The Jaguars gave away Julius Thomas in the offseason, so they should have a new receiving leader at tight end. Probably best not to get too excited about that player, though, as it wasn't a big part of the offense last season. Thomas didn't do much, and neither did anyone else the team lined up there.
Rivera is hoping moving from Oakland to Jacksonville will mean a bigger receiving role, and statistically there's some reason for mild optimism. A year ago Oakland tight ends averaged just 36 yards per game and caught 5 TDs.
Jacksonville was better, but only slightly. Their tight ends averaged 46 yards per game and caught 6 TDs. So better, but still only barely escaping the bottom 10.
| TIGHT END RECEIVING, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | No | Yards | TD | YPG |
| Washington | 114 | 1306 | 8 | 81.6 |
| Philadelphia | 129 | 1298 | 5 | 81.1 |
| Indianapolis | 109 | 1287 | 12 | 80.4 |
| New England | 82 | 1263 | 11 | 78.9 |
| Kansas City | 107 | 1262 | 5 | 78.9 |
| Carolina | 91 | 1217 | 4 | 76.1 |
| Seattle | 85 | 1120 | 8 | 70.0 |
| Houston | 115 | 1094 | 7 | 68.4 |
| San Diego | 91 | 1051 | 15 | 65.7 |
| Tennessee | 80 | 1004 | 9 | 62.8 |
| Baltimore | 110 | 929 | 5 | 58.1 |
| Minnesota | 94 | 908 | 7 | 56.8 |
| Pittsburgh | 75 | 840 | 6 | 52.5 |
| San Francisco | 59 | 839 | 7 | 52.4 |
| Tampa Bay | 78 | 824 | 11 | 51.5 |
| New Orleans | 70 | 812 | 4 | 50.8 |
| Atlanta | 58 | 788 | 10 | 49.3 |
| Dallas | 79 | 772 | 4 | 48.3 |
| Cleveland | 68 | 760 | 5 | 47.5 |
| Detroit | 67 | 756 | 1 | 47.3 |
| Cincinnati | 66 | 733 | 6 | 45.8 |
| Jacksonville | 84 | 732 | 6 | 45.8 |
| Green Bay | 64 | 683 | 3 | 42.7 |
| Buffalo | 67 | 680 | 4 | 42.5 |
| Chicago | 71 | 672 | 5 | 42.0 |
| NY Giants | 79 | 609 | 3 | 38.1 |
| Arizona | 53 | 595 | 3 | 37.2 |
| Denver | 53 | 591 | 2 | 36.9 |
| Los Angeles | 61 | 584 | 3 | 36.5 |
| Oakland | 58 | 581 | 5 | 36.3 |
| Miami | 55 | 551 | 6 | 34.4 |
| NY Jets | 18 | 173 | 0 | 10.8 |
Thomas, who played in only nine games, didn't make much of an impact as Jacksonville's starter. He accounted for just 8% of the team's receptions last year. That was worse than Oakland's main player at the position, Clive Walford, and only slightly more than Rivera as the No. 2. Jacksonville's other tight ends, Marcedes Lewis and Ben Koyack, were even less involved -- just 5% of the team's receptions apiece.
| TIGHT END % OF TEAM RECEPTIONS, 2016 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | I.Rec | T.Rec | %Rec |
| Greg Olsen, Car. | 80 | 306 | 26% |
| Travis Kelce, K.C. | 85 | 365 | 23% |
| Jason Witten, Dall. | 69 | 325 | 21% |
| Delanie Walker, Tenn. | 65 | 307 | 21% |
| Zach Ertz, Phil. | 78 | 380 | 21% |
| Kyle Rudolph, Minn. | 83 | 414 | 20% |
| Charles Clay, Buff. | 57 | 286 | 20% |
| Dennis Pitta, Balt. | 86 | 439 | 20% |
| Jimmy Graham, Sea. | 65 | 368 | 18% |
| Gary Barnidge, Clev. | 55 | 338 | 16% |
| Jordan Reed, Wash. | 66 | 407 | 16% |
| Cameron Brate, T.B. | 57 | 355 | 16% |
| Lance Kendricks, L.A. | 50 | 312 | 16% |
| Jack Doyle, Ind. | 59 | 370 | 16% |
| Eric Ebron, Det. | 61 | 388 | 16% |
| C.J. Fiedorowicz, Hou. | 54 | 347 | 16% |
| Antonio Gates, S.D. | 53 | 349 | 15% |
| Martellus Bennett, N.E. | 55 | 368 | 15% |
| Ryan Griffin, Hou. | 50 | 347 | 14% |
| Zach Miller, Chi. | 47 | 347 | 14% |
| Will Tye, NYG | 48 | 377 | 13% |
| Vernon Davis, Wash. | 44 | 407 | 11% |
| Coby Fleener, N.O. | 50 | 472 | 11% |
| Hunter Henry, S.D. | 36 | 349 | 10% |
| Jesse James, Pitt. | 39 | 381 | 10% |
| Garrett Celek, S.F. | 29 | 287 | 10% |
| Trey Burton, Phil. | 37 | 380 | 10% |
| Jermaine Gresham, Ariz. | 37 | 383 | 10% |
| Dwayne Allen, Ind. | 35 | 370 | 9% |
| Clive Walford, Oak. | 33 | 379 | 9% |
| Vance McDonald, S.F. | 24 | 287 | 8% |
| Dion Sims, Mia. | 26 | 316 | 8% |
| Julius Thomas, Jac. | 30 | 369 | 8% |
| Tyler Eifert, Cin. | 29 | 364 | 8% |
| Richard Rodgers, G.B. | 30 | 403 | 7% |
| Jared Cook, G.B. | 30 | 403 | 7% |
| C.J. Uzomah, Cin. | 25 | 364 | 7% |
| Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | 25 | 368 | 7% |
| Virgil Green, Den. | 22 | 339 | 6% |
| Jacob Tamme, Atl. | 22 | 374 | 6% |
| Marcedes Lewis, Jac. | 20 | 369 | 5% |
| Ben Koyack, Jac. | 19 | 369 | 5% |
| Austin Hooper, Atl. | 19 | 374 | 5% |
| Mychal Rivera, Oak. | 18 | 379 | 5% |
| Ladarius Green, Pitt. | 18 | 381 | 5% |
| A.J. Derby, Den. | 16 | 339 | 5% |
| Demetrius Harris, K.C. | 17 | 365 | 5% |
| Daniel Brown, Chi. | 16 | 347 | 5% |
Rivera will probably be Jacksonville's main pass catcher, but don't expect him to be a viable starter in fantasy formats.
--Andy Richardson