It's likely that multiple tight ends will be selected in the first round of the NFL draft, and that's rare; it's happened only once since 2004 (Vernon Davis and Marcedes Lewis in 2006). But the tight end has emerged as a bigger part of the passing game than ever before, as their production in recent years indicates.
I took a look at tight end receptions over the last 20 years, setting 60 catches as my threshold for tight end involvement in the passing game. That works out to roughly 4 receptions per game. The numbers indicate there are more of those types of tight ends in each and every year.
Over the past 10 years, 84 tight ends have caught at least 60 passes, so an average of more than 8 per season. Compare that to the previous 10 years, when only 35 tight ends caught at least 60 passes in a season; so, 3.5 per season.
There have also been 26 80-catch seasons by tight ends in the last 10 years. In the previous 10 years, there were a total of 5. Big difference.
Tight ends with 60-plus receptions in the last 10 seasons are presented in the table at the bottom of this article. The year-by-year numbers of 60-catch tight ends are presented below. It's presented in a graphically more pleasing form on our Facebook page.
60 catch tight ends, 2004-2013
2013: 9
2012: 10
2011: 11
2010: 8
2009: 10
2008: 6
2007: 6
2006: 7
2005: 10
2004: 7
Total: 84
60 catch tight ends, 1994-2003
2003: 2
2002: 4
2001: 3
2000: 6
1999: 3
1998: 3
1997: 4
1996: 3
1995: 5
1994: 2
Total: 35
60-CATCH TEs, LAST 10 YEARS | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | No | Yards | TD |
2012 | Jason Witten | 110 | 1,039 | 3 |
2004 | Tony Gonzalez | 102 | 1,258 | 7 |
2009 | Dallas Clark | 100 | 1,106 | 10 |
2011 | Jimmy Graham | 99 | 1,310 | 11 |
2007 | Tony Gonzalez | 99 | 1,172 | 5 |
2008 | Tony Gonzalez | 96 | 1,058 | 10 |
2007 | Jason Witten | 96 | 1,145 | 7 |
2010 | Jason Witten | 94 | 1,002 | 9 |
2009 | Jason Witten | 94 | 1,030 | 2 |
2012 | Tony Gonzalez | 93 | 930 | 8 |
2011 | Rob Gronkowski | 90 | 1,327 | 17 |
2005 | Antonio Gates | 89 | 1,101 | 10 |
2006 | Kellen Winslow | 89 | 875 | 3 |
2004 | Jason Witten | 87 | 980 | 6 |
2013 | Jimmy Graham | 86 | 1,215 | 16 |
2012 | Jimmy Graham | 85 | 982 | 9 |
2013 | Tony Gonzalez | 83 | 859 | 8 |
2011 | Brandon Pettigrew | 83 | 777 | 5 |
2009 | Tony Gonzalez | 83 | 867 | 6 |
2008 | Chris Cooley | 83 | 849 | 1 |
2004 | Eric Johnson | 82 | 825 | 2 |
2007 | Kellen Winslow | 82 | 1,106 | 5 |
2004 | Antonio Gates | 81 | 964 | 13 |
2008 | Jason Witten | 81 | 952 | 4 |
2013 | Jordan Cameron | 80 | 917 | 7 |
2011 | Tony Gonzalez | 80 | 875 | 7 |
2012 | Brandon Myers | 79 | 806 | 4 |
2011 | Aaron Hernandez | 79 | 910 | 7 |
2011 | Jason Witten | 79 | 942 | 5 |
2009 | Antonio Gates | 79 | 1,157 | 8 |
2009 | Vernon Davis | 78 | 965 | 13 |
2005 | Tony Gonzalez | 78 | 905 | 2 |
2013 | Antonio Gates | 77 | 872 | 4 |
2010 | Chris Cooley | 77 | 849 | 3 |
2009 | Kellen Winslow | 77 | 884 | 5 |
2008 | Dallas Clark | 77 | 848 | 6 |
2009 | Brent Celek | 76 | 971 | 8 |
2009 | Heath Miller | 76 | 789 | 6 |
2011 | Kellen Winslow | 75 | 763 | 2 |
2007 | Antonio Gates | 75 | 984 | 9 |
2005 | Todd Heap | 75 | 855 | 7 |
2013 | Greg Olsen | 73 | 816 | 6 |
2013 | Jason Witten | 73 | 851 | 8 |
2004 | Randy McMichael | 73 | 791 | 4 |
2006 | Todd Heap | 73 | 765 | 6 |
2006 | Tony Gonzalez | 73 | 900 | 5 |
2012 | Heath Miller | 71 | 816 | 8 |
2010 | Brandon Pettigrew | 71 | 722 | 4 |
2006 | Antonio Gates | 71 | 924 | 9 |
2005 | Chris Cooley | 71 | 774 | 7 |
2004 | Jermaine Wiggins | 71 | 705 | 4 |
2010 | Tony Gonzalez | 70 | 656 | 6 |
2008 | Owen Daniels | 70 | 862 | 2 |
2013 | Charles Clay | 69 | 759 | 6 |
2012 | Greg Olsen | 69 | 843 | 5 |
2005 | Jermaine Wiggins | 69 | 568 | 1 |
2010 | Benjamin Watson | 68 | 763 | 3 |
2011 | Vernon Davis | 67 | 792 | 6 |
2010 | Jacob Tamme | 67 | 631 | 4 |
2010 | Kellen Winslow | 66 | 730 | 5 |
2009 | Zach Miller | 66 | 805 | 3 |
2007 | Chris Cooley | 66 | 786 | 8 |
2005 | Jason Witten | 66 | 757 | 6 |
2006 | Jeremy Shockey | 66 | 623 | 7 |
2013 | Martellus Bennett | 65 | 759 | 5 |
2013 | Julius Thomas | 65 | 788 | 12 |
2011 | Dustin Keller | 65 | 815 | 5 |
2005 | Alge Crumpler | 65 | 877 | 5 |
2005 | Jeremy Shockey | 65 | 891 | 7 |
2012 | Jermaine Gresham | 64 | 737 | 5 |
2011 | Antonio Gates | 64 | 778 | 7 |
2006 | Jason Witten | 64 | 754 | 1 |
2007 | Owen Daniels | 63 | 768 | 3 |
2012 | Owen Daniels | 62 | 716 | 6 |
2011 | Brent Celek | 62 | 811 | 5 |
2006 | Randy McMichael | 62 | 640 | 3 |
2012 | Jermichael Finley | 61 | 667 | 2 |
2012 | Dennis Pitta | 61 | 669 | 7 |
2004 | Jeremy Shockey | 61 | 666 | 6 |
2005 | L.J. Smith | 61 | 682 | 3 |
2010 | Zach Miller | 60 | 685 | 5 |
2009 | Greg Olsen | 60 | 612 | 8 |
2008 | Antonio Gates | 60 | 704 | 8 |
2005 | Randy McMichael | 60 | 582 | 5 |
--Andy Richardson