The Lions signed Darren Fells yesterday. It's his second stint with the team; he's actually played for four different teams in the last five years. I don't think anyone hoping to select T.J. Hockenson should be terribly concerned about Fells' presence, but it is something to factor into his projection.
Fells most famously filled a red-zone threat role for Houston, catching 7 touchdowns in 2019. But it's long been a strength of his: he's caught 21 touchdowns in 102 career games. Aside from that he's never been a huge part of the passing game; just 123 career receptions. But with over 17 percent of those catches going for score, he leads all tight ends (among those catching at least 99 balls) in that regard over the past seven seasons. (Data compiled using the search tools at pro-football-reference.com.)
TIGHT END RECEIVING, 2014-2020 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | G | Rec | Yds | TD | TD% |
Darren Fells | 102 | 123 | 1483 | 21 | 17.1% |
Julius Thomas | 48 | 160 | 1613 | 24 | 15.0% |
Jonnu Smith | 60 | 114 | 1302 | 16 | 14.0% |
O.J. Howard | 42 | 105 | 1602 | 14 | 13.3% |
Tyler Eifert | 59 | 182 | 2056 | 24 | 13.2% |
Cameron Brate | 98 | 223 | 2438 | 29 | 13.0% |
Rob Gronkowski | 81 | 340 | 5229 | 44 | 12.9% |
Mark Andrews | 45 | 156 | 2105 | 20 | 12.8% |
Josh Hill | 103 | 110 | 1027 | 14 | 12.7% |
Antonio Gates | 73 | 236 | 2648 | 29 | 12.3% |
Marcedes Lewis | 97 | 106 | 1221 | 12 | 11.3% |
Zach Miller | 33 | 101 | 1161 | 11 | 10.9% |
Hunter Henry | 55 | 196 | 2322 | 21 | 10.7% |
Richard Rodgers | 85 | 145 | 1518 | 15 | 10.3% |
Jimmy Graham | 107 | 398 | 4476 | 41 | 10.3% |
David Njoku | 49 | 112 | 1279 | 11 | 9.8% |
Kyle Rudolph | 101 | 344 | 3433 | 33 | 9.6% |
Austin Seferian-Jenkins | 43 | 116 | 1160 | 11 | 9.5% |
Eric Ebron | 98 | 339 | 3753 | 32 | 9.4% |
Trey Burton | 98 | 159 | 1532 | 15 | 9.4% |
Hayden Hurst | 44 | 99 | 1083 | 9 | 9.1% |
Coby Fleener | 59 | 177 | 2191 | 16 | 9.0% |
Dallas Goedert | 42 | 137 | 1465 | 12 | 8.8% |
Mike Gesicki | 47 | 126 | 1475 | 11 | 8.7% |
Vance McDonald | 86 | 173 | 1917 | 15 | 8.7% |
Jared Cook | 103 | 323 | 4285 | 28 | 8.7% |
Larry Donnell | 38 | 107 | 938 | 9 | 8.4% |
T.J. Hockenson | 28 | 99 | 1090 | 8 | 8.1% |
Jordan Reed | 66 | 310 | 3103 | 25 | 8.1% |
Jack Doyle | 99 | 261 | 2408 | 21 | 8.0% |
Travis Kelce | 110 | 612 | 7881 | 48 | 7.8% |
Lance Kendricks | 91 | 142 | 1426 | 11 | 7.7% |
Austin Hooper | 72 | 260 | 2679 | 20 | 7.7% |
Gary Barnidge | 45 | 147 | 1811 | 11 | 7.5% |
Logan Thomas | 58 | 107 | 987 | 8 | 7.5% |
Jesse James | 88 | 150 | 1460 | 11 | 7.3% |
Martellus Bennett | 52 | 228 | 2342 | 16 | 7.0% |
C.J. Uzomah | 63 | 114 | 1098 | 8 | 7.0% |
Tyler Higbee | 78 | 173 | 1927 | 12 | 6.9% |
Ryan Griffin | 90 | 160 | 1653 | 11 | 6.9% |
Delanie Walker | 69 | 321 | 3852 | 22 | 6.9% |
Ben Watson | 74 | 207 | 2056 | 14 | 6.8% |
Greg Olsen | 89 | 361 | 4503 | 24 | 6.6% |
Darren Waller | 54 | 215 | 2519 | 14 | 6.5% |
Jason Witten | 96 | 349 | 3247 | 22 | 6.3% |
Gerald Everett | 61 | 127 | 1389 | 8 | 6.3% |
Jermaine Gresham | 73 | 159 | 1490 | 10 | 6.3% |
Zach Ertz | 101 | 525 | 5609 | 32 | 6.1% |
Evan Engram | 50 | 216 | 2420 | 13 | 6.0% |
Noah Fant | 31 | 102 | 1235 | 6 | 5.9% |
Rhett Ellison | 86 | 106 | 1063 | 6 | 5.7% |
Mychal Rivera | 45 | 108 | 1006 | 6 | 5.6% |
Vernon Davis | 79 | 186 | 2361 | 10 | 5.4% |
George Kittle | 53 | 264 | 3579 | 14 | 5.3% |
Charles Clay | 83 | 254 | 2664 | 13 | 5.1% |
Heath Miller | 31 | 126 | 1296 | 5 | 4.0% |
Nick Boyle | 73 | 120 | 1047 | 4 | 3.3% |
Dennis Pitta | 19 | 102 | 854 | 2 | 2.0% |
I cropped the list at 99 to sneak in Hockenson, who's caught exactly that many his first two seasons. He shows up in the middle of the pack on this list. Reasonable to think that Fells will take a red-zone look or two away from Hockenson along the way this season.
Again, I think it's pretty hard to dock Hockenson too much -- there aren't so many fantastic, involved receiving tight ends in the league to move too many ahead of a player like Hockenson. But maybe he catches slightly fewer balls, especially in the red zone.
--Andy Richardson