With the upcoming season quickly approaching, I’m going to be taking a look at the landscape of the NFL, position by position, over the course of the next several weeks. We’ll be talking about the who’s who of the NFL in our own little version of the NFL Network’s “Top 100 Players” bit they do every year. Up next, we have the tight ends!
THE TOP 10 NFL TIGHT ENDS FOR 2019
10. Hunter Henry, Los Angeles Chargers – It sure feels like Henry has all of the potential in the world. In terms of skill set, he brings exactly what you want in a tight end in 2019 to the table. He was poised for a breakout 2018 before an injury caused him to miss the entire season. If he continues on the trajectory he was on before the injury, he’ll be one of the best tight ends in the game before long.
9. Greg Olsen, Carolina Panthers – Olsen hasn’t played a full 16 games since 2016. He played seven in 2017 and nine in 2018. But, he’s still Greg fucking Olsen, people. One of the best tight ends of the last decade, and if he’s healthy, he’ll remind us why in 2019.
8. David Njoku, Cleveland Browns – Not seeing a lot of buzz for Njoku heading into 2019 and maybe that’s because of all the new pieces in place in Cleveland. But, I like his game and expect him to improve upon a 56-catch, 639-yard 2018 with all of the new weapons on that Browns offense drawing attention away from him.
7. O.J. Howard, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – We’ve yet to see the former Alabama tight end get a real heavy workload in the NFL, but what he’s gotten, he’s produced with, catching 69% of his targets. This one, for me, is about the Bruce Arians effect, and what it should mean for an offense that has potential to be explosive.
6. Delanie Walker, Tennessee Titans – Ankle shmankle, this dude is the bionic man, and y’all are all sleeping on just how good he is. Hell, people have always slept on just how talented #82 really is. But, he’s getting virtually no credit heading into 2019. I was out at Titans camp on Saturday and can say that ankle is fine – there doesn’t appear to be any need for concern. He should be back to his usual performance in 2019.
5. Evan Engram, New York Giants – This one’s based on potential. I’m sure a lot of y’all are already shaking your heads at this one. If you were to scroll down the list, you’d be scrolling quite a while before Engram’s name popped up. He only had 577 yards and three touchdowns in 2018. But, 40% of his catches came in the final three games of the season. 42% of his yardage came in those final three games. He was finally being targeted heavily and he produced. On an offense that needs play-makers, I expect the Giants to continue to figure Engram out and get him the ball.
4. Jared Cook, New Orleans Saints – Okay, call me crazy, but I think Cook is about to GO OFF in 2019. Hear me out – Cook was 4th among tight ends in receiving yards with 896 in 2018. He managed that on an offense that averaged 18.1 points per game (28th in the league). Now, he’s headed to New Orleans, where he’ll have Drew Brees tossing the ball to him. 2018 was a career year for Cook, who his heading into his 11th NFL season. But, he’s never had a quarterback the caliber of Brees. Cook only seems to get better with age, and now with a major upgrade at quarterback, it could be his best year yet. 1,000 yards, maybe?
3. Zach Ertz, Philadelphia Eagles – Ertz is one of the three tight ends to top 1,000 yards receiving a season ago, with 1,163 yards. He was second in the league in receptions with 116 (behind only Saints receiver Michael Thomas). He continues to be a focal point of the Eagles offense and seems to only get better with age, heading into his 7th season in the NFL.
2. George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers – Kittle actually led the league in receiving yards among tight ends in 2018 with 1,377. That includes a 210-yard game against the Denver Broncos late in the season. Dude was H-E-A-V-I-L-Y targeted in that Niners offense, and that was with three different guys at quarterback. Now that Handsome Jimmy G is back, I think the sky’s the limit for Kittle. He should be a force in the NFL again in 2019.
1. Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs – Now that Gronk has retired, the tight end position is officially “The Travis Kelce Show.” The man is a flat out play-maker, and has topped 1,000 yards in each of the last three seasons. 2018 was a banner year for Kelce in terms of targets, receptions, yards, and touchdowns, hauling in 103 catches for 1,336 yards and 10 touchdowns on 150 targets. Given how dangerous that Chiefs offense is, I don’t expect any signs of Kelce slowing down any time soon.
OTHER 2019 NFL TOP 10S
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide Receivers
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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