I have some interest in Chris Herndon. He had a really solid rookie season, and I think there could be a nice rapport there with Sam Darnold.
Herndon is listed as a tight end, but he’s got some wide receiver in him. They’re more interest in using him as a pass catcher rather than a blocker. He’s a player who’ll line up outside at times.
Herndon finished his rookie season with 502 yards and 4 TDs. In the last 10 years, only six tight ends have finished with better numbers in their first year. Miami has produced two more notable tight ends, and Herndon had better rookie numbers than either of them.
BEST ROOKIE TIGHT ENDS (last 10 years) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | No | Yds | Avg | TD | Points |
2010 | Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | 42 | 546 | 13.0 | 10 | 114.6 |
2017 | Evan Engram, NYG | 64 | 722 | 11.3 | 6 | 108.2 |
2016 | Hunter Henry , S.D. | 36 | 478 | 13.3 | 8 | 95.8 |
2010 | Aaron Hernandez, N.E. | 45 | 563 | 12.5 | 6 | 92.3 |
2013 | Tim Wright, T.B. | 54 | 571 | 10.6 | 5 | 87.1 |
2017 | O.J. Howard, T.B. | 26 | 432 | 16.6 | 6 | 79.2 |
2018 | Chris Herndon, NYJ | 39 | 502 | 12.9 | 4 | 74.2 |
2010 | Tony Moeaki, K.C. | 47 | 556 | 11.8 | 3 | 73.6 |
2018 | Mark Andrews, Balt. | 34 | 552 | 16.2 | 3 | 73.2 |
2010 | Jermaine Gresham, Cin. | 52 | 471 | 9.1 | 4 | 71.1 |
2013 | Zach Ertz, Phil. | 36 | 469 | 13.0 | 4 | 70.9 |
2012 | Dwayne Allen, Ind. | 45 | 521 | 11.6 | 3 | 70.1 |
2013 | Jordan Reed, Wash. | 45 | 499 | 11.1 | 3 | 67.9 |
2010 | Jimmy Graham, N.O. | 31 | 356 | 11.5 | 5 | 65.6 |
2013 | Mychal Rivera , Oak. | 38 | 407 | 10.7 | 4 | 64.7 |
2015 | Will Tye, NYG | 42 | 464 | 11.0 | 3 | 64.4 |
2017 | George Kittle, S.F. | 43 | 515 | 12.0 | 2 | 63.5 |
2017 | David Njoku, Clev. | 32 | 386 | 12.1 | 4 | 62.6 |
2018 | Dallas Goedert, Phil. | 33 | 334 | 10.1 | 4 | 57.4 |
2013 | Tyler Eifert, Cin. | 39 | 445 | 11.4 | 2 | 56.5 |
2015 | Clive Walford, Oak. | 28 | 329 | 11.8 | 3 | 50.9 |
2009 | Brandon Pettigrew, Det. | 30 | 346 | 11.5 | 2 | 46.6 |
2014 | Jace Amaro, NYJ | 38 | 345 | 9.1 | 2 | 46.5 |
2018 | Jordan Thomas, Hou. | 20 | 215 | 10.8 | 4 | 45.5 |
2018 | Ian Thomas, Car. | 36 | 333 | 9.3 | 2 | 45.3 |
2016 | Austin Hooper , Atl. | 19 | 271 | 14.3 | 3 | 45.1 |
2011 | Kyle Rudolph, Minn. | 26 | 249 | 9.6 | 3 | 42.9 |
New York’s new coach, Adam Gase, says he’s noticed. "He's a unicorn type of player," Gase said at the combine.. "I don't think you'll find a lot of tight ends that are able to be on the field all three downs. Obviously, he's a very good receiver, he's very good in the run game, and he did a really good job in pass protection last year.”
I would think that after about 10 tight ends are chosen in fantasy drafts, it will be time to start thinking about Herndon. He’ll presumably be more comfortable and productive in his second season.
I would say this with more confidence if Gase had a stronger history of working with tight ends. Gase didn’t get much of anything out of Mike Gesicki last year. Previously he brought Julius Thomas to Miami without much result.
Gase hasn’t had a top-15 tight end in any of the last four seasons. Using standard fantasy scoring, Thomas was the 25th-best tight end in 2017. Gase was more successful with tight ends when he was the offensive coordinator in Chicago in 2015. Zach Miller and Martellus Bennett were the 16th- and 26th-best tight ends in the league that year, combining for 87 catches and 8 TDs.
ADAM GASE TIGHT ENDS | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | No | Yds | Avg | TD | Pts | Rk |
2015 | Zach Miller, Chi. | 34 | 439 | 12.9 | 5 | 73.9 | 16 |
2015 | Martellus Bennett, Chi. | 53 | 439 | 8.3 | 3 | 61.9 | 26 |
2017 | Julius Thomas, Mia. | 41 | 388 | 9.5 | 3 | 56.8 | 25 |
2016 | Dion Sims, Mia. | 26 | 256 | 9.8 | 4 | 49.6 | 33 |
2018 | Mike Gesicki, Mia. | 22 | 202 | 9.2 | 0 | 20.2 | 63 |
2016 | MarQueis Gray, Mia. | 14 | 174 | 12.4 | 0 | 17.4 | 60 |
2017 | Anthony Fasano, Mia. | 12 | 107 | 8.9 | 1 | 16.7 | 63 |
2018 | Nick O'Leary, Mia. | 8 | 86 | 10.8 | 1 | 14.6 | 70 |
2016 | Dominique Jones, Mia. | 7 | 61 | 8.7 | 1 | 12.1 | 71 |
2016 | Jordan Cameron, Mia. | 8 | 60 | 7.5 | 1 | 12.0 | 72 |
2018 | A.J. Derby, Mia. | 3 | 48 | 16.0 | 1 | 10.8 | 77 |
2018 | Durham Smythe, Mia. | 6 | 50 | 8.3 | 0 | 5.0 | 95 |
2017 | MarQueis Gray, Mia. | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | 2.4 | 101 |
2017 | A.J. Derby, Mia. | 2 | 20 | 10.0 | 0 | 2.0 | 103 |
—Ian Allan