually adding in-line snaps as his mass and leverage improve. A run-first, in-line-only Y system that asks him to be a sixth offensive lineman as a freshman would waste his best trait and expose his worst one; conversely, a spread offense with no blocking demands would leave the well-rounded starter he could become undeveloped.