Purdue TE Payne Durham is the Jack Doyle of this NFL Draft, and not by accident

INDIANAPOLIS — The randomly assigned number the Colts handed Purdue tight end Payne Durham for Monday’s local pro day was No. 13.

They should have handed him No. 84.

Would have felt right.

At a time of year when just about every prospect is drawing comparisons to a wide range of NFL players, the name Durham keeps drawing is Jack Doyle, the Indianapolis legend who retired after the end of the 2021 season, his ninth in a Colts uniform.

When Jeff Brohm’s Purdue coaching staff got its hands on Durham five years ago, a raw piece of clay in need of a talented pair of hands, they immediately thought of the Indianapolis native they’d developed into an NFL tight end during their days at Western Kentucky.

“They made that comparison pretty early,” Durham said. “(Doyle’s) such a technician. He used his body so well. I just tried to mold after that.”

Durham needed a role model badly.

A lacrosse star for most of his high school career at Peachtree Ridge in Georgia, Durham discovered football almost by accident. When he was a senior in high school, Peachtree Ridge hired a new head football coach, Reggie Stancil, and the new guy couldn’t take his eyes off Durham’s 6-6 frame.

Stancil put the hard sell on Durham.

And he finally got his man by hustling him into an ill-advised bet.

The way Durham remembers it, they were at a pep rally, and Stancil told Durham he had to come out for at least one football workout — if Stancil made a 3-pointer with the basketball he was holding in his hand at the time.

Durham took the bet.

Stancil buried six 3-pointers in a row.

“I was like, ‘I owe him a couple,’” Durham said. “‘I might as well just play.’”

Durham had a prototypical body.

He also had no experience. When Durham chose Purdue over schools like Duke and Missouri, he was looking for a program that knew how to use the tight end so he had a chance of realizing the vast potential in his body.

“The best part of my career was deciding to go to Purdue. 100%. I say that because of the way Coach (Jeff) Brohm and our offense used tight ends,” Durham said. “The versatility; I was used everywhere on the field, kind of wore a bunch of different hats, and I think that helped me in my development, learning the game.”

Purdue also had the right tutor for the young tight end.

One of Doyle’s former teammates, Ryan Wallace, played tight end at Western Kentucky himself, and he’d spent almost his entire coaching career tutoring the position under the watchful eye of Brohm. When Durham arrived at Purdue as a freshman, Wallace was the offensive quality control coach.

“His job was kind of: stick with the freshman,” Durham said. “I owe him all the credit in the world.”

Wallace saw Doyle in Durham.

Built him that way.

“Every day, I was in his office,” Durham said. “We’re watching tape, we’re drawing, we’re learning, we’re studying, we’re watching tape of Jack Doyle.”

Doyle was listed at 6-6, 262; Durham measured in at the NFL scouting combine in February at 6-6, 253.

Wallace, and Brohm above him, believed Durham could be the same kind of versatile, dual-threat weapon Doyle had become in Indianapolis. Before he could develop as a receiver, though, Durham had to prove he could handle himself as a blocker.

The depth chart demanded it.

“Early in my career, Brycen Hopkins was in front of me, a good receiving tight end,” Durham said. “If I wanted any chance to play, I knew I had to block.”

Durham first fought his way onto the field as a blocker, the role Doyle perfected in his final years with the Colts, when Indianapolis believed Doyle was the best blocking tight end, and the most versatile run blocker, in the NFL.

When Hopkins was drafted by the Rams two years ago, Durham had his opportunity to be a pass catcher, and he responded with 101 catches over his final two seasons, including 14 touchdowns.

Fighting for recognition in one of the deepest tight end classes the NFL has seen in years, Durham’s best case is he’s already well on his way to being the kind of versatile chess piece Doyle became, in an era when most tight ends come out of college only ready to play a receiving role.

Durham’s gotten plenty of attention.

A Senior Bowl participant, Durham’s already had five to 10 teams work him out privately, and he’s taken a handful more Zoom calls from teams looking for a tight end in this draft.

Durham knows who he wants to be.

Or hopes to be. He spent his entire college career watching No. 84 on tape.

“I hope I can be a fraction of what he was,” Durham said.

If he can follow in Doyle’s footsteps, Durham would be a valuable piece for any franchise to have.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Purdue TE Payne Durham is the Jack Doyle of this NFL Draft