Evan Engram to the Jaguars, C.J. Uzomah to the Jets, and franchise tags (or big deals) to keep Mike Gesicki, Dalton Schultz and Will Dissly around -- those were the big tight end-related stories early on in free agency. But I'm intrigued by a couple of lower-profile signings.
The Bengals signed Hayden Hurst away from the Falcons to replace Uzomah, while the Giants filled the Engram (and Kyle Rudolph) void with Ricky Seals-Jones. Nobody expects either player to be a star, but I think there's considerable potential for fantasy teams.
Hurst, especially. The former first-round pick got pushed off Baltimore's roster by Mark Andrews and Atlanta's by Kyle Pitts. But there's no shame in being a second banana to those guys, and barring further developments that's not likely to be the case with the Bengals.
Last year Hurst finished with modest numbers (26-221-3), but he was a regular part of the offense the first half of the year, catching 20 passes for 158 yards and a touchdown. Not big numbers, but that was as a No. 2 tight end all season in a modest passing game. Now he'll be the No. 1 working with Joe Burrow.
Seals-Jones finished with only slightly better season-long numbers (30-271-2), understandable working in a much lesser passing game and also behind Logan Thomas for part of the year. But when he did play, he was productive. He played more than half the snaps in only six games, catching 23 passes -- nearly 4 per game -- in those contests.
Table shows the per-game numbers for all tight ends to appear in at least 10 games a year ago. Neither Hurst nor Seals-Jones shows up with eye-popping production, understandable given their modest roles in most of those contests, but both were respectable. (Seals-Jones would be better if I only counted the six games he had a starter-type role, but I included all 10 he played at least a quarter of the time.) I believe both are going to wind up as serviceable fantasy starters (PPR, and especially TE-premium leagues) who can be had very cheaply in drafts.
| TE PER GAME, 2021 (10-PLUS GAMES) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | St | No | Rec | TD | FPG |
| Mark Andrews, Balt. | 17 | 6.3 | 80.1 | .57 | 17.7 |
| Travis Kelce, K.C. | 16 | 5.8 | 70.3 | .63 | 16.6 |
| George Kittle, S.F. | 14 | 5.1 | 65.0 | .43 | 14.3 |
| Rob Gronkowski, T.B. | 12 | 4.6 | 66.8 | .50 | 14.3 |
| Dalton Schultz, Dall. | 17 | 4.6 | 47.5 | .49 | 12.3 |
| Darren Waller, L.V. | 11 | 5.0 | 60.5 | .18 | 12.1 |
| T.J. Hockenson, Det. | 12 | 5.1 | 48.6 | .36 | 12.1 |
| Zach Ertz, Ariz. | 11 | 5.1 | 52.2 | .27 | 12.0 |
| Dallas Goedert, Phil. | 15 | 3.7 | 55.3 | .29 | 11.0 |
| Dawson Knox, Buff. | 15 | 3.3 | 39.1 | .60 | 10.8 |
| Kyle Pitts, Atl. | 17 | 4.0 | 60.4 | .06 | 10.4 |
| Noah Fant, Den. | 16 | 4.3 | 41.9 | .25 | 9.9 |
| Tyler Higbee, LAR | 15 | 4.1 | 37.3 | .33 | 9.8 |
| Mike Gesicki, Mia. | 17 | 4.3 | 45.9 | .14 | 9.7 |
| Hunter Henry, N.E. | 17 | 2.9 | 35.5 | .53 | 9.7 |
| Pat Freiermuth, Pitt. | 16 | 3.8 | 31.1 | .46 | 9.6 |
| Jared Cook, LAC | 16 | 3.0 | 35.3 | .29 | 8.3 |
| Tyler Conklin, Min. | 17 | 3.6 | 34.9 | .18 | 8.1 |
| Gerald Everett, Sea. | 15 | 3.2 | 31.9 | .27 | 8.1 |
| C.J. Uzomah, Cin. | 16 | 3.1 | 30.8 | .31 | 8.0 |
| Cole Kmet, Chi. | 17 | 3.5 | 36.0 | .00 | 7.1 |
| Evan Engram, NYG | 15 | 3.1 | 27.2 | .20 | 7.0 |
| David Njoku, Cle. | 16 | 2.3 | 29.7 | .25 | 6.7 |
| Ricky Seals-Jones, Was. | 10 | 2.9 | 25.2 | .10 | 6.0 |
| Austin Hooper, Cle. | 16 | 2.4 | 21.6 | .21 | 5.8 |
| Albert Okwuegbunam, Den. | 14 | 2.4 | 23.6 | .14 | 5.6 |
| Hayden Hurst, Atl. | 13 | 2.0 | 17.0 | .23 | 5.1 |
| Adam Trautman, N.O. | 13 | 2.1 | 20.2 | .15 | 5.0 |
| Anthony Firkser, Ten. | 15 | 2.3 | 19.4 | .13 | 5.0 |
| Mo Alie-Cox, Ind. | 17 | 1.4 | 18.6 | .24 | 4.7 |
| Jack Doyle, Ind. | 17 | 1.7 | 17.8 | .20 | 4.7 |
| Ryan Griffin, NYJ | 14 | 1.9 | 18.6 | .14 | 4.7 |
| Cameron Brate, T.B. | 17 | 1.8 | 14.4 | .24 | 4.6 |
| Geoff Swaim, Ten. | 16 | 1.9 | 13.1 | .19 | 4.4 |
| Donald Parham, LAC | 14 | 1.4 | 13.6 | .24 | 4.2 |
| Jonnu Smith, N.E. | 16 | 1.8 | 18.4 | .06 | 4.2 |
| Durham Smythe, Mia. | 17 | 2.0 | 21.0 | .00 | 4.1 |
| Josiah Deguara, G.B. | 15 | 1.7 | 16.3 | .13 | 4.1 |
| Harrison Bryant, Cle. | 16 | 1.3 | 14.6 | .19 | 3.9 |
| Kyle Rudolph, NYG | 16 | 1.6 | 16.1 | .06 | 3.6 |
| Jordan Akins, Hou. | 13 | 1.8 | 16.5 | .00 | 3.5 |
| Jimmy Graham, Chi. | 15 | .9 | 11.1 | .22 | 3.4 |
| Will Dissly, Sea. | 15 | 1.4 | 15.4 | .07 | 3.3 |
| Tommy Tremble, Car. | 16 | 1.3 | 11.3 | .15 | 3.3 |
| MyCole Pruitt, Ten. | 16 | .9 | 9.1 | .21 | 3.0 |
| Pharaoh Brown, Hou. | 14 | 1.6 | 12.2 | .00 | 2.9 |
| Marcedes Lewis, G.B. | 17 | 1.4 | 12.6 | .00 | 2.6 |
| Ian Thomas, Car. | 17 | 1.1 | 11.1 | .00 | 2.2 |
| Adam Shaheen, Mia. | 12 | 1.0 | 9.2 | .00 | 1.9 |
| Drew Sample, Cin. | 17 | .6 | 4.8 | .00 | 1.1 |
--Andy Richardson