DJ Vonnahme TE Iowa |
NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report
| Jersey: #81 ROLE: Inline Blocking TE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Updated: 08/03/2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Draft Year: 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FORTY time: 4.65 seconds (80%*) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jersey: #81 | |
| ROLE: Inline Blocking TE | |
| Last Updated: 08/03/2026 | |
| Draft Year: 2027 | |
| Forty time: 4.65 seconds (80%*) | |
| Overall Rating: |
74.8 / 100
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Average rating of opposition Defense player has faced | ||
| Defense Rating: |
|
77% |
| Click the links below to view how player ranks vs other prospects. | ||
| Hands: |
|
67% |
| Short Receiving: |
|
80% |
| Intermediate Routes: |
|
81% |
| Deep Threat: |
|
84% |
| Blocking: |
|
37% |
|
DRAFT PROJECTION:
UDFA
Overall Rank:
#344
Position rank:
#13 (TE)
|
||
| College Games: 12 College Snaps: 435 | ||
| Player Comparison* (Similarity level) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Greg Dulcich - UCLA |
|
77% |
| Brevin Jordan - Miami |
|
75% |
| Ben Yurosek - Georgia |
|
74% |
Draft Profile: Bio
Vonnahme took a long road to the spotlight, arriving at Iowa as a preferred walk-on out of tiny Breda, where he played quarterback at Kuemper Catholic and accounted for more than 3,000 total yards through the air, on the ground and as a receiver. He climbed the depth chart at Iowa, that storied tight end factory, and broke through as a junior.In 2025 Vonnahme caught 29 passes for 434 yards and three touchdowns across twelve games, dropping just two balls while handling an inline blocking role on more than 230 run-blocking snaps. He earned AP All-Bowl Team honors, a former walk-on and high school quarterback whose vast climb made him one of Iowa's more reliable two-way tight ends. The walk-on-to-All-Bowl rise and the quarterback background give him rare feel for the game, and the production in Iowa's tight end factory puts a former preferred walk-on squarely on the radar.
Scouting Report: Strengths
- Torched Vanderbilt for 146 yards in the bowl, second-most by an Iowa tight end ever.
- Won six of seven contested catches, fearless and strong at the point.
- Led Iowa in receiving as a redshirt freshman with deep tape among the class's best.
- Elite timed speed in the program that mass-produces NFL tight ends.
Scouting Report: Weaknesses
- Blocking tape is the worst in this entire tight end group.
- Allowed two sacks on barely fifty pass-protection snaps.
- Carrying just 240 pounds against the inline standard his school's system eventually demands.
- One year of film, and most of the damage came in three games.
- Not draft-eligible until he chooses to be; the 2027 class may never see him.
Scouting Report: Summary
The bowl game introduced him to everyone at once. Vonnahme caught seven passes for 146 yards against Vanderbilt, the second-biggest receiving day by a tight end in Iowa history behind Marv Cook, finishing a redshirt freshman season in which he led the Hawkeyes with 434 receiving yards, won six of his seven contested chances, and posted deep receiving tape among the best in the class. Elite timed speed inside the sport's premier tight end factory is a sentence that ends evaluations early.The rest of the file is unmistakably young. His blocking tape is the worst in this group, he allowed two sacks on barely fifty protection snaps, and at 240 pounds the inline work Iowa's system ultimately demands will require both mass and technique he does not yet have. The production also concentrated into three games, and as a redshirt freshman he controls his own timeline, the 2027 class may never actually include him.
Nothing about that dims the trajectory. Receivers with his ball skills inside that program historically leave as top-100 picks once the blocking matures, and the bowl tape will headline preseason lists for two years. If he declares early, the receiving profile alone supports a late-day-three gamble; with another season or two of Iowa finishing school, this ranking will look quaint. File him as the group's clearest ascending asset.
How other scouting services rate DJ Vonnahme (Overall Rank)
All Scouts AverageOverall Rank
163.0
All Scouts AveragePosition Rank
9.0
*Percentile Ranking in Player's Position Group (NFL Combine Historical Data): This percentile reflects how a player's specific statistics rank
in comparison to historical performances at the NFL Combine, specifically within their position group. A higher percentile indicates a better performance.
For instance, being in the 90th percentile for a particular stat means the player outperformed 90% of their peers in that category.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.