O.J. Howard is the consensus top tight end in this year's draft, a status enforced when he ran a 4.51 at the combine -- crazy fast for a tight end that weighs 251 pounds. But he was never a huge part of the passing game at Alabama, never catching more than 45 passes or 3 TDs in his four seasons. Should teams be concerned?
Over the last 25 years, 26 other tight ends have been selected in the first round of the NFL draft. Fewer than a third of those players (eight) caught fewer touchdowns in their final season of college than Howard. On the other hand, nearly half of those players were productive receivers fairly quickly in the NFL. Two of them, Greg Olsen and Benjamin Watson, have continued to be solid fantasy players.
Final year of college numbers for other first round tight ends over the last 25 years, sorted by touchdowns, are shown below.
FIRST-ROUND TES, 1992-2016, FINAL COLLEGE SEASON | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Pck | Player | No | Yds | TD |
2010 | 21 | Jermaine Gresham, Cin. | 66 | 950 | 14 |
2006 | 28 | Marcedes Lewis, Jac. | 58 | 741 | 10 |
2008 | 30 | Dustin Keller, NYJ | 68 | 881 | 7 |
2002 | 14 | Jeremy Shockey, NYG | 40 | 519 | 7 |
2006 | 6 | Vernon Davis, S.F. | 61 | 871 | 6 |
2002 | 21 | Daniel Graham, N.E. | 51 | 753 | 6 |
1996 | 9 | Rickey Dudley, Oak. | 32 | 469 | 6 |
1997 | 13 | Tony Gonzalez, K.C. | 44 | 699 | 5 |
2000 | 14 | Bubba Franks, G.B. | 45 | 565 | 5 |
2005 | 30 | Heath Miller, Pitt. | 41 | 541 | 5 |
1992 | 15 | Johnny Mitchell, NYJ | 31 | 534 | 5 |
2000 | 27 | Anthony Becht, NYJ | 35 | 510 | 5 |
2003 | 24 | Dallas Clark, Ind. | 43 | 742 | 4 |
2013 | 21 | Tyler Eifert, Cin. | 50 | 685 | 4 |
1992 | 14 | Derek Brown, NYG | 22 | 325 | 4 |
2014 | 10 | Eric Ebron, Det. | 62 | 973 | 3 |
2001 | 31 | Todd Heap, Balt. | 45 | 617 | 3 |
1997 | 22 | David LaFleur, Dall. | 30 | 439 | 3 |
2017 | ? | O.J. Howard, ? | 45 | 595 | 3 |
1995 | 9 | Kyle Brady, NYJ | 27 | 365 | 2 |
2004 | 32 | Benjamin Watson, N.E. | 23 | 324 | 2 |
1993 | 20 | Irv Smith, N.O. | 20 | 262 | 2 |
2004 | 6 | Kellen Winslow, Clev. | 60 | 605 | 1 |
2007 | 31 | Greg Olsen, Chi. | 40 | 489 | 1 |
1995 | 27 | Mark Bruener, Pitt. | 34 | 331 | 1 |
2002 | 28 | Jerramy Stevens, Sea. | 10 | 88 | 1 |
2009 | 20 | Brandon Pettigrew, Det. | 42 | 472 | 0 |
--Andy Richardson