I have some interest in Jack Doyle and Erik Swoope. The way the Colts use their tight ends, I expect probably both of those guys will rank in the top 20 at their position.
Doyle certainly. He’s shown he can do it. He caught 79 percent of the passes thrown his way last year – best of all tight ends. Not that Doyle is the next Rob Gronkowski or Jason Witten, but he belongs.
Swoope is more of a sleeper type guy. The Colts traded away Dwayne Allen, and an article in The Indianapolis Star indicates the intention there was to create more playing time for Swoope, a converted basketball player who’s way more athletic as a pass catcher.
The team’s new GM, Chris Ballard, was talking up Swoope in an article in the Star: “I think Swoope is really talented. I want to see Swoope get to his ceiling. He’s a very talented athlete and can be a mismatch player. The only way guys like that are going to ascend is by competing every day to get better. That’s the only way.”
It all looks pretty good, I think.
If we set aside 2015, when Andrew Luck missed over half the season, the Colts in their last two other seasons have compiled the best tight end numbers in the league – 80 yards per game, with 31 touchdowns in those 32 games. (That’s using standard fantasy scoring – 6 points for touchdowns and 1 for every 10 yards.)
TIGHT END PRODUCTION (2014 & 2016) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Team | No | Yards | Avg | TD |
Indianapolis | 208 | 2575 | 12.4 | 31 |
New England | 193 | 2690 | 13.9 | 29 |
San Diego | 181 | 2103 | 11.6 | 28 |
New Orleans | 189 | 2013 | 10.7 | 21 |
Kansas City | 204 | 2397 | 11.8 | 14 |
Philadelphia | 222 | 2399 | 10.8 | 11 |
Carolina | 189 | 2384 | 12.6 | 11 |
Washington | 216 | 2356 | 10.9 | 10 |
Tennessee | 153 | 2008 | 13.1 | 14 |
Seattle | 133 | 1877 | 14.1 | 14 |
Dallas | 156 | 1628 | 10.4 | 13 |
Chicago | 177 | 1704 | 9.6 | 11 |
NY Giants | 163 | 1470 | 9.0 | 14 |
Pittsburgh | 145 | 1648 | 11.4 | 11 |
Baltimore | 185 | 1705 | 9.2 | 10 |
Denver | 116 | 1263 | 10.9 | 17 |
Minnesota | 161 | 1621 | 10.1 | 11 |
Los Angeles | 148 | 1532 | 10.4 | 12 |
Houston | 150 | 1414 | 9.4 | 13 |
Miami | 137 | 1440 | 10.5 | 11 |
Tampa Bay | 129 | 1293 | 10.0 | 13 |
Cleveland | 122 | 1582 | 13.0 | 8 |
Cincinnati | 146 | 1337 | 9.2 | 11 |
Jacksonville | 131 | 1251 | 9.5 | 10 |
Oakland | 125 | 1167 | 9.3 | 11 |
Buffalo | 129 | 1343 | 10.4 | 8 |
San Francisco | 98 | 1272 | 13.0 | 9 |
Atlanta | 91 | 1029 | 11.3 | 13 |
Green Bay | 115 | 1234 | 10.7 | 9 |
Arizona | 103 | 1183 | 11.5 | 4 |
Detroit | 108 | 1148 | 10.6 | 3 |
NY Jets | 84 | 850 | 10.1 | 5 |
—Ian Allan