The Chargers drafted Hunter Henry in the second round, while the Falcons drafted Austin Hooper in the third. Both players caught 40-plus passes in college last season, and both will be working with upper-tier quarterbacks. But don't expect much from them as rookies.
Since 2000, there have been 78 tight ends selected in the first three rounds of the draft. Only six of those players reached even 500 receiving yards. Only a third (27) made it to 300.
It's not impossible -- maybe Hooper beats out Jacob Tamme and is the next Jeremy Shockey, or maybe Antonio Gates gets hurt and Henry steps in right away -- but the odds are heavily against it.
Rookie numbers from tight ends drafted in the first three rounds since 2000, sorted by yards, are shown below.
ROOKIE TIGHT ENDS, ROUNDS 1-3, SINCE 2000 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Rd | Pk | Player | No | Yds | TD |
2002 | 1 | 14 | Jeremy Shockey, NYG | 74 | 894 | 2 |
2008 | 2 | 38 | John Carlson, Sea. | 55 | 627 | 5 |
2010 | 3 | 93 | Tony Moeaki, K.C. | 47 | 556 | 3 |
2010 | 2 | 42 | Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | 42 | 546 | 10 |
2008 | 1 | 30 | Dustin Keller, NYJ | 48 | 535 | 3 |
2012 | 3 | 64 | Dwayne Allen, Ind. | 45 | 521 | 3 |
2013 | 3 | 85 | Jordan Reed, Wash. | 45 | 499 | 3 |
2010 | 1 | 21 | Jermaine Gresham, Cin. | 52 | 471 | 4 |
2013 | 2 | 35 | Zach Ertz, Phil. | 36 | 469 | 4 |
2005 | 1 | 30 | Heath Miller, Pitt. | 39 | 459 | 6 |
2013 | 1 | 21 | Tyler Eifert, Cin. | 39 | 445 | 2 |
2007 | 2 | 38 | Zach Miller, Oak. | 44 | 444 | 3 |
2002 | 2 | 55 | Doug Jolley, Oak. | 32 | 409 | 2 |
2007 | 1 | 31 | Greg Olsen, Chi. | 39 | 391 | 2 |
2005 | 3 | 71 | Alex Smith, T.B. | 41 | 367 | 2 |
2000 | 1 | 14 | Bubba Franks, G.B. | 34 | 363 | 1 |
2010 | 3 | 95 | Jimmy Graham, N.O. | 31 | 356 | 5 |
2011 | 2 | 47 | Lance Kendricks, St.L. | 28 | 352 | 0 |
2003 | 3 | 69 | Jason Witten, Dall. | 35 | 347 | 1 |
2009 | 1 | 20 | Brandon Pettigrew, Det. | 30 | 346 | 2 |
2014 | 2 | 49 | Jace Amaro, NYJ | 38 | 345 | 2 |
2003 | 1 | 24 | Dallas Clark, Ind. | 29 | 340 | 1 |
2001 | 2 | 35 | Alge Crumpler, Atl. | 25 | 330 | 3 |
2004 | 2 | 40 | Ben Troupe, Tenn. | 33 | 329 | 1 |
2015 | 3 | 68 | Clive Walford, Oak. | 28 | 329 | 3 |
2003 | 2 | 61 | L.J. Smith, Phil. | 27 | 321 | 1 |
2004 | 3 | 81 | Chris Cooley, Wash. | 37 | 314 | 6 |
2006 | 2 | 61 | Tony Scheffler, Den. | 18 | 286 | 4 |
2008 | 2 | 61 | Martellus Bennett, Dall. | 20 | 283 | 4 |
2012 | 2 | 34 | Coby Fleener, Ind. | 26 | 281 | 2 |
2015 | 2 | 55 | Maxx Williams, Balt. | 32 | 268 | 1 |
2006 | 1 | 6 | Vernon Davis, S.F. | 20 | 265 | 3 |
2002 | 1 | 28 | Jerramy Stevens, Sea. | 26 | 252 | 3 |
2011 | 2 | 43 | Kyle Rudolph, Minn. | 26 | 249 | 3 |
2014 | 1 | 10 | Eric Ebron, Det. | 25 | 248 | 1 |
2006 | 2 | 46 | Joe Klopfenstein, St.L. | 20 | 226 | 1 |
2014 | 3 | 98 | Richard Rodgers, G.B. | 20 | 225 | 2 |
2014 | 2 | 38 | Austin Seferian-Jenkins, T.B. | 21 | 221 | 2 |
2002 | 3 | 67 | Matt Schobel, Cin. | 27 | 212 | 2 |
2001 | 1 | 31 | Todd Heap, Balt. | 16 | 206 | 1 |
2000 | 3 | 68 | Erron Kinney, Tenn. | 19 | 197 | 1 |
2010 | 3 | 70 | Ed Dickson, Balt. | 11 | 152 | 1 |
2002 | 1 | 21 | Daniel Graham, N.E. | 15 | 150 | 1 |
2000 | 1 | 27 | Anthony Becht, NYJ | 16 | 144 | 2 |
2013 | 2 | 47 | Gavin Escobar, Dall. | 9 | 134 | 2 |
2011 | 3 | 69 | Rob Housler, Ariz. | 12 | 133 | 0 |
2015 | 3 | 85 | Tyler Kroft, Cin. | 11 | 129 | 1 |
2003 | 2 | 63 | Teyo Johnson, Oak. | 14 | 128 | 1 |
2006 | 1 | 28 | Marcedes Lewis, Jac. | 13 | 126 | 1 |
2006 | 2 | 53 | Anthony Fasano, Dall. | 14 | 126 | 0 |
2014 | 3 | 99 | Crockett Gillmore, Balt. | 10 | 121 | 1 |
2013 | 2 | 55 | Vance McDonald, S.F. | 8 | 119 | 0 |
2009 | 3 | 89 | Jared Cook, Tenn. | 9 | 74 | 0 |
2008 | 3 | 91 | Jermichael Finley, G.B. | 6 | 74 | 1 |
2008 | 3 | 76 | Brad Cottam, K.C. | 7 | 63 | 0 |
2003 | 3 | 91 | Visante Shiancoe, NYG | 10 | 56 | 2 |
2009 | 3 | 100 | Travis Beckum, NYG | 8 | 55 | 0 |
2004 | 1 | 6 | Kellen Winslow, Clev. | 5 | 50 | 0 |
2014 | 2 | 52 | Troy Niklas, Ariz. | 3 | 38 | 0 |
2003 | 3 | 76 | Mike Seidman , Car. | 5 | 35 | 0 |
2007 | 3 | 77 | Matt Spaeth, Pitt. | 5 | 34 | 3 |
2004 | 3 | 68 | Ben Hartsock, Ind. | 4 | 33 | 0 |
2001 | 3 | 90 | Shad Meier, Tenn. | 3 | 31 | 0 |
2014 | 3 | 65 | C.J. Fiedorowicz, Hou. | 4 | 28 | 1 |
2008 | 2 | 48 | Fred Davis, Wash. | 3 | 27 | 0 |
2004 | 1 | 32 | Benjamin Watson, N.E. | 2 | 16 | 0 |
2002 | 3 | 88 | Chris Baker, NYJ | 2 | 14 | 0 |
2008 | 3 | 85 | Craig Stevens, Tenn. | 1 | 9 | 0 |
2000 | 3 | 87 | Dustin Lyman, Chi. | 1 | 4 | 0 |
2009 | 2 | 64 | Richard Quinn, Den. | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2004 | 2 | 61 | Kris Wilson, K.C. | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2003 | 2 | 41 | Bennie Joppru, Hou. | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2013 | 3 | 63 | Travis Kelce, K.C. | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2012 | 3 | 78 | Michael Egnew, Mia. | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2009 | 3 | 98 | Chase Coffman, Cin. | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2005 | 3 | 86 | Kevin Everett, Buff. | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2001 | 3 | 66 | Sean Brewer, Cin. | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2015 | 3 | 92 | Jeff Heuerman, Den. | 0 | 0 | 0 |
--Andy Richardson