John Michael Gyllenborg, Wyoming: 2025 NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report

Gyllenborg was a three-star recruit from Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Mo. in the class of 2021

John Michael Gyllenborg appeared in four football games in high school. Now, he’s one of my favorite under-the-radar players in the 2025 NFL Draft. I’m projecting a lot of growth with my summer grade on Gyllenborg, but he’s an exciting player who is developing rapidly.

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John Michael Gyllenborg, TE Wyoming: 2025 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Redshirt junior tight end from Leawood, Kan.

Background: Gyllenborg was a three-star recruit from Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Mo. in the class of 2021. He was the No. 2,025 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 1,779 for On3.com. Gyllenborg was an unranked two-star recruit for Rivals and an unranked three-star recruit for ESPN with a 72 grade out of 100. He began playing football as a high school senior, making ten receptions for 212 yards and two touchdowns while also handling kicking and punting duties. Gyllenborg earned Academic All-State honors in 2020. He also lettered in basketball, earning an All-District selection as a junior after averaging 9.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

Injuries & Off-Field: Suffered a tear in his LCL in his fourth ever high school game which combined with the pandemic to end his senior season

Awards: N/A

Pros: Special teams experience on the kick return, kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal units, lines up in-line, the slot, and at H-back, frame is built to handle more weight, active hands swat punches in press, doesn’t mind contact early in the route, field stretching option, impressive top speed, smooth vertical threat, reaches top speed quickly, stacks linebackers out of tight man coverage, drew a penalty on Trey Taylor because he surprised him with his speed and blew by his off-man coverage (2023), success stacking Air Force’s Trey Taylor (2023), sharp and fluid through his cuts, quick breaks on out routes generate separation, stems vertical routes outside before using a swim move and long step to cross the defender’s face and work inside, manipulates the defender’s leverage to create space inside, finds and sits in space on short to intermediate routes, natural hands catcher, high points and rises to meet the football, controls catches through contact, willing blocker, stays low going into blocks, blocks with a wide base, mobility to climb and pull on blocks, redirects quickly to chip additional defenders, some nice reps sealing defenders on runs vs. Texas (2023), created some displacement vs. Barryn Sorrell (2023), keeps his body between the defender and ball carrier

Cons: Limited reps in college entering 2024, never played more than 340 offensive snaps in a season, inconsistent competition level, arm length is passable but not great, in-line release is more gradual than instant, route tree needs to fill out, route definition is still developing, limited sink on cuts, needs to refine and develop route fakes, takes on too much mid-route contact, some routes are stunted because he runs directly into defenders, doesn’t fully clear LB level zone coverage before trying to sit in space, some body catching on short routes, not elusive or twitchy after the catch, needs to make the first defender miss more often, difficulty framing blocks, takes poor angles to second level blocks, some stumbling due to forward momentum as a blocker, lacks a nasty blocking demeanor, needs to finish more blocks through the whistle, recognition and understanding of assignments in pass pro, struggled to mirror defenders in pass pro

Overview: Gyllenborg is an inexperienced football player who has seen action in fewer than a dozen games in college and has never played more than 340 offensive snaps in a season. He has plenty of special teams experience split across the kick return, kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal units. He primarily lines up in-line, in the slot, and at H-back for Wyoming. Unlike many tight ends in this class, Gyllenborg already has good thickness to his frame, and there’s room for him to add even more weight. Unfortunately, his arm length is average at best. He is a superb athlete who reportedly ran a 4.69 40-time in high school and jumped 36 inches in the vertical. Wyoming’s offense schemes him some free releases and open space in two tight end sets. When pressed, he swats punches with active hands. Gyllenborg doesn’t mind contact early in the route because he has the play strength to win through defenders. The Kansas native is a field-stretching threat with an impressive top speed and smooth movement skills. He quickly accelerates to his top speed, which helps him stack linebackers in man coverage. His athletic traits were all on display against Air Force safety Trey Taylor. He stacked Taylor and also forced the eventual seventh round pick to commit a penalty while trying to avoid being blown past on a vertical route. Gyllenborg is sharp and fluid through his cuts, using his quick breaks on out routes to generate separation. He manipulates the defender’s leverage to create space by stemming routes outside before breaking inside with a swim move. Gyllenborg finds and sits in space against zone coverage on short to intermediate routes but sometimes fails to clear the linebacker level of coverage. His route tree still needs to fill out, and he must place a larger emphasis on his route definition. The redshirt junior doesn’t have many advanced route fakes in his bag and is too willing to accept or run into contact mid-route. He is a natural hands catcher but sometimes resorts to body catching. Gyllenborg rises to meet the football at its apex and maintains catches through contact. He isn’t twitchy or elusive after the catch and would benefit greatly from making the first defender miss more often. Gyllenborg is a willing blocker but lacks a nasty demeanor. He must focus on finishing more blocks through the whistle. The former three-star recruit blocks with a wide and low base. He uses his mobility to climb or pull in the run game but takes poor angles to second level blocks. Gyllenborg found success creating displacement against Texas’ edge rushers in 2023. However, he is still learning how to frame and maintain blocks. He has decent vision in pass protection but struggles to mirror defenders.

Overall, Gyllenborg is an athletic tight end with the tools and build to become a starting-caliber NFL tight end by the end of his rookie contract. He needs to polish his game, but some of that should come naturally as he sees more snaps. There’s a lot of projecting baked into Gyllenborg’s profile, but his performance on limited reps in 2023 suggests he’s in for a breakout season.

Role & Scheme Fit: Eventual starting TE with in-line and slot versatility

Round Grade: Mid Third to Mid Fourth Round

Size: 6'5", 245 lbs. (Unofficial)

Submitted: 07-14-24