I’m not a big Zach Ertz fan. With him being 33, I’m not sure he’s got much of anything left. He asked for his release from the Cardinals late last year, hoping to sign with a playoff team, but couldn’t find anyone who wanted him.
He’s signed with the Commanders now, and my first thought was to wonder if he’s any better than the similarly older tight end they just released? Logan Thomas (who’s a year younger) caught 55 passes and 4 touchdowns last year. Thomas was due to make $6.5 million, so there’s some savings in the switch (reports suggest Ertz’s deal will be at least $1.5 million cheaper).
While Ertz’s best ball is in the distant past, he has worked with offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury. When that pair was together in Arizona two years ago, Ertz was catching lots of short passes in the middle of the field, and he was a big part of their red zone offense. He caught 47 passes and 4 TDs in 10 games that season before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
While those aren’t earth-shattering numbers, Ertz until his injury that season was averaging better numbers than guys like Evan Engram, Dalton Schultz and David Njoku. He was on the fantasy radar, and presumably there’s some chance Kingsbury will use him in a similar kind of role.
If we take the 2022 numbers and organize them by per-game production, Ertz was the 6th-best tight end that season using PPR scoring (among tight ends playing at least half the season). If we’re drafting today, I think we’d have to give him some consideration about 20 player into the position – at worst, a tight end we’ll need to be keeping an eye on during the preseason.
Below see those per-game stats (which are not from the just-completed season but from 2022).
| TIGHT ENDS PER GAME, 2022 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | St | No | Rec | TD | FPG |
| 1. | Travis Kelce, K.C. | 17 | 6.5 | 78.7 | .73 | 18.7 |
| 2. | George Kittle, S.F. | 15 | 4.0 | 51.0 | .73 | 13.5 |
| 3. | Mark Andrews, Balt. | 15 | 4.9 | 56.5 | .40 | 13.0 |
| 4. | T.J. Hockenson, 2tm | 17 | 5.1 | 53.8 | .39 | 12.8 |
| 5. | Dallas Goedert, Phil. | 12 | 4.6 | 58.5 | .25 | 11.9 |
| 6. | Zach Ertz, Ari. | 10 | 4.7 | 40.6 | .47 | 11.6 |
| 7. | Evan Engram, Jac. | 17 | 4.3 | 45.1 | .25 | 10.4 |
| 8. | David Njoku, Cle. | 14 | 4.1 | 44.9 | .29 | 10.3 |
| 9. | Dalton Schultz, Dall. | 15 | 3.8 | 38.5 | .33 | 9.6 |
| 10. | Jordan Akins, Hou. | 9 | 2.9 | 37.3 | .48 | 9.5 |
| 11. | Darren Waller, L.V. | 9 | 3.1 | 43.1 | .33 | 9.4 |
| 12. | Pat Freiermuth, Pitt. | 16 | 3.9 | 45.8 | .13 | 9.3 |
| 13. | Dawson Knox, Buff. | 15 | 3.2 | 34.5 | .40 | 9.0 |
| 14. | Tyler Higbee, LAR | 17 | 4.2 | 36.5 | .18 | 8.9 |
| 15. | Gerald Everett, LAC | 16 | 3.6 | 34.7 | .27 | 8.7 |
| 16. | Cole Kmet, Chi. | 17 | 2.9 | 32.0 | .41 | 8.7 |
| 17. | Greg Dulcich, Den. | 10 | 3.3 | 41.1 | .20 | 8.6 |
| 18. | Juwan Johnson, N.O. | 16 | 2.6 | 31.8 | .44 | 8.4 |
| 19. | Hayden Hurst, Cin. | 13 | 4.0 | 31.8 | .15 | 8.1 |
| 20. | Tyler Conklin, NYJ | 17 | 3.4 | 32.5 | .18 | 7.7 |
Ertz said on the Pat McAfee podcast that it was the presence of Kingsbury that led him to sign with Washington. “When he got the job in Washington and I was a free agent, it was very easy for me to say, ‘hey, this is a place that I would love to play for,’” he said. “They’ve essentially redone the entire building since I came into the league. New owner, new GM, a new head coach and I’ve never heard anyone say a bad word about Dan Quinn and so I’m extremely excited to play for him and to get back on the East Coast is going to be fun.”
—Ian Allan