Who’s in for using an early draft pick on a tight end? On the one hand, it’s nice to have a franchise player at the position. But at the same time, it’s a position where value can be found later on.
Consider, for example, the PPR scoring format. If you could get a tight end who’d catch 6 passes each game, you would be ecstatic. That would be 96 catches for the season, and you’d be one of the leaders in scoring at the position.
In the 2019 season, there were 96 games in which a tight end caught at least 6 passes. Only 31 of those games were compiled by the five tight ends who went the earliest in drafts last year. That’s using ADP data, rather than how I myself ranked them (I considered O.J. Howard as a top-5 prospect).
The other four coveted tight ends pretty much delivered. Travis Kelce, Zach Ertz and George Kittle were most everyone’s top 3, and they combined for 26 games with at least 6 catches. Evan Engram had 5 such games before running into injury problems.
But 65 other such games were put together by tight ends who weren’t so coveted. Darren Waller ended up being the best value at the position. Tyler Higbee got hot late in the year. Austin Hooper (8 games) was a better “value” than the elite tight ends, considering where he was picked.
| TIGHT ENDS WITH AT 6-PLUS CATCHES IN 2019 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Opp | Result | Tgt | Rec | Yards | Avg | TD |
| George Kittle, SF | ATL | L 22-29 | 17 | 13 | 134 | 10.3 | 0 |
| Darren Waller, OAK | at MIN | L 14-34 | 14 | 13 | 134 | 10.3 | 0 |
| Tyler Higbee, LAR | at DAL | L 21-44 | 14 | 12 | 111 | 9.3 | 0 |
| Zach Ertz, PHI | SEA | L 9-17 | 14 | 12 | 91 | 7.6 | 1 |
| Travis Kelce, KAN | DEN | W 23-3 | 13 | 11 | 142 | 12.9 | 0 |
| Evan Engram, NYG | at DAL | L 17-35 | 14 | 11 | 116 | 10.6 | 1 |
| Cameron Brate, TAM | NO | L 17-34 | 14 | 10 | 73 | 7.3 | 0 |
| Austin Hooper, ATL | TEN | L 10-24 | 11 | 9 | 130 | 14.4 | 0 |
| Tyler Higbee, LAR | at SF | L 31-34 | 11 | 9 | 104 | 11.6 | 0 |
| Zach Ertz, PHI | CHI | W 22-14 | 11 | 9 | 103 | 11.4 | 1 |
| Zach Ertz, PHI | NE | L 10-17 | 11 | 9 | 94 | 10.4 | 0 |
| Zach Ertz, PHI | NYG | W 23-17 | 13 | 9 | 91 | 10.1 | 2 |
| Dallas Goedert, PHI | DAL | W 17-9 | 12 | 9 | 91 | 10.1 | 1 |
| Austin Hooper, ATL | at MIN | L 12-28 | 9 | 9 | 77 | 8.6 | 0 |
| Darren Waller, OAK | JAC | L 16-20 | 10 | 8 | 122 | 15.3 | 0 |
| Austin Hooper, ATL | at ARI | L 33-34 | 8 | 8 | 117 | 14.6 | 1 |
| Mark Andrews, BAL | ARI | W 23-17 | 9 | 8 | 112 | 14.0 | 1 |
| Mark Andrews, BAL | at MIA | W 59-10 | 8 | 8 | 108 | 13.5 | 1 |
| George Kittle, SF | at LAR | W 20-7 | 8 | 8 | 103 | 12.9 | 0 |
| Hunter Henry, LAC | PIT | L 17-24 | 9 | 8 | 100 | 12.5 | 2 |
| Greg Olsen, CAR | at GB | L 16-24 | 10 | 8 | 98 | 12.3 | 0 |
| Kaden Smith, NYG | PHI | L 17-34 | 11 | 8 | 98 | 12.3 | 0 |
| Tyler Higbee, LAR | ARI | W 31-24 | 12 | 8 | 84 | 10.5 | 1 |
| Travis Kelce, KAN | at CHI | W 26-3 | 9 | 8 | 74 | 9.3 | 1 |
| Zach Ertz, PHI | at ATL | L 20-24 | 16 | 8 | 72 | 9.0 | 0 |
| Gerald Everett, LAR | at PIT | L 12-17 | 12 | 8 | 68 | 8.5 | 0 |
| Jacob Hollister, SEA | at SF | W 27-24 | 10 | 8 | 62 | 7.8 | 1 |
| Jason Witten, DAL | at NYG | W 37-18 | 9 | 8 | 58 | 7.3 | 0 |
| George Kittle, SF | at TAM | W 31-17 | 10 | 8 | 54 | 6.8 | 0 |
| Gerald Everett, LAR | at SEA | L 29-30 | 11 | 7 | 136 | 19.4 | 0 |
| Darren Waller, OAK | at GB | L 24-42 | 8 | 7 | 126 | 18.0 | 2 |
| Tyler Higbee, LAR | SEA | W 28-12 | 11 | 7 | 116 | 16.6 | 0 |
| Travis Kelce, KAN | at OAK | W 28-10 | 9 | 7 | 107 | 15.3 | 1 |
| Tyler Higbee, LAR | at ARI | W 34-7 | 8 | 7 | 107 | 15.3 | 1 |
| Darren Waller, OAK | at KAN | L 9-40 | 9 | 7 | 100 | 14.3 | 0 |
| Travis Kelce, KAN | at LAC | W 24-17 | 10 | 7 | 92 | 13.1 | 1 |
| Travis Kelce, KAN | BAL | W 33-28 | 8 | 7 | 89 | 12.7 | 0 |
| George Kittle, SF | at SEA | W 26-21 | 7 | 7 | 86 | 12.3 | 0 |
| Travis Kelce, KAN | at DET | W 34-30 | 8 | 7 | 85 | 12.1 | 0 |
| Hunter Henry, LAC | GB | W 26-11 | 10 | 7 | 84 | 12.0 | 0 |
| Austin Hooper, ATL | JAC | W 24-12 | 9 | 7 | 82 | 11.7 | 0 |
| Travis Kelce, KAN | at TEN | L 32-35 | 7 | 7 | 75 | 10.7 | 1 |
| Darren Waller, OAK | DEN | W 24-16 | 8 | 7 | 70 | 10.0 | 0 |
| Travis Kelce, KAN | at NE | W 23-16 | 9 | 7 | 66 | 9.4 | 0 |
| Zach Ertz, PHI | at GB | W 34-27 | 8 | 7 | 65 | 9.3 | 0 |
| Delanie Walker, TEN | at JAC | L 7-20 | 9 | 7 | 64 | 9.1 | 0 |
| Travis Kelce, KAN | MIN | W 26-23 | 9 | 7 | 62 | 8.9 | 0 |
| Will Dissly, SEA | at ARI | W 27-10 | 8 | 7 | 57 | 8.1 | 1 |
| Darren Waller, OAK | at IND | W 31-24 | 8 | 7 | 53 | 7.6 | 0 |
| Austin Hooper, ATL | at TAM | W 28-22 | 9 | 7 | 45 | 6.4 | 0 |
| Vance McDonald, PIT | SEA | L 26-28 | 7 | 7 | 38 | 5.4 | 2 |
| Dallas Goedert, PHI | SEA | L 9-17 | 8 | 7 | 32 | 4.6 | 0 |
| T.J. Hockenson, DET | at ARI | T 27-27 | 9 | 6 | 131 | 21.8 | 1 |
| George Kittle, SF | GB | W 37-8 | 6 | 6 | 129 | 21.5 | 1 |
| Evan Engram, NYG | at TAM | W 32-31 | 8 | 6 | 113 | 18.8 | 1 |
| Greg Olsen, CAR | TAM | L 14-20 | 9 | 6 | 110 | 18.3 | 0 |
| Darren Waller, OAK | at DEN | L 15-16 | 10 | 6 | 107 | 17.8 | 0 |
| Jared Cook, NO | CAR | W 34-31 | 8 | 6 | 99 | 16.5 | 1 |
| Mark Andrews, BAL | CIN | W 23-17 | 8 | 6 | 99 | 16.5 | 0 |
| Hunter Henry, LAC | at TEN | L 20-23 | 8 | 6 | 97 | 16.2 | 0 |
| Mike Gesicki, MIA | NYJ | W 26-18 | 6 | 6 | 95 | 15.8 | 0 |
| Mark Andrews, BAL | at CLE | W 31-15 | 9 | 6 | 93 | 15.5 | 2 |
| George Kittle, SF | CAR | W 51-13 | 7 | 6 | 86 | 14.3 | 0 |
| Mike Gesicki, MIA | CIN | W 38-35 | 12 | 6 | 82 | 13.7 | 2 |
| George Kittle, SF | at ARI | W 28-25 | 8 | 6 | 79 | 13.2 | 1 |
| Jonnu Smith, TEN | TAM | W 27-23 | 7 | 6 | 78 | 13.0 | 1 |
| Greg Olsen, CAR | at ARI | W 38-20 | 7 | 6 | 75 | 12.5 | 2 |
| Jared Cook, NO | ATL | L 9-26 | 10 | 6 | 74 | 12.3 | 0 |
| Tyler Eifert, CIN | at LAR | L 10-24 | 9 | 6 | 74 | 12.3 | 0 |
| Jack Doyle, IND | TEN | L 17-31 | 11 | 6 | 73 | 12.2 | 1 |
| Darren Waller, OAK | TEN | L 21-42 | 6 | 6 | 72 | 12.0 | 0 |
| George Kittle, SF | CLE | W 31-3 | 8 | 6 | 70 | 11.7 | 1 |
| Kaden Smith, NYG | GB | L 13-31 | 8 | 6 | 70 | 11.7 | 0 |
| Darren Fells, HOU | at KAN | W 31-24 | 7 | 6 | 69 | 11.5 | 0 |
| Hunter Henry, LAC | KAN | L 17-24 | 9 | 6 | 69 | 11.5 | 0 |
| George Kittle, SF | at NO | W 48-46 | 8 | 6 | 67 | 11.2 | 1 |
| Austin Hooper, ATL | at IND | L 24-27 | 7 | 6 | 66 | 11.0 | 2 |
| Dallas Goedert, PHI | at MIA | L 31-37 | 7 | 6 | 66 | 11.0 | 0 |
| Austin Hooper, ATL | SEA | L 20-27 | 7 | 6 | 65 | 10.8 | 1 |
| Darren Waller, OAK | KAN | L 10-28 | 7 | 6 | 63 | 10.5 | 0 |
| Will Dissly, SEA | NO | L 27-33 | 7 | 6 | 62 | 10.3 | 1 |
| Jimmy Graham, GB | PHI | L 27-34 | 9 | 6 | 61 | 10.2 | 1 |
| Darren Fells, HOU | OAK | W 27-24 | 6 | 6 | 58 | 9.7 | 2 |
| George Kittle, SF | PIT | W 24-20 | 8 | 6 | 57 | 9.5 | 0 |
| Austin Hooper, ATL | at HOU | L 32-53 | 9 | 6 | 56 | 9.3 | 0 |
| Mark Andrews, BAL | at CIN | W 49-13 | 8 | 6 | 53 | 8.8 | 2 |
| Blake Jarwin, DAL | at CHI | L 24-31 | 7 | 6 | 50 | 8.3 | 0 |
| Ryan Griffin, NYJ | at MIA | L 18-26 | 8 | 6 | 50 | 8.3 | 0 |
| Evan Engram, NYG | DAL | L 18-37 | 8 | 6 | 48 | 8.0 | 0 |
| Evan Engram, NYG | BUF | L 14-28 | 8 | 6 | 48 | 8.0 | 0 |
| Travis Kelce, KAN | at DEN | W 30-6 | 8 | 6 | 44 | 7.3 | 0 |
| Jacob Hollister, SEA | MIN | W 37-30 | 8 | 6 | 44 | 7.3 | 0 |
| Evan Engram, NYG | MIN | L 10-28 | 11 | 6 | 42 | 7.0 | 0 |
| Jason Witten, DAL | BUF | L 15-26 | 8 | 6 | 42 | 7.0 | 1 |
| Kaden Smith, NYG | at WAS | W 41-35 | 8 | 6 | 35 | 5.8 | 2 |
| T.J. Hockenson, DET | CHI | L 20-24 | 11 | 6 | 18 | 3.0 | 0 |
—Ian Allan