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Sophomore tight ends

Looking for breakout players among second-year tight ends

George Kittle blew up in his second season, breaking the single-season record for receiving yards in a season. I don’t think there’s a Kittle-type player sitting out there this year, but there are some tight ends coming off solid rookie seasons.

Chris Herndon and Mark Andrews, most notably. They both finished with better rookie numbers last year than what we saw out of Kittle back in 2017. And Dallas Goedert looks like he’s going to be in the league for a lot of years.

I find Herndon to be the most compelling. He moves well and put together a solid rookie season for the Jets. In the second half of the season, he ranked in the top 10 among tight ends in both catches and yards. He made a one-handed catch near the goal line against the Packers that might have been as impressive as any tight end catch in the league last year.

Herndon lasted until the fourth round of the draft, but he was overshadowed by David Njoku while he was at Miami. Herndon also suffered a season-ending knee injury in his final season.

Since 2000, only nine rookie tight ends have finished with more production than what Herndon put up last year.

Andrews’ numbers were pretty similar to Herndon’s last year, but I don’t think he’s as compelling as a 2019 prospect. With Baltimore, there’s the issue of whether they’ll be able to pass the ball at all. They were really running the heck out of it in the second half of last year.

In the last 19 seasons, 37 tight ends (about two per season) have finished with at least 50 fantasy points in their first season. That’s using standard scoring. In the chart below, the final column shows where the players finished at the position in their rookie season. For 2018, for example, Herndon, Andrews and Goedert were the 15th, 16th and 20th tight ends.

ROOKIE TIGHT ENDS WITH 50 FANTASY POINTS
YearPlayerNoYdsAvgTDPointsRnk
2010Rob Gronkowski, N.E.4254613.010114.65
2002Jeremy Shockey, NYG7489412.12101.43
2005Heath Miller, Pitt.3945911.8681.911
2008John Carlson, Sea.5562711.4592.77
2010Aaron Hernandez, N.E.4556312.5692.313
2013Tim Wright, T.B.5457110.6587.114
2016Hunter Henry, S.D.3647813.3895.811
2017Evan Engram, NYG6472211.36109.65
2017O.J. Howard, T.B.2643216.6679.216
2018Chris Herndon, NYJ3950212.9474.215
2010Tony Moeaki, K.C.4755611.8373.620
2018Mark Andrews, Balt.3455216.2373.216
2010Jermaine Gresham, Cin.524719.1473.121
2002Randy McMichael, Mia.3948512.4472.59
2008Dustin Keller, NYJ4853511.1371.514
2013Zach Ertz, Phil.3646913.0470.920
2012Dwayne Allen, Ind.4552111.6370.123
2013Jordan Reed, Was.4549911.1367.923
2004Chris Cooley, Was.373148.5667.414
2010Jimmy Graham, N.O.3135611.5565.623
2006Owen Daniels, Hou.3435210.4565.214
2013Joseph Fauria, Det.1820711.5764.725
2013Mychal Rivera, Oak.3840710.7464.726
2015Will Tye, NYG4246411.0364.425
2017George Kittle, S.F.4351512.0263.521
2017David Njoku, Cle.3238612.1462.722
2007Zach Miller, Oak.4444410.1362.416
2018Dallas Goedert, Phil.3333410.1457.420
2013Tyler Eifert, Cin.3944511.4256.529
2001Eric Johnson, S.F.403629.1356.215
2007Greg Olsen, Chi.3939110.0253.121
2002Doug Jolley, Oak.3240912.8252.917
2006Tony Scheffler, Den.1828615.9452.620
2008Martellus Bennett, Dall.2028314.2452.324
2001Alge Crumpler, Atl.2533013.2351.018
2015Clive Walford, Oak.2832911.8350.930
2003Antonio Gates, S.D.2438916.2250.919

—Ian Allan

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