I’m interested in a pair of second-year tight ends. This is a position where players tend to get a lot better in the second and third years. But both are tied to young quarterbacks.
Chris Herndon for one. In the second half of last season, he ranked 9th among tight ends in catches and yards. He’ll be working with Sam Darnold. On the down side, Adam Gase is running New York’s offense now, and he never made much use of tight ends in Miami.
Also Mark Andrews. Including the playoffs, he caught 16 passes for 338 yards and a touchdown in his final eight games last year, with receptions of 74 and 68 yards. If Lamar Jackson can progress some as a passer, Andrews could have a breakout year.
Since 2000, only 24 tight ends (in 19 seasons) have finished with more than 100 fantasy points (using PPR scoring). Herndon and Andrews are in that group (and Dallas Goedert and Ian Thomas aren’t far behind).
| ROOKIE TIGHT ENDS WITH TOP-25 NUMBERS | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | No | Yds | TD | PPR | Rk | |
| 2002 | Jeremy Shockey, NYG | NYG | 74 | 894 | 2 | 175.4 | 3 |
| 2017 | Evan Engram, NYG | NYG | 64 | 722 | 6 | 173.6 | 5 |
| 2010 | Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | N.E. | 42 | 546 | 10 | 156.6 | 11 |
| 2008 | John Carlson, Sea. | Sea. | 55 | 627 | 5 | 147.7 | 7 |
| 2013 | Timothy Wright, T.B. | T.B. | 54 | 571 | 5 | 141.1 | 13 |
| 2010 | Aaron Hernandez, N.E. | N.E. | 45 | 563 | 6 | 137.3 | 14 |
| 2016 | Hunter Henry, S.D. | S.D. | 36 | 478 | 8 | 131.8 | 18 |
| 2010 | Jermaine Gresham, Cin. | Cin. | 52 | 471 | 4 | 125.1 | 16 |
| 2011 | Jake Ballard, NYG | NYG | 38 | 604 | 4 | 122.4 | 20 |
| 2005 | Heath Miller, Pitt. | Pitt. | 39 | 459 | 6 | 120.9 | 14 |
| 2010 | Tony Moeaki, K.C. | K.C. | 47 | 556 | 3 | 120.6 | 17 |
| 2008 | Dustin Keller, NYJ | NYJ | 48 | 535 | 3 | 119.5 | 14 |
| 2012 | Dwayne Allen, Ind. | Ind. | 45 | 521 | 3 | 115.1 | 25 |
| 2018 | Chris Herndon, NYJ | NYJ | 39 | 502 | 4 | 113.2 | 16 |
| 2013 | Jordan Reed, Was. | Was. | 45 | 499 | 3 | 112.9 | 22 |
| 2002 | Randy McMichael, Mia. | Mia. | 39 | 485 | 4 | 111.5 | 10 |
| 2018 | Mark Andrews, Balt. | Balt. | 34 | 552 | 3 | 107.2 | 17 |
| 2013 | Zach Ertz, Phil. | Phil. | 36 | 469 | 4 | 106.9 | 23 |
| 2017 | George Kittle, S.F. | S.F. | 43 | 515 | 2 | 106.5 | 19 |
| 2015 | Will Tye, NYG | NYG | 42 | 464 | 3 | 106.4 | 25 |
| 2007 | Zach Miller, Oak. | Oak. | 44 | 444 | 3 | 106.4 | 16 |
| 2017 | O.J. Howard, T.B. | T.B. | 26 | 432 | 6 | 105.2 | 20 |
| 2004 | Chris Cooley, Was. | Was. | 37 | 314 | 6 | 104.4 | 12 |
| 2013 | Mychal Rivera, Oak. | Oak. | 38 | 407 | 4 | 102.7 | 24 |
| 2006 | Owen Daniels, Hou. | Hou. | 34 | 352 | 5 | 99.2 | 14 |
| 2001 | Eric Johnson, S.F. | S.F. | 40 | 362 | 3 | 96.2 | 15 |
| 2017 | David Njoku, Cle. | Cle. | 32 | 386 | 4 | 94.7 | 24 |
| 2007 | Greg Olsen, Chi. | Chi. | 39 | 391 | 2 | 92.1 | 22 |
| 2018 | Dallas Goedert, Phil. | Phil. | 33 | 334 | 4 | 90.4 | 20 |
| 2005 | Alex Smith, T.B. | T.B. | 41 | 367 | 2 | 89.7 | 19 |
| 2002 | Doug Jolley, Oak. | Oak. | 32 | 409 | 2 | 84.9 | 18 |
| 2014 | Jace Amaro, NYJ | NYJ | 38 | 345 | 2 | 84.5 | 24 |
| 2018 | Ian Thomas, Car. | Car. | 36 | 333 | 2 | 81.3 | 24 |
| 2009 | Brandon Pettigrew, Det. | Det. | 30 | 346 | 2 | 76.6 | 25 |
| 2005 | Bo Scaife, Ten. | Ten. | 37 | 273 | 2 | 76.3 | 22 |
| 2000 | Bubba Franks, G.B. | G.B. | 34 | 363 | 1 | 76.3 | 19 |
| 2001 | Alge Crumpler, Atl. | Atl. | 25 | 330 | 3 | 76.0 | 21 |
| 2003 | Jason Witten, Dall. | Dall. | 35 | 347 | 1 | 75.7 | 20 |
| 2003 | Antonio Gates, S.D. | S.D. | 24 | 389 | 2 | 74.9 | 21 |
| 2000 | Aaron Shea, Clev. | Clev. | 30 | 302 | 2 | 72.2 | 23 |
| 2002 | Jerramy Stevens, Sea. | Sea. | 26 | 252 | 3 | 69.2 | 24 |
| 2003 | Dallas Clark, Ind. | Ind. | 29 | 340 | 1 | 69.0 | 24 |
—Ian Allan