Let’s look at targets, catches and effectiveness a little bit. Teams have played 5-6 games, so the amount of data out there is now pretty significant. We can see which players are getting the most looks, and who’s doing the most with them.
Starting with the tight ends. And I’m including in this quick look only the 23 who’ve seen the ball at least 25 times.
For starters, I see that Ladarius Green, Jason Witten and Jacob Tamme are catching the highest percentage of balls. That is, when they’ve been thrown to, it’s tended to result in completions. Green has caught 22 of 27 passes thrown his way.
Jordan Cameron, Owen Daniels and Greg Olsen are at the other end. Cameron has caught only 15 of 36 pass attempts, a remarkably low percentage for a tight end. And who would have thought that Daniels, with Peyton Manning as his quarterback, would be under 50 percent? But that’s how it’s played out.
| TIGHT ENDS: Completion rates | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Rec | Tgt | Yds | Pct |
| Ladarius Green, S.D. | 22 | 27 | 259 | 81% |
| Jason Witten, Dal. | 30 | 37 | 271 | 81% |
| Jacob Tamme, Atl. | 19 | 25 | 230 | 76% |
| Delanie Walker, Ten. | 22 | 29 | 244 | 76% |
| Benjamin Watson, N.O. | 25 | 33 | 266 | 76% |
| Jimmy Graham, Sea. | 29 | 40 | 344 | 73% |
| Travis Kelce, K.C. | 29 | 41 | 416 | 71% |
| Jordan Reed, Was. | 24 | 34 | 278 | 71% |
| Tyler Eifert, Cin. | 28 | 40 | 342 | 70% |
| Richard Rodgers, G.B. | 21 | 30 | 189 | 70% |
| Charles Clay, Buf. | 31 | 45 | 324 | 69% |
| Larry Donnell, NYG | 24 | 35 | 183 | 69% |
| Coby Fleener, Ind. | 19 | 28 | 168 | 68% |
| Antonio Gates, S.D. | 18 | 27 | 187 | 67% |
| Gary Barnidge, Cle. | 27 | 41 | 413 | 66% |
| Martellus Bennett, Chi. | 34 | 53 | 292 | 64% |
| Rob Gronkowski, NE. | 23 | 38 | 425 | 61% |
| Kyle Rudolph, Min. | 16 | 28 | 113 | 57% |
| Zach Ertz, Phi. | 19 | 34 | 207 | 56% |
| Jared Cook, StL. | 15 | 28 | 169 | 54% |
| Greg Olsen, Car. | 24 | 45 | 374 | 53% |
| Owen Daniels, Den. | 14 | 29 | 85 | 48% |
| Jordan Cameron, Mia. | 15 | 36 | 200 | 42% |
Of course, catch rates tell only part of the story. You would much rather have a tight end who catches only 30 percent of his targets if he were averaging 20 yards per completion, rather than a player catching 70 percent of his balls but going for only 6 yards per catch.
When you sort them out this way, a couple of familiar No. 87s show up at the top – Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce. Surprisingly Gary Barnidge is the only other tight end who’s average over 10 yards per play. And to clarify, that’s not 10 yards per catch, but 10 yards per target.
Owen Daniels shows up a distant last when you slice it this way, averaging under 3 yards per target, which is historically bad. Four other tight ends show up between 4-6 yards per play – Kyle Rudolph, Larry Donnell, Martellus Bennett and Jordan Cameron.
| TIGHT ENDS: Average Yards Per Target | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Rec | Tgt | Yards | Avg |
| Rob Gronkowski, NE. | 23 | 38 | 425 | 11.2 |
| Travis Kelce, K.C. | 29 | 41 | 416 | 10.1 |
| Gary Barnidge, Cle. | 27 | 41 | 413 | 10.1 |
| Ladarius Green, S.D. | 22 | 27 | 259 | 9.6 |
| Jacob Tamme, Atl. | 19 | 25 | 230 | 9.2 |
| Jimmy Graham, Sea. | 29 | 40 | 344 | 8.6 |
| Tyler Eifert, Cin. | 28 | 40 | 342 | 8.6 |
| Delanie Walker, Ten. | 22 | 29 | 244 | 8.4 |
| Greg Olsen, Car. | 24 | 45 | 374 | 8.3 |
| Jordan Reed, Was. | 24 | 34 | 278 | 8.2 |
| Benjamin Watson, N.O. | 25 | 33 | 266 | 8.1 |
| Jason Witten, Dal. | 30 | 37 | 271 | 7.3 |
| Charles Clay, Buf. | 31 | 45 | 324 | 7.2 |
| Antonio Gates, S.D. | 18 | 27 | 187 | 6.9 |
| Richard Rodgers, G.B. | 21 | 30 | 189 | 6.3 |
| Zach Ertz, Phi. | 19 | 34 | 207 | 6.1 |
| Jared Cook, StL. | 15 | 28 | 169 | 6.0 |
| Coby Fleener, Ind. | 19 | 28 | 168 | 6.0 |
| Jordan Cameron, Mia. | 15 | 36 | 200 | 5.6 |
| Martellus Bennett, Chi. | 34 | 53 | 292 | 5.5 |
| Larry Donnell, NYG | 24 | 35 | 183 | 5.2 |
| Kyle Rudolph, Min. | 16 | 28 | 113 | 4.0 |
| Owen Daniels, Den. | 14 | 29 | 85 | 2.9 |
One other note on tight ends. Note that Antonio Gates has 27 targets but has played in only two games. So while the sample size is tiny, he’s averaged way more targets per game than any other player at his position. As long as that old body stays in reasonable shape, he’s a good contender to be a top-3 player at this position going forward.
—Ian Allan