Ben Patrick attended Jenkins High School in Savannah, Georgia where he was a three-sport athlete, playing football, baseball, and basketball. As a senior, Ben saw action at quarterback, tight end, linebacker, and punter. He led the team in passing yards, receptions and tackles at the end of the season. Ben was considered to be one of the top 15 tight end prospects in the nation. He accepted a scholarship to Duke where he sat out the 2002 season as a redshirt. He saw action in 10 games the following season, catching 17 passes for 218 yards and his first career touchdown. As a sophomore, Ben started 6 of 11 games, totaling 311 yards and 1 touchdown on 32 receptions. Ben caught 30 passes for 252 yards as a junior before transferring to Delaware for his senior season. His senior season was by far his best in college as he set career highs in receptions (64), yards (639), and touchdowns (6). He led all I-AA tight ends in those categories and received all-American honors at the conclusion of the season.

Ben Patrick has four years of starting experience (3 years at Duke, 1 at Delaware) at the college level. He is an intelligent player with a good combination of size and strength for the position. He runs good routes and quickly gets in and out of his breaks. He does a good job of finding soft spots in the defense and he has very good hands. His size and strength allows him to break tackles and makes him a difficult player to bring down. He one of the better blocking tight ends in the draft but he isn’t a dominant run blocker. He lacks great speed and won’t make many plays down the field. His only great season was his senior season when he played against a lower level of competition. Ben Patrick isn’t considered to be an “elite” prospect; however, he is arguably the best all-around tight end prospect available this season. He quickly moved up draft boards after having good performances at both the Senior Bowl and the combine. He should be a second round pick in April.