Max Klare Prospect Profile
Background
Max Klare grew up in Guilford, Indiana, and attended St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, where he played quarterback for his first two years before switching to tight end. He was also a standout baseball player who batted .400 as a junior and earned Cincinnati Division One Player of the Year. In football, he returned after a broken collarbone to help lead the team to a state championship that same junior year. His father, Andy, played nose tackle at Boston College, and his brother, Luke, plays tight end at Purdue. He committed to Purdue as a three-star recruit after initially committing to Duke, redshirted in 2022, suffered a season-ending ankle injury in 2023, and broke out in 2024 as the Boilermakers' leading receiver with 51 catches for 685 yards and four touchdowns, earning him Third-Team All-Big Ten. He transferred to Ohio State for his last season, started 11 games, earned First-Team All-Big Ten recognition, and declared for the 2026 NFL Draft in January with a year of eligibility remaining.
Physical Attributes
No RAS today as Max Klare was at the combine and did positional drills but did not participate in any of the athletic testing. This is a bit of a worrying sign, because most healthy athletes choose not to when they know it will not help their draft stock, and I have questions about Klare's athleticism. I would put it in the average box. Speed, strength, agility, all of it, minus the few times where he has a lane in front of him and he really opens up a top end speed you do not usually see from him.
Data and Tape Analysis
If you are unfamiliar with my TE radar charts, you can find more information here
Looking at the radar chart above, I was a bigger fan of Klare's pass protection than PFF. His strength and footwork or solid enough that he can stand up for the extra second or two he needs to before handing an edge rusher or blitzer off to a lineman. He cannot be trusted to be on an island out there.
His run blocking is solid, too. He does not create a ton of push, but it is there. He has a tendency to over-commit and miss on about 1 in every 5 or so blocks, predominantly on those when he is a backside crack blocker.
Klare's work as a receiver is interesting. He shows some real route running chops on air, but the second a defender is anywhere near him, it looks like he is stuck in molasses. It obviously makes it hard for him to get open in man coverage and to quickly find spots in zone. I really do not think I have ever seen such a difference in someone's ability in close contact and open like this.
To add to his struggles in tight contests, his hands are just ok, and not the strongest. He does not use the full extent of his frame to make catches, and loses contested catches to DBs playing through him, or giving him a good hit. Not something you want to see from someone over the middle.
He finds extra yards with the ball in his hands, and like I said above, has a whole other gear he can hit you barely ever see. If he can start playing at full speed more often, or just use it to vary his game, it would help him out a lot.
Grade and Outlook
I'll be honest, sometimes it is hard to write these, as when you watch, the tape does not affect you either positively or negatively. He looks like a perfectly fine TE2 in today's heavy NFL.
Grade: 4.3 (4th Rounder)