JH #85

Jackson Hawes

Tight End · Georgia Tech

A blocking-first tight end out of Georgia Tech by way of Yale who quietly graded as one of the best rookies in football in 2025.

Jackson Hawes transferred from Yale to Georgia Tech for one final college season and turned himself into the highest tight end ever drafted out of the program. Buffalo took him in the fifth round in 2025, and while he plays behind Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox on the depth chart, his blocking and efficient receiving numbers made him one of the most productive rookies on the roster.

★ Highest tight end ever drafted out of Georgia Tech

★ Ranked first in the ACC in both run- and pass-blocking grades in 2024

★ Second-highest PFF grade among all 2025 NFL rookies

Path to the league

Hawes played at Yale from 2019 to 2023 before transferring to Georgia Tech for the 2024 season. In his lone year with the Yellow Jackets he caught 16 passes for 195 yards while grading as one of the best run- and pass-blocking tight ends in the country, ranking first in the ACC and eighth nationally in both categories per PFF.

Career highlights

The Bills selected Hawes in the fifth round, 173rd overall, in the 2025 NFL Draft, the highest a Georgia Tech tight end has ever been drafted. At 6-foot-5 and 257 pounds, he was already known as one of the ACC's most reliable in-line blockers heading into the draft.

2025 season recap

Hawes settled in as Buffalo's TE3 behind Kincaid and Knox but still made his presence felt, catching 16 of 19 targets for 187 yards and three touchdowns across 17 games. His 83.1 PFF overall grade ranked second among all rookies league-wide and second on the Bills' offense behind only Josh Allen.