Trey McBride hasn’t done much so far, but that could change in a big way. Zach Ertz is out for the year, so I imagine Arizona will be looking to work McBride into its passing game.
It was weird, recall, when the Cardinals selected McBride in the second round in April. Earlier in the offseason, they signed Ertz to a three-year deal worth $31.6 million. And this isn’t an offense that has used tight ends much.
McBride hasn’t been much of a factor so far. He’s played some (he’s been on the field for over a quarter of their plays six times) but he’s caught only 4 passes. In the preseason, he didn’t catch either of the passes thrown his way.
But Ertz is out now, so I expect they’ll be looking for McBride to pick up some of those duties. Before getting hurt, Ertz averaged 5 catches for 44 yards in his first nine games, with 4 TDs.
I don’t think we’ll see McBride put up those kind of numbers. The Cardinals have plenty of other pass-catching options. But McBride did come into the league as a pass-catching tight end. He caught 90 passes for 1,121 yards and 2 TDs last year at Colorado State.
In the 32-year team era, 60 other tight ends have been drafted in the first or second round, and McBride in his final season of college ball caught more than twice as many passes as over half of them. Jace Amaro (ironically playing for Kliff Kingsbury) is the only highly drafted tight end who caught more passes than McBride in his final college season. Only one other tight end (Dallas Goedert) caught more than 70.
Of the last 60 tight ends chosen in the first or second round, only 10 went on to catch 40-plus passes in their rookie season. (I’ve got those guys tagged with black dots).
I don’t expect McBride will make a big impact, but makes some sense as a speculative waiver pickup – hold onto him for a couple of weeks and see if he can do a decent Ertz impression.
COLLEGE CATCHES BY HIGHLY DRAFTED TIGHT ENDS | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Pk | College | No | Yards | Avg | TD | Rookie Yr |
2014 | Jace Amaro, NYJ | 49 | Texas Tech | 106 | 1,352 | 12.8 | 7 | 38-345-2 |
2022 | Trey McBride, Ariz. | 55 | Colorado State | 90 | 1,121 | 12.5 | 2 | ?-?-? |
2018 | Dallas Goedert, Phil. | 49 | South Dakota St. | 72 | 1,111 | 15.4 | 7 | 33-334-4 |
2013 | Zach Ertz, Phil. | 35 | Stanford | 69 | 898 | 13.0 | 6 | 36-469-4 |
2008 | • Dustin Keller, NYJ | 30 | Purdue | 68 | 881 | 13.0 | 7 | 48-535-3 |
2010 | • Jermaine Gresham, Cin. | 21 | Oklahoma | 66 | 950 | 14.4 | 14 | 52-471-4 |
2017 | • Evan Engram, NYG | 23 | Mississippi | 65 | 926 | 14.2 | 8 | 64-722-6 |
2014 | Eric Ebron, Det. | 10 | North Carolina | 62 | 973 | 15.7 | 3 | 25-248-1 |
2008 | Fred Davis, Wash. | 48 | Southern Cal | 62 | 881 | 14.2 | 8 | 3-27-0 |
2006 | Vernon Davis, S.F. | 6 | Maryland | 61 | 871 | 14.3 | 6 | 20-265-3 |
2004 | Kellen Winslow, Clev. | 6 | Miami | 60 | 605 | 10.1 | 1 | 5-50-0 |
2006 | Marcedes Lewis, Jac. | 28 | UCLA | 58 | 741 | 12.8 | 10 | 13-126-1 |
2018 | Mike Gesicki, Mia. | 42 | Penn State | 57 | 563 | 9.9 | 9 | 22-202-0 |
2006 | Tony Scheffler, Den. | 61 | Western Michigan | 57 | 670 | 11.8 | 9 | 18-286-4 |
2017 | Adam Shaheen, Chi. | 45 | Ashland | 57 | 867 | 15.2 | 16 | 12-127-3 |
2003 | Bennie Joppru, Hou. | 41 | Michigan | 53 | 579 | 10.9 | 5 | 0-0-0 |
2016 | Hunter Henry, S.D. | 35 | Arkansas | 51 | 739 | 14.5 | 3 | 36-478-8 |
2002 | Daniel Graham, N.E. | 21 | Colorado | 51 | 753 | 14.8 | 6 | 15-150-1 |
2007 | • Zach Miller, Oak. | 38 | Arizona State | 50 | 484 | 9.7 | 4 | 44-444-3 |
2013 | Tyler Eifert, Cin. | 21 | Notre Dame | 50 | 685 | 13.7 | 4 | 39-445-2 |
2019 | T.J. Hockenson, Det. | 8 | Iowa | 49 | 760 | 15.5 | 7 | 32-367-2 |
2008 | Martellus Bennett, Dall. | 61 | Texas A&M | 49 | 587 | 12.0 | 4 | 20-283-4 |
2017 | Gerald Everett, LAR | 44 | South Alabama | 49 | 717 | 14.6 | 4 | 16-244-2 |
2010 | • Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | 42 | Arizona | 47 | 672 | 14.3 | 10 | 42-546-10 |
2006 | Anthony Fasano, Dall. | 53 | Notre Dame | 47 | 576 | 12.3 | 2 | 14-126-0 |
2000 | Bubba Franks, G.B. | 14 | Miami | 45 | 565 | 12.6 | 5 | 34-363-1 |
2017 | O.J. Howard, T.B. | 19 | Alabama | 45 | 595 | 13.2 | 3 | 26-432-6 |
2001 | Todd Heap, Balt. | 31 | Arizona State | 45 | 617 | 13.7 | 3 | 16-206-1 |
2019 | Irv Smith Jr., Minn. | 50 | Alabama | 44 | 710 | 16.1 | 7 | 36-311-2 |
2018 | Hayden Hurst, Balt. | 25 | South Carolina | 44 | 559 | 12.7 | 3 | 13-163-1 |
2004 | Kris Wilson, K.C. | 61 | Pittsburgh | 44 | 643 | 14.6 | 9 | 0-0-0 |
2021 | • Kyle Pitts, Atl. | 4 | Florida | 43 | 770 | 17.9 | 12 | 68-1026-1 |
2017 | David Njoku, Clev. | 29 | Miami | 43 | 698 | 16.2 | 8 | 32-386-4 |
2003 | Dallas Clark, Ind. | 24 | Iowa | 43 | 742 | 17.3 | 4 | 29-340-1 |
2020 | Cole Kmet, Chi. | 43 | Notre Dame | 43 | 515 | 12.0 | 6 | 28-243-2 |
2011 | Lance Kendricks, St.L. | 47 | Wisconsin | 43 | 663 | 15.4 | 5 | 28-352-0 |
2009 | Brandon Pettigrew, Det. | 20 | Oklahoma State | 42 | 472 | 11.2 | 0 | 30-346-2 |
2013 | Gavin Escobar, Dall. | 47 | San Diego State | 42 | 543 | 12.9 | 6 | 9-134-2 |
2005 | Heath Miller, Pitt. | 30 | Virginia | 41 | 541 | 13.2 | 5 | 39-459-6 |
2003 | Teyo Johnson, Oak. | 63 | Stanford | 41 | 467 | 11.4 | 8 | 14-128-1 |
2002 | • Jeremy Shockey, NYG | 14 | Miami | 40 | 519 | 13.0 | 7 | 74-894-2 |
2008 | • John Carlson, Sea. | 38 | Notre Dame | 40 | 372 | 9.3 | 3 | 55-627-5 |
2007 | Greg Olsen, Chi. | 31 | Miami | 40 | 489 | 12.2 | 1 | 39-391-2 |
2019 | • Noah Fant, Den. | 20 | Iowa | 39 | 519 | 13.3 | 7 | 40-562-3 |
2004 | Ben Troupe, Tenn. | 40 | Florida | 39 | 638 | 16.4 | 5 | 33-329-1 |
2014 | Troy Niklas, Ariz. | 52 | Notre Dame | 37 | 573 | 15.5 | 6 | 3-38-0 |
2015 | Maxx Williams, Balt. | 55 | Minnesota | 36 | 569 | 15.8 | 8 | 32-268-1 |
2014 | Austin Seferian-Jenkins, T.B. | 38 | Washington | 36 | 450 | 12.5 | 8 | 21-221-2 |
2013 | Vance McDonald, S.F. | 55 | Rice | 36 | 458 | 12.7 | 2 | 8-119-0 |
2000 | Anthony Becht, NYJ | 27 | West Virginia | 35 | 510 | 14.6 | 5 | 16-144-2 |
2012 | Coby Fleener, Ind. | 34 | Stanford | 34 | 667 | 19.6 | 10 | 26-281-2 |
2006 | Joe Klopfenstein, St.L. | 46 | Colorado | 33 | 468 | 14.2 | 4 | 20-226-1 |
2002 | Doug Jolley, Oak. | 55 | Brigham Young | 32 | 492 | 15.4 | 7 | 32-409-2 |
2003 | L.J. Smith , Phil. | 61 | Rutgers | 32 | 384 | 12.0 | 3 | 27-321-1 |
2011 | Kyle Rudolph, Minn. | 43 | Notre Dame | 28 | 328 | 11.7 | 3 | 26-249-3 |
2019 | Drew Sample, Cin. | 52 | Washington | 25 | 252 | 10.1 | 3 | 5-30-0 |
2021 | • Pat Freiermuth, Pitt. | 55 | Penn State | 23 | 310 | 13.5 | 1 | 60-497-7 |
2001 | Alge Crumpler, Atl. | 35 | North Carolina | 23 | 287 | 12.5 | 1 | 25-330-3 |
2004 | Benjamin Watson, N.E. | 32 | Georgia | 23 | 324 | 14.1 | 2 | 2-16-0 |
2002 | Jerramy Stevens, Sea. | 28 | Washington | 10 | 88 | 8.8 | 1 | 26-252-3 |
2009 | Richard Quinn, Den. | 64 | North Carolina | 8 | 97 | 12.1 | 1 | 0-0-0 |
—Ian Allan