We were debating Jared Cook earlier. Is this guy going to be a significant factor in Green Bay? Or is he just a guy – a player with some measurables who doesn’t have much of a feel for the game.
My gut impression was that Cook hasn’t been very good in goal-line situations, and that I don’t envision him being a big factor in that part of the field.
But in fairness, we should look at the actual numbers.
So here they are.
Below we have the production for all tight ends for the 2013-15 seasons, showing how each did when they were targeted on plays inside the 10. Scores, I am bundling touchdowns and 2-point conversions into one end zone (EZ) column.
Statistically, the best have been Coby Fleener, Julius Thomas, Tyler Eifert and Rob Gronkowski. The worst have been Zach Ertz, Charles Clay and Scott Chandler.
This doesn’t necessarily mean said players are best and worst. They’ve been working in different offenses and with different quarterbacks. And numbers don’t include plays where the throw was never made (perhaps the play was designed to go to a player, but he couldn’t get open and the ball was thrown away).
But it’s something to look at.
Cook isn’t as bad as I would have expected. He’s been targeted 16 times in that part of the field, and that’s resulted in 7 completions, including 5 TDs and 2-point conversion. He's in the lower half, but there are some other good tight ends nearby. He's just behind, for example, Antonio Gates and Delanie Walker, and nobody is knocking those guys.
| TIGHT ENDS INSIDE 10 (since 2013) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Com | Att | EZ | Pct |
| Coby Fleener | 13 | 19 | 12 | 63.2% |
| Julius Thomas | 17 | 25 | 15 | 60.0% |
| Tyler Eifert | 10 | 15 | 9 | 60.0% |
| Rob Gronkowski | 15 | 22 | 13 | 59.1% |
| Owen Daniels | 8 | 14 | 8 | 57.1% |
| Josh Hill | 8 | 11 | 6 | 54.5% |
| Benjamin Watson | 8 | 11 | 6 | 54.5% |
| Richard Rodgers | 9 | 15 | 8 | 53.3% |
| Jimmy Graham | 19 | 32 | 16 | 50.0% |
| Brent Celek | 7 | 12 | 6 | 50.0% |
| Travis Kelce | 6 | 12 | 6 | 50.0% |
| Levine Toilolo | 6 | 10 | 5 | 50.0% |
| Lance Kendricks | 7 | 13 | 6 | 46.2% |
| Jason Witten | 13 | 23 | 10 | 43.5% |
| Martellus Bennett | 12 | 23 | 10 | 43.5% |
| Jordan Reed | 13 | 21 | 9 | 42.9% |
| Jermaine Gresham | 8 | 14 | 6 | 42.9% |
| Kyle Rudolph | 5 | 12 | 5 | 41.7% |
| Joseph Fauria | 9 | 20 | 8 | 40.0% |
| Antonio Gates | 13 | 30 | 12 | 40.0% |
| Delanie Walker | 16 | 28 | 11 | 39.3% |
| Jared Cook | 7 | 16 | 6 | 37.5% |
| Garrett Graham | 4 | 11 | 4 | 36.4% |
| Anthony Fasano | 7 | 14 | 5 | 35.7% |
| Larry Donnell | 9 | 17 | 6 | 35.3% |
| Vernon Davis | 9 | 17 | 6 | 35.3% |
| Greg Olsen | 12 | 23 | 8 | 34.8% |
| Jordan Cameron | 7 | 18 | 6 | 33.3% |
| Gary Barnidge | 6 | 18 | 6 | 33.3% |
| Heath Miller | 14 | 22 | 7 | 31.8% |
| Marcedes Lewis | 4 | 13 | 4 | 30.8% |
| Gavin Escobar | 3 | 10 | 3 | 30.0% |
| Scott Chandler | 5 | 11 | 3 | 27.3% |
| Charles Clay | 11 | 24 | 6 | 25.0% |
| Zach Ertz | 5 | 13 | 3 | 23.1% |
—Ian Allan