I have some interest in Jace Amaro. He caught an awful lot of balls at Texas Tech; 106 receptions last year. In the last five years, no other tight end drafted in the first three rounds has even caught 70 (in their final season).
So there’s that.
And the Jets have a need for a pass catcher. They added Eric Decker, but they could use somebody who could catch the short, tough balls over the middle. Their holdover tight end, Jeff Cumberland, doesn’t have that kind of receiving ability.
But this is a rookie we’re talking about, and we must be careful not to get too excited about rookies and not to overhype college production. Let’s not forget James Casey, who caught 111 passes one year at Rice. He hasn’t done much of anything thus far as a pro.
I also have some interest in hand size with tight ends. In the last five years, there have been 24 selected in the first three rounds. The three guys with the largest hands also are the same three who are the best goal-line receivers – the best at catching balls on jump-ball kind of situations. Rob Gronkowski, Kyle Rudolph and Jimmy Graham.
Amaro fails the hand size test. He measures at only 9 inches, the lowest of all tight ends in that group. In fact, that’s less than a half inch larger than mine, and I’m just a 5-foot-10, 170-pound guy writing about fantasy football. We’ll see what he looks like on the field in the preseason games, but for now I’m guessing Amaro won’t be a good pro in terms of trying to throw him lob-type balls in the red zone.
In college, Amaro lined up primarily as a slot receiver. He didn’t do much in-line blocking, but that might not be an issue in New York – the Jets still have Cumberland. They probably will flex him out on most plays, as the Ravens do with Dennis Pitta.
TIGHT ENDS / HAND SIZE | |||
---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | Tight end | Hand |
2011 | Minn. | Kyle Rudolph | 10.75 |
2010 | N.E. | Rob Gronkowski | 10.75 |
2010 | N.O. | Jimmy Graham | 10.63 |
2014 | Balt. | Crockett Gillmore | 10.38 |
2014 | Hou. | C.J. Fiedorowicz | 10.25 |
2014 | G.B. | Richard Rodgers | 10.13 |
2013 | S.F. | Vance McDonald | 10.13 |
2010 | K.C. | Tony Moeaki | 10.13 |
2014 | Det. | Eric Ebron | 10.00 |
2014 | Ariz. | Troy Niklas | 10.00 |
2013 | Wash. | Jordan Reed | 10.00 |
2012 | Ind. | Coby Fleener | 10.00 |
2014 | T.B. | Austin Seferian-Jenkins | 9.75 |
2013 | Dall. | Gavin Escobar | 9.75 |
2013 | Phil. | Zach Ertz | 9.75 |
2012 | Mia. | Michael Egnew | 9.75 |
2011 | Ariz. | Rob Housler | 9.75 |
2010 | Balt. | Ed Dickson | 9.75 |
2013 | K.C. | Travis Kelce | 9.63 |
2012 | Ind. | Dwayne Allen | 9.63 |
2011 | Stl. | Lance Kendricks | 9.63 |
2010 | Cin. | Jermaine Gresham | 9.63 |
2013 | Cin. | Tyler Eifert | 9.13 |
2014 | NYJ | Jace Amaro | 9.00 |
TIGHT ENDS / COLLEGE PRODUCTION | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | Tight end | No | Yards | Avg | TD |
2014 | NYJ | Jace Amaro | 106 | 1,352 | 12.8 | 7 |
2014 | Det. | Eric Ebron | 62 | 973 | 15.7 | 3 |
2010 | Cin. | Jermaine Gresham | 66 | 950 | 14.4 | 14 |
2013 | Phil. | Zach Ertz | 69 | 898 | 13.0 | 6 |
2013 | K.C. | Travis Kelce | 45 | 722 | 16.0 | 8 |
2013 | Cin. | Tyler Eifert | 50 | 685 | 13.7 | 4 |
2010 | N.E. | Rob Gronkowski | 47 | 672 | 14.3 | 10 |
2012 | Ind. | Coby Fleener | 34 | 667 | 19.6 | 10 |
2011 | Stl. | Lance Kendricks | 43 | 663 | 15.4 | 5 |
2014 | G.B. | Richard Rodgers | 39 | 608 | 15.6 | 1 |
2012 | Ind. | Dwayne Allen | 50 | 598 | 12.0 | 8 |
2014 | Balt. | Crockett Gillmore | 47 | 577 | 12.3 | 2 |
2014 | Ariz. | Troy Niklas | 37 | 573 | 15.5 | 6 |
2013 | Wash. | Jordan Reed | 45 | 559 | 12.4 | 3 |
2010 | Balt. | Ed Dickson | 42 | 551 | 13.1 | 6 |
2013 | Dall. | Gavin Escobar | 42 | 543 | 12.9 | 6 |
2011 | Ariz. | Rob Housler | 32 | 519 | 16.2 | 4 |
2013 | S.F. | Vance McDonald | 36 | 458 | 12.7 | 2 |
2014 | T.B. | Austin Seferian-Jenkins | 36 | 450 | 12.5 | 8 |
2010 | K.C. | Tony Moeaki | 30 | 387 | 12.9 | 4 |
2011 | Minn. | Kyle Rudolph | 28 | 328 | 11.7 | 3 |
2012 | Mia. | Michael Egnew | 50 | 323 | 6.5 | 3 |
2014 | Hou. | C.J. Fiedorowicz | 30 | 299 | 10.0 | 6 |
2010 | N.O. | Jimmy Graham | 17 | 213 | 12.5 | 5 |
—Ian Allan