Zach Ertz is old. He’ll be 35 in November. But I’m inclined to think he’s probably got another decent season left in him.
Granted, he doesn’t get downfield much anymore. But he’s reliable on shorter routes, particularly in crowded situations around the goal line. In his last seven games last year, he caught 6 touchdowns and a 2-point conversion. There seems to be a trust/rapport between him and Jayden Daniels in those high-leverage moments.
And Kliff Kingsbury seems to believe in him. They worked together in Arizona, recall, which played a role in them reconnecting in Washington. They both understand what’s expected off the position. And Kingsbury uses Ertz as a chess piece around the goal line. In their last 27 games together, Ertz inside the 10-yard line has caught 15 passes, including 10 touchdowns and 4 scores on 2-point conversions.
Washington has another tight end in the bullpen. They drafted Ben Sinnott in the second round a year ago, hoping he’ll develop into their starter. So there’s some sense in stashing Sinnott in dynasty formats.
But until Sinnott does something that causes me to believe otherwise, I’m thinking it will be Ertz remaining in the starting lineup and putting up decent numbers.
Below see the leading tight ends from the last two years using per-game numbers (PPR scoring). With Ertz, I’m using not his numbers from the last two years, but his stats from his last two years with Kingsbury (omitting his 2023 stats with Arizona). List includes tight ends who’ve started over half the time.
| LEADING TIGHT ENDS (last 2 yrs) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | St | No | Rec | TD | FPG |
| George Kittle | 31 | 4.6 | 68.4 | .45 | 14.2 |
| Travis Kelce | 31 | 6.1 | 58.3 | .26 | 13.5 |
| David Njoku | 27 | 5.4 | 51.4 | .43 | 13.1 |
| Trey McBride | 33 | 5.8 | 59.7 | .21 | 13.1 |
| Sam LaPorta | 33 | 4.4 | 48.9 | .54 | 12.5 |
| Evan Engram | 26 | 6.2 | 51.1 | .21 | 12.5 |
| T.J. Hockenson | 25 | 5.4 | 56.6 | .20 | 12.3 |
| Mark Andrews | 27 | 3.7 | 45.1 | .63 | 12.0 |
| Zach Ertz | 27 | 4.2 | 39.3 | .46 | 10.9 |
| Jonnu Smith | 34 | 4.1 | 43.1 | .32 | 10.3 |
| Dallas Goedert | 24 | 4.2 | 45.3 | .21 | 10.0 |
| Tucker Kraft | 24 | 3.2 | 42.5 | .39 | 9.8 |
| Jake Ferguson | 31 | 4.2 | 40.5 | .16 | 9.2 |
| Cole Kmet | 34 | 3.5 | 35.1 | .30 | 8.9 |
| Hunter Henry | 30 | 3.6 | 36.4 | .27 | 8.8 |
| Isaiah Likely | 24 | 2.7 | 33.5 | .46 | 8.8 |
| Dalton Kincaid | 29 | 4.0 | 38.7 | .14 | 8.7 |
| Pat Freiermuth | 29 | 3.3 | 33.1 | .32 | 8.6 |
| Dalton Schultz | 32 | 3.5 | 36.5 | .22 | 8.5 |
| Cade Otton | 31 | 3.4 | 34.0 | .27 | 8.4 |
—Ian Allan