When drafting a tight end, you want a guy who’s going to score touchdowns. And with those guys having limited range, the bulk of their touchdowns come from close to the goal line. With that in mind, it makes sense to look at how tight ends are used when their teams are inside the 10 yard line.
Below are the 34 tight ends who’ve been on the receiving end of at least 15 pass attempts over the last five years (on plays inside the 10). I’ve listed their catches, their number of targets, the completion percentage (receptions divided by targets) and the number of scores (“EZ”, which includes both touchdowns and 2-point conversions).
I’ve got them in order of targets, with four players with last names beginning with the letter G at the top – Graham, Gates, Gronk and Gonzalez. For players who’ve caught over 70 percent of their pass attempts, their names are in bold. For those who’ve caught under 40 percent, their names are preceded by a black dot.
A few takeaways:
Andrew Quarless has caught only 30 percent of his pass attempts, worst of all of these tight ends. That’s despite working with Aaron Rodgers. I see this as supporting evidence that Richard Rodgers might soon become the main tight end in Green Bay.
Two of the tight ends who’ve been the least effective play for the Lions – Brandon Pettigrew (9 of 26) and Tony Scheffler (7 of 18). For that matter, Joseph Fauria (9 of 20) hasn’t been much better. Thoughts, Matthew Stafford?
Jared Cook is a big, talented tight end, but I don’t think he’s good at catching the ball in traffic on these kinds of plays. He’s caught only 8 of 24 balls.
Keep in mind that these players are impacted by the quarterbacks they’ve worked with. Julius Thomas has caught 14 of 17 passes, but he’s been working with Peyton Manning. Marcedes Lewis has caught only 12 of 31, but he’s been down in Jacksonville, catching from the likes of Blaine Gabbert, Chad Henne, David Garrard and rookie Blake Bortles. How much better is Thomas than was Lewis in his prime? I’m not sure that there’s much difference between those guys.
Jermaine Gresham is a free agent, coming back from a back surgery. But he’ll sign somewhere. Most notably, he worked out with the Saints a month ago, and they have a need at the position. Gresham was a very effective goal-line receiver with the Bengals in this time period, catching 20 of 28 balls. Hmm.
| TIGHT ENDS INSIDE THE 10 (last 5 years) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Rec | Tgt | Pct | EZ |
| Jimmy Graham, N.O. | 33 | 55 | 60% | 29 |
| Antonio Gates, S.D. | 24 | 43 | 56% | 22 |
| Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | 30 | 42 | 71% | 25 |
| Tony Gonzalez, Atl. | 21 | 36 | 58% | 18 |
| Jason Witten, Dall. | 23 | 35 | 66% | 20 |
| Heath Miller, Pitt. | 22 | 34 | 65% | 14 |
| Aaron Hernandez, N.E. | 18 | 33 | 55% | 15 |
| • Marcedes Lewis, Jac. | 12 | 31 | 39% | 12 |
| Greg Olsen, Chi.-Car. | 17 | 30 | 57% | 14 |
| Brent Celek, Phil. | 13 | 30 | 43% | 10 |
| Jermaine Gresham, Cin. | 20 | 28 | 71% | 16 |
| Anthony Fasano, Mia.-K.C. | 17 | 28 | 61% | 13 |
| Martellus Bennett, 3 teams | 14 | 27 | 52% | 10 |
| Owen Daniels, Hou.-Blt. | 13 | 27 | 48% | 12 |
| Delanie Walker, S.F.-Tenn. | 12 | 27 | 44% | 7 |
| Vernon Davis, S.F. | 16 | 26 | 62% | 14 |
| • Brandon Pettigrew, Det. | 9 | 26 | 35% | 7 |
| Dustin Keller, NYJ | 10 | 25 | 40% | 8 |
| • Jared Cook, Ten.-St.L. | 8 | 24 | 33% | 7 |
| Dallas Clark, 3 teams | 11 | 22 | 50% | 8 |
| Charles Clay, Mia. | 10 | 22 | 45% | 5 |
| • Jordan Cameron, Clev. | 8 | 21 | 38% | 6 |
| Brandon Myers, 3 teams | 9 | 20 | 45% | 5 |
| Joseph Fauria, Det. | 9 | 20 | 45% | 8 |
| • Andrew Quarless, G.B. | 6 | 20 | 30% | 6 |
| Coby Fleener, Ind. | 12 | 19 | 63% | 10 |
| Kellen Winslow, T.B.-NYJ | 10 | 19 | 53% | 8 |
| Benjamin Watson, Clev.-N.O. | 10 | 18 | 56% | 8 |
| • Tony Scheffler, Det. | 7 | 18 | 39% | 5 |
| Julius Thomas, Den. | 14 | 17 | 82% | 12 |
| Jermichael Finley, G.B. | 11 | 17 | 65% | 10 |
| Lance Kendricks, St.L. | 10 | 17 | 59% | 9 |
| Kyle Rudolph, Minn. | 12 | 15 | 80% | 11 |
| Scott Chandler, Buff. | 7 | 15 | 47% | 6 |
—Ian Allan