There are a lot of big names at wide receiver hitting free agency; not as many at the tight end position. Maybe the biggest one is the Chargers' Hunter Henry. The former second-rounder is 26 years old, and comes off a career-high in receptions (60). He'll definitely have a market.
In an interview, Henry says one of his deciding factors if he signs with a new team will be playing with a good quarterback. He's been pretty lucky in that regard to this point, working with Philip Rivers for three seasons and Justin Herbert last year.
What's interesting is that despite being an early draft selection and working in a pass-first offense with quality quarterbacks throughout his career, Henry hasn't really knocked it out of the park. He caught 8 touchdowns as a rookie, but just 4-5 in each of his other three seasons. He's averaged 581 receiving yards -- decent, but not spectacular. Just once, in 2019, did he put up a top-10 fantasy season (PPR scoring) at his position.
Table shows the top 75 tight end seasons over the past five years. Henry missed the 2018 regular season and an average of 2 games in his other four years, which hasn't helped, but has finished 12th-18th at tight end in all but one of those. A decent player, but not a standout to this point.
TOP 75 TIGHT ENDS, 2016-2020 (PPR) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | PPR | Rk |
2020 | Travis Kelce, K.C. | 145 | 105 | 1416 | 11 | 314.8 | 1 |
2018 | Travis Kelce, K.C. | 150 | 103 | 1336 | 10 | 296.6 | 1 |
2020 | Darren Waller, L.V. | 145 | 107 | 1196 | 9 | 282.6 | 2 |
2018 | Zach Ertz, Phil. | 156 | 116 | 1163 | 8 | 280.3 | 2 |
2018 | George Kittle, S.F. | 136 | 88 | 1377 | 5 | 258.7 | 3 |
2019 | Travis Kelce, K.C. | 136 | 97 | 1229 | 6 | 256.3 | 1 |
2017 | Travis Kelce, K.C. | 122 | 83 | 1038 | 8 | 235.5 | 1 |
2017 | Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | 105 | 69 | 1084 | 8 | 227.4 | 2 |
2018 | Eric Ebron, Ind. | 110 | 66 | 750 | 14 | 224.2 | 4 |
2019 | Darren Waller, Oak. | 117 | 90 | 1145 | 3 | 223.0 | 2 |
2016 | Travis Kelce, K.C. | 117 | 85 | 1125 | 4 | 223.0 | 1 |
2019 | George Kittle, S.F. | 107 | 85 | 1053 | 5 | 222.5 | 3 |
2019 | Zach Ertz, Phil. | 135 | 88 | 916 | 6 | 217.6 | 4 |
2019 | Mark Andrews, Balt. | 98 | 64 | 852 | 10 | 209.2 | 5 |
2016 | Kyle Rudolph, Min. | 132 | 83 | 840 | 7 | 209.0 | 2 |
2016 | Greg Olsen, Car. | 129 | 80 | 1073 | 3 | 207.3 | 3 |
2017 | Zach Ertz, Phil. | 110 | 74 | 824 | 8 | 204.4 | 3 |
2018 | Jared Cook, Oak. | 101 | 68 | 896 | 6 | 193.6 | 5 |
2016 | Jimmy Graham, Sea. | 95 | 65 | 923 | 6 | 193.3 | 4 |
2019 | Austin Hooper, Atl. | 97 | 75 | 787 | 6 | 191.7 | 6 |
2016 | Delanie Walker, Ten. | 102 | 65 | 800 | 7 | 188.1 | 5 |
2016 | Zach Ertz, Phil. | 106 | 78 | 816 | 4 | 183.6 | 6 |
2017 | Delanie Walker, Ten. | 111 | 74 | 807 | 4 | 178.5 | 4 |
2020 | T.J. Hockenson, Det. | 101 | 67 | 723 | 6 | 177.3 | 3 |
2020 | Logan Thomas, Was. | 110 | 72 | 670 | 6 | 176.9 | 4 |
2020 | Robert Tonyan, G.B. | 59 | 52 | 586 | 11 | 176.6 | 5 |
2017 | Evan Engram, NYG | 115 | 64 | 722 | 6 | 173.6 | 5 |
2017 | Jack Doyle, Ind. | 108 | 80 | 690 | 4 | 173.0 | 6 |
2017 | Jimmy Graham, Sea. | 96 | 57 | 520 | 10 | 171.0 | 7 |
2016 | Cameron Brate, T.B. | 81 | 57 | 660 | 8 | 171.0 | 7 |
2016 | Dennis Pitta, Balt. | 121 | 86 | 729 | 2 | 170.9 | 8 |
2016 | Jordan Reed, Was. | 89 | 66 | 686 | 6 | 170.6 | 9 |
2020 | Mark Andrews, Balt. | 88 | 58 | 701 | 7 | 170.1 | 6 |
2016 | Martellus Bennett, N.E. | 73 | 55 | 701 | 7 | 168.1 | 10 |
2019 | Jared Cook, N.O. | 65 | 43 | 705 | 9 | 167.5 | 7 |
2018 | Austin Hooper, Atl. | 88 | 71 | 660 | 4 | 163.0 | 6 |
2019 | Tyler Higbee, LAR | 89 | 69 | 734 | 3 | 160.4 | 8 |
2020 | Mike Gesicki, Mia. | 85 | 53 | 703 | 6 | 159.3 | 7 |
2017 | Kyle Rudolph, Min. | 81 | 57 | 532 | 8 | 158.2 | 8 |
2016 | Jason Witten, Dall. | 95 | 69 | 673 | 3 | 154.3 | 11 |
2019 | Hunter Henry, LAC | 76 | 55 | 652 | 5 | 152.2 | 9 |
2018 | Kyle Rudolph, Min. | 82 | 64 | 634 | 4 | 151.4 | 7 |
2016 | Antonio Gates, S.D. | 93 | 53 | 548 | 7 | 149.8 | 12 |
2020 | Noah Fant, Den. | 93 | 62 | 673 | 3 | 149.3 | 8 |
2020 | Rob Gronkowski, T.B. | 77 | 45 | 623 | 7 | 149.3 | 9 |
2020 | Hayden Hurst, Atl. | 88 | 56 | 571 | 6 | 149.1 | 10 |
2018 | Trey Burton, Chi. | 76 | 54 | 569 | 6 | 149.1 | 8 |
2017 | Jason Witten, Dall. | 87 | 63 | 560 | 5 | 149.0 | 9 |
2019 | Dallas Goedert, Phil. | 87 | 58 | 607 | 5 | 148.7 | 10 |
2020 | Dalton Schultz, Dall. | 89 | 63 | 615 | 4 | 148.5 | 11 |
2016 | Jack Doyle, Ind. | 75 | 59 | 584 | 5 | 147.4 | 13 |
2020 | Hunter Henry, LAC | 93 | 60 | 613 | 4 | 145.3 | 12 |
2016 | Eric Ebron, Det. | 85 | 61 | 711 | 2 | 144.2 | 14 |
2018 | David Njoku, Cle. | 88 | 56 | 639 | 4 | 143.9 | 9 |
2020 | Eric Ebron, Pitt. | 91 | 56 | 558 | 5 | 143.8 | 13 |
2020 | Jimmy Graham, Chi. | 76 | 50 | 456 | 8 | 143.6 | 14 |
2017 | Cameron Brate, T.B. | 77 | 48 | 591 | 6 | 143.1 | 10 |
2020 | Evan Engram, NYG | 109 | 63 | 654 | 2 | 143 | 15 |
2019 | Jason Witten, Dall. | 83 | 63 | 529 | 4 | 141.9 | 11 |
2020 | Jonnu Smith, Ten. | 65 | 41 | 448 | 9 | 140.2 | 16 |
2019 | Mike Gesicki, Mia. | 89 | 51 | 570 | 5 | 138.0 | 12 |
2016 | Coby Fleener, N.O. | 81 | 50 | 631 | 4 | 137.3 | 15 |
2017 | Benjamin Watson, Balt. | 79 | 61 | 522 | 4 | 137.2 | 11 |
2016 | Charles Clay, Buff. | 87 | 57 | 552 | 4 | 136.2 | 16 |
2018 | Vance McDonald, Pitt. | 72 | 50 | 610 | 4 | 135.0 | 10 |
2017 | Jared Cook, Oak. | 86 | 54 | 688 | 2 | 134.8 | 12 |
2017 | Eric Ebron, Det. | 86 | 53 | 574 | 4 | 134.4 | 13 |
2016 | C.J. Fiedorowicz, Hou. | 89 | 54 | 559 | 4 | 133.9 | 17 |
2018 | Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | 72 | 47 | 682 | 3 | 133.2 | 11 |
2016 | Hunter Henry, S.D. | 53 | 36 | 478 | 8 | 131.8 | 18 |
2018 | Jimmy Graham, G.B. | 89 | 55 | 636 | 2 | 130.6 | 12 |
2016 | Gary Barnidge, Cle. | 82 | 55 | 612 | 2 | 130.2 | 19 |
2020 | Jared Cook, N.O. | 60 | 37 | 504 | 7 | 129.4 | 17 |
2020 | Tyler Higbee, LAR | 60 | 44 | 521 | 5 | 128.2 | 18 |
2017 | Hunter Henry, LAC | 62 | 45 | 579 | 4 | 126.9 | 14 |
It will be interesting to see where Henry ends up, and maybe his best ball is still ahead of him. But to this point there's been nothing to suggest he's going to step up among the elite players at the position, wherever he signs.
--Andy Richardson