When the Ravens drafted Mark Andrews a few years back, he was actually their second selection at the position, after Hayden Hurst. Has history repeated itself this year with their two selections at the position, Charlie Kolar and Isaiah Likely?
Both were fourth-round picks, and Kolar might well be great -- we don't know, because he's been hurt. But Likely has been about the most impressive tight end in the month of August, rookie or otherwise. Last night he caught all 8 passes thrown his way for 100 yards and a touchdown. Stunning.
I'm kicking myself for not picking Likely up in my TE-premium dynasty league a month ago. In that league, tight ends get 1.5 points per reception, and there are two flex spots, so you can start multiple players at the position. On a Baltimore team that will probably heavily feature 2 tight ends (it's an uninspiring group of wide receivers, basically Rashod Bateman -- and even he's unproven -- and nothing else), Likely might be a relevant player, even with Andrews on the roster.
It's not that easy, of course. The Ravens also have Nick Boyle, so a lot of their 2 tight end sets will feature Andrew and Boyle. Expecting Likely to be startable in 2022 would be optimistic. But you never know. Maybe Baltimore will send out the 3-TE offense on occasion.
I took a look at how often a team had a pair of top-20 fantasy tight ends (PPR) in the past. It doesn't happen a lot, but it does happen, and most of the pairings will be familiar.
Since 2000, there have been 26 times a team has had a pair of tight ends each put up at least 400 receiving yards. So a little more than once per season, on average. Eight times that 2nd tight end has finished in the top 20 at the position. In the table below, those top-20 No. 2 TEs are in bold. Dallas Goedert, pairing with Zach Ertz on the 2019 Eagles, is the most recent example.
| TEAMS WITH TWO 400-YARD TIGHT ENDS, 2000-PRESENT | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | PPR | Rk |
| 2020 | Tyler Higbee, LAR | 60 | 44 | 521 | 5 | 128.2 | 18 |
| 2020 | Gerald Everett, LAR | 62 | 41 | 417 | 2 | 94.9 | 24 |
| 2019 | Tyler Higbee, LAR | 89 | 69 | 734 | 3 | 160.4 | 8 |
| 2019 | Gerald Everett, LAR | 60 | 37 | 408 | 2 | 89.8 | 26 |
| 2019 | Zach Ertz, Phil. | 135 | 88 | 916 | 6 | 217.6 | 4 |
| 2019 | Dallas Goedert, Phil. | 87 | 58 | 607 | 5 | 148.7 | 10 |
| 2018 | Vance McDonald, Pitt. | 72 | 50 | 610 | 4 | 135.0 | 10 |
| 2018 | Jesse James, Pitt. | 39 | 30 | 423 | 2 | 84.3 | 23 |
| 2017 | Cameron Brate, T.B. | 77 | 48 | 591 | 6 | 143.1 | 10 |
| 2017 | O.J. Howard, T.B. | 39 | 26 | 432 | 6 | 105.2 | 20 |
| 2016 | C.J. Fiedorowicz, Hou. | 89 | 54 | 559 | 4 | 133.9 | 17 |
| 2016 | Ryan Griffin, Hou. | 74 | 50 | 442 | 2 | 106.2 | 24 |
| 2016 | Jack Doyle, Ind. | 75 | 59 | 584 | 5 | 147.4 | 13 |
| 2016 | Dwayne Allen, Ind. | 52 | 35 | 406 | 6 | 113.6 | 22 |
| 2016 | Martellus Bennett, N.E. | 73 | 55 | 701 | 7 | 168.1 | 10 |
| 2016 | Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | 38 | 25 | 540 | 3 | 97.0 | 26 |
| 2016 | Antonio Gates, S.D. | 93 | 53 | 548 | 7 | 149.8 | 12 |
| 2016 | Hunter Henry, S.D. | 53 | 36 | 478 | 8 | 131.8 | 18 |
| 2016 | Jordan Reed, Was. | 89 | 66 | 686 | 6 | 170.6 | 9 |
| 2016 | Vernon Davis, Was. | 59 | 44 | 583 | 2 | 114.3 | 21 |
| 2015 | Martellus Bennett, Chi. | 80 | 53 | 439 | 3 | 114.9 | 22 |
| 2015 | Zach Miller, Chi. | 46 | 34 | 439 | 5 | 107.9 | 24 |
| 2015 | Antonio Gates, S.D. | 85 | 56 | 630 | 5 | 149.0 | 12 |
| 2015 | Ladarius Green, S.D. | 63 | 37 | 429 | 4 | 107.9 | 23 |
| 2014 | Niles Paul, Was. | 52 | 39 | 507 | 1 | 95.7 | 22 |
| 2014 | Jordan Reed, Was. | 65 | 50 | 465 | 0 | 96.5 | 21 |
| 2013 | Jermaine Gresham, Cin. | 68 | 46 | 458 | 4 | 115.8 | 21 |
| 2013 | Tyler Eifert, Cin. | 60 | 39 | 445 | 2 | 95.5 | 26 |
| 2013 | Brent Celek, Phil. | 51 | 32 | 502 | 6 | 118.2 | 20 |
| 2013 | Zach Ertz, Phil. | 57 | 36 | 469 | 4 | 106.9 | 23 |
| 2012 | Brandon Pettigrew, Det. | 102 | 59 | 567 | 3 | 133.7 | 16 |
| 2012 | Tony Scheffler, Det. | 85 | 42 | 504 | 1 | 98.4 | 29 |
| 2012 | Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | 79 | 55 | 790 | 11 | 200.0 | 5 |
| 2012 | Aaron Hernandez, N.E. | 83 | 51 | 483 | 5 | 129.8 | 19 |
| 2011 | Ed Dickson, Balt. | 89 | 54 | 528 | 5 | 136.8 | 17 |
| 2011 | Dennis Pitta, Balt. | 56 | 40 | 405 | 3 | 98.5 | 26 |
| 2011 | Greg Olsen, Car. | 89 | 45 | 540 | 5 | 131.0 | 18 |
| 2011 | Jeremy Shockey, Car. | 62 | 37 | 455 | 4 | 106.5 | 23 |
| 2011 | Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | 124 | 90 | 1327 | 18 | 330.9 | 1 |
| 2011 | Aaron Hernandez, N.E. | 113 | 79 | 910 | 7 | 216.5 | 3 |
| 2010 | Joel Dreessen, Hou. | 55 | 36 | 518 | 4 | 111.8 | 22 |
| 2010 | Owen Daniels, Hou. | 68 | 38 | 471 | 2 | 97.1 | 26 |
| 2010 | Aaron Hernandez, N.E. | 64 | 45 | 563 | 6 | 142.0 | 14 |
| 2010 | Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | 59 | 42 | 546 | 10 | 156.6 | 11 |
| 2008 | Anthony Fasano, Mia. | 53 | 34 | 454 | 7 | 121.4 | 13 |
| 2008 | David Martin, Mia. | 45 | 31 | 450 | 3 | 94.0 | 23 |
| 2008 | Billy Miller, N.O. | 62 | 45 | 579 | 1 | 108.9 | 16 |
| 2008 | Jeremy Shockey, N.O. | 72 | 50 | 483 | 0 | 98.3 | 21 |
| 2005 | Erron Kinney, Ten. | 72 | 55 | 543 | 2 | 121.3 | 13 |
| 2005 | Ben Troupe, Ten. | 80 | 55 | 530 | 4 | 132.0 | 10 |
| 2000 | Ken Dilger, Ind. | 72 | 47 | 538 | 3 | 118.8 | 7 |
| 2000 | Marcus Pollard, Ind. | 42 | 30 | 439 | 3 | 93.9 | 12 |
The most famous (infamous, in retrospect) pairing over the years was in New England, in which Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez both finished in the top 20 at the position three years in a row -- top 3 in one of those seasons. That will probably never happen again.
But as noted, Baltimore is very thin at the wide receiver position. Two tight ends putting up significant numbers in this offense is possible. I'm not sure anyone should be selecting Likely outside of a dynasty format, but some chance he's one of the team's top 4 receivers this season.
--Andy Richardson