Tyler Conklin has caught 61 and 58 passes the last two years, but I doubt that I will select him in any drafts this year. I just don’t have any confidence they’ll be using him that much.
Barring something wild happening, the Jets will be adding Aaron Rodgers. He’s a much better passer than anybody they’ve had at quarterback. But I don’t think this is going to help Conklin. Rodgers never used his tight ends much when he was with the Packers.
Rodgers spent 15 years as a starter in Green Bay, and in only two of those seasons did he have a top-10 tight end. Robert Tonyan caught 11 touchdowns back in 2020, finishing as a top-5 tight end (in leagues using PPR scoring), while Jermichael Finley caught 55 passes and 8 TDs back in 2011, finishing as the No. 9 tight end that year.
The Packers have had some tight end prospects, including Finley, Jimmy Graham and Jared Cook. But Rodgers never did much with them. With the stats in front of me, I notice that Rodgers in 15 years there connected on only two 2-point conversions to tight ends (he completed 16 of those passes to other positions).
I’ve listed Rodgers’ Green Bay tight ends below. I see seven who finished seasons with 51-63 passes. But with the majority of those teams, no tight end caught 40 passes. And only six of those teams had a tight end who caught more than 3 TDs.
I expect I’ll have Conklin graded as a second tight end, but there are a bunch other second tight end types I would rather select. (And are we even positive Conklin is the best tight end in New York? When the Jets signed C.J. Uzomah last year, he got a contract worth over $1 million per year more – and Jeremy Ruckert might be ready to play more in his second year.)
| GREEN BAY TIGHT ENDS IN AARON RODGERS ERA | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | 2pt | PPR | Rk |
| 2020 | Robert Tonyan | 52 | 586 | 11.3 | 11 | 0 | 176.6 | 5 |
| 2011 | Jermichael Finley | 55 | 767 | 14.0 | 8 | 0 | 179.7 | 9 |
| 2015 | Richard Rodgers | 58 | 510 | 8.8 | 8 | 1 | 160.1 | 11 |
| 2009 | Jermichael Finley | 55 | 676 | 12.3 | 5 | 0 | 152.6 | 12 |
| 2018 | Jimmy Graham | 55 | 636 | 11.6 | 2 | 0 | 130.6 | 12 |
| 2012 | Jermichael Finley | 61 | 667 | 10.9 | 2 | 0 | 139.7 | 14 |
| 2022 | Robert Tonyan | 53 | 470 | 8.9 | 2 | 0 | 112.0 | 20 |
| 2008 | Donald Lee | 39 | 303 | 7.8 | 5 | 0 | 99.3 | 20 |
| 2019 | Jimmy Graham | 38 | 447 | 11.8 | 3 | 0 | 100.7 | 21 |
| 2014 | Andrew Quarless | 29 | 323 | 11.1 | 3 | 0 | 79.3 | 26 |
| 2009 | Donald Lee | 37 | 260 | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 69.0 | 31 |
| 2013 | Andrew Quarless | 32 | 312 | 9.8 | 2 | 0 | 75.2 | 36 |
| 2016 | Jared Cook | 30 | 377 | 12.6 | 1 | 0 | 73.7 | 36 |
| 2013 | Jermichael Finley | 25 | 300 | 12.0 | 3 | 0 | 73.0 | 37 |
| 2016 | Richard Rodgers | 30 | 271 | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 69.1 | 37 |
| 2010 | Jermichael Finley | 21 | 301 | 14.3 | 1 | 0 | 57.1 | 39 |
| 2021 | Josiah Deguara | 25 | 245 | 9.8 | 2 | 0 | 61.5 | 40 |
| 2010 | Andrew Quarless | 21 | 238 | 11.3 | 1 | 0 | 50.8 | 42 |
| 2014 | Richard Rodgers | 20 | 225 | 11.3 | 2 | 0 | 54.5 | 43 |
| 2009 | Spencer Havner | 7 | 112 | 16.0 | 4 | 0 | 42.2 | 44 |
| 2012 | Tom Crabtree | 8 | 203 | 25.4 | 3 | 0 | 46.3 | 47 |
| 2017 | Lance Kendricks | 18 | 203 | 11.3 | 1 | 0 | 44.3 | 48 |
| 2021 | Robert Tonyan | 18 | 204 | 11.3 | 2 | 0 | 50.4 | 49 |
| 2010 | Donald Lee | 11 | 73 | 6.6 | 3 | 0 | 36.3 | 49 |
| 2018 | Lance Kendricks | 19 | 170 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 42.0 | 50 |
| 2019 | Marcedes Lewis | 15 | 156 | 10.4 | 1 | 0 | 36.6 | 51 |
| 2008 | Tory Humphrey | 11 | 162 | 14.7 | 0 | 0 | 27.2 | 51 |
| 2021 | Marcedes Lewis | 23 | 214 | 9.3 | 0 | 0 | 44.4 | 54 |
| 2020 | Marcedes Lewis | 10 | 107 | 10.7 | 3 | 0 | 38.7 | 56 |
| 2017 | Richard Rodgers | 12 | 160 | 13.3 | 1 | 0 | 34.0 | 58 |
| 2013 | Brandon Bostick | 7 | 120 | 17.1 | 1 | 0 | 25.0 | 58 |
| 2008 | Jermichael Finley | 6 | 74 | 12.3 | 1 | 0 | 19.4 | 61 |
| 2015 | Justin Perillo | 11 | 102 | 9.3 | 1 | 0 | 27.2 | 62 |
| 2020 | Jace Sternberger | 12 | 114 | 9.5 | 1 | 0 | 29.4 | 64 |
| 2019 | Robert Tonyan | 10 | 100 | 10.0 | 1 | 0 | 26.0 | 64 |
| 2011 | Tom Crabtree | 6 | 38 | 6.3 | 1 | 0 | 15.8 | 64 |
| 2022 | Marcedes Lewis | 6 | 66 | 11.0 | 2 | 1 | 26.6 | 70 |
| 2022 | Josiah Deguara | 13 | 114 | 8.8 | 0 | 0 | 24.4 | 72 |
| 2012 | D.J. Williams | 7 | 57 | 8.1 | 0 | 0 | 12.7 | 73 |
| 2010 | Tom Crabtree | 4 | 61 | 15.3 | 0 | 0 | 10.1 | 77 |
| 2018 | Robert Tonyan | 4 | 77 | 19.3 | 1 | 0 | 17.7 | 79 |
| 2011 | Ryan Taylor | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 7.4 | 82 |
| 2011 | Andrew Quarless | 3 | 36 | 12.0 | 0 | 0 | 6.6 | 83 |
| 2020 | Dominique Dafney | 2 | 26 | 13.0 | 1 | 0 | 10.6 | 85 |
| 2013 | Ryan Taylor | 6 | 30 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 9.0 | 85 |
| 2014 | Brandon Bostick | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 1 | 0 | 8.3 | 87 |
| 2016 | Justin Perillo | 4 | 35 | 8.8 | 0 | 0 | 7.5 | 90 |
| 2015 | Andrew Quarless | 4 | 31 | 7.8 | 0 | 0 | 7.1 | 93 |
| 2021 | Tyler Davis | 4 | 35 | 8.8 | 0 | 0 | 7.5 | 94 |
| 2011 | D.J. Williams | 2 | 13 | 6.5 | 0 | 0 | 3.3 | 94 |
| 2012 | Ryan Taylor | 1 | 11 | 11.0 | 0 | 0 | 2.1 | 99 |
| 2022 | Tyler Davis | 4 | 26 | 6.5 | 0 | 0 | 6.6 | 100 |
| 2017 | Emanuel Byrd | 2 | 31 | 15.5 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 | 100 |
| 2021 | Dominique Dafney | 2 | 34 | 17.0 | 0 | 0 | 5.4 | 102 |
| 2018 | Marcedes Lewis | 3 | 39 | 13.0 | 0 | 0 | 6.9 | 104 |
| 2020 | Josiah Deguara | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 0 | 0 | 2.2 | 107 |
—Ian Allan