Whatever happened to the old rule of thumb that it was best to stay away from rookie tight ends? That they tended to take longer to transition to the pro game?
It’s been turned on its ear in recent season. Sam LaPorta (as a rookie) was the most productive tight end in the game in 2023 – at least using PPR scoring. Brock Bowers did the same last year.
And now we’ve got a group of productive rookie tight ends. Tyler Warren is a possibility to finish as the most productive player at the position; he’s currently the 3rd-most productive tight end. After last night, Oronde Gadsden is 7th in production among tight ends (using PPR scoring), while Harold Fannin is 12th.
The way things are going, we’re going to have three rookie tight ends finish with top-15 numbers (at their position) for the first time in the 32-team era. Only four times previously have two rookie tight ends made the top 15 in the same season.
| ROOKIE TIGHT ENDS WITH TOP-15 NUMBERS | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | No | Yds | Avg | TD | PPR | Rk |
| 2002 | Jeremy Shockey, NYG | 74 | 894 | 12.1 | 2 | 175.4 | 3 |
| 2002 | Randy McMichael, Mia. | 39 | 485 | 12.4 | 4 | 112.3 | 9 |
| 2004 | Chris Cooley, Was. | 37 | 314 | 8.5 | 6 | 104.4 | 12 |
| 2005 | Heath Miller, Pitt. | 39 | 459 | 11.8 | 6 | 120.9 | 14 |
| 2006 | Owen Daniels, Hou. | 34 | 352 | 10.4 | 5 | 99.2 | 14 |
| 2008 | John Carlson, Sea. | 55 | 627 | 11.4 | 5 | 147.7 | 7 |
| 2008 | Dustin Keller, NYJ | 48 | 535 | 11.2 | 3 | 119.5 | 14 |
| 2010 | Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | 42 | 546 | 13.0 | 10 | 156.6 | 11 |
| 2010 | Aaron Hernandez, N.E. | 45 | 563 | 12.5 | 6 | 142.0 | 14 |
| 2013 | Tim Wright, T.B. | 54 | 571 | 10.6 | 5 | 141.3 | 13 |
| 2017 | Evan Engram, NYG | 64 | 722 | 11.3 | 6 | 173.6 | 5 |
| 2019 | Noah Fant, Den. | 40 | 562 | 14.1 | 3 | 113.0 | 15 |
| 2021 | Kyle Pitts, Atl. | 68 | 1026 | 15.1 | 1 | 176.6 | 6 |
| 2021 | Pat Freiermuth, Pitt. | 60 | 497 | 8.3 | 7 | 153.7 | 13 |
| 2023 | Sam LaPorta, Det. | 86 | 889 | 10.3 | 10 | 239.3 | 1 |
| 2023 | Dalton Kincaid, Buff. | 73 | 673 | 9.2 | 2 | 152.3 | 11 |
| 2024 | Brock Bowers, L.V. | 112 | 1194 | 10.7 | 5 | 262.7 | 1 |
| 2025 | Tyler Warren, Ind. | 33 | 439 | 13.3 | 3 | 94.9 | 3 |
| 2025 | Oronde Gadsden, LAC | 27 | 385 | 14.3 | 2 | 77.5 | 7 |
| 2025 | Harold Fannin, Cle. | 32 | 290 | 9.1 | 1 | 67.0 | 12 |
I think the position has changed (for a lot of them, anyway). A lot of these tight ends today are more like wide receivers than tight ends – Warren, Bowers, Gadsden. They’re often lined up away from the line of scrimmage, catching passes rather than blocking much.
When more tight ends in the past needed to master both blocking and pass catching, it made transition to the pros more difficult, with more to learn. They may have fewer responsibilities now as blockers, or teams have just gotten better at finding roles for them.
Heading into seasons, I need to be more open to the potential of rookies being productive right away.
—Ian Allan