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NFL tight end rankings: All 32 units entering the 2020 NFL season | NFL News, Rankings and Statistics | PFF
PFF unveils its 32-team NFL tight end group rankings for the 2020 NFL season.
www.pff.com
The tight end units are top-heavy this season, as there are many teams with strong options but also many with massive question marks. It’s crucial to have playmakers at tight end in today’s NFL, and it’s clear that some teams were lacking dynamism and overall speed last season. To rank these units, we balanced star players along with depth at the position. Here are the top tight end units heading into 2020.
1. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
George Kittle has become the new standard for multi-faceted, all-around tight ends. He’s finished with the top grade in the league in each of the last two seasons and last year posted a 94.4 mark, earning the coveted PFF Dwight Stephenson Award as the best player in the NFL regardless of position.
Kittle has burst, quickness and an after-the-catch mean streak as a receiver, and he has led tight ends in yards after the catch in each of the last two seasons. Far from just a weapon in the receiving game, Kittle also brings it as a run-blocker, where he recorded a top-six run-blocking grade in both 2018 and 2019.
Ross Dwelley is the backup behind Kittle, though he graded at only 57.0 overall last season. Keep an eye on rookie sixth-rounder Charlie Woerner, too, because he could earn snaps in the run game. Woerner graded at an impressive 82.9 in the run game last season at Georgia while showing off the ability to effectively block on the move, which is a must for tight ends in San Francisco’s offense.
Kittle makes this unit the best in the league, though they could use more depth to take at least some pressure off.
2. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
Travis Kelce finished with an 88.5 receiving grade during the 2019 regular season, finishing in the top four among tight ends for the fourth consecutive year. Kelce can do it all in the passing game, from route running to making defenders miss to making the tough catches over the middle. He is also used all over the offensive formation to create mismatches, and when paired with Tyreek Hill, there’s not a more difficult duo to defend in the league.
The backup tight end spot has not been a high-volume one, and this season it will be a battle between Deon Yelder and Ricky Seals-Jones. Yelder has four career receptions, while Seals-Jones might be the more intriguing option as a former college wide receiver who is still relatively young at the position. Seals-Jones has averaged 12.9 yards per reception during his career, and even though he’s earned receiving grades in the 50s in each of the last two seasons, he’s still the kind of player the Chiefs could put in a position to succeed.
As long as Kelce is in the mix, the Chiefs will have one of the best tight end units in the league.
3. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
The Eagles have one of the best tight end duos in the league in Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert, and they helped keep the offense afloat throughout all the injuries suffered by the team’s wide receivers a year ago.
Ertz is a difficult cover for any linebacker or safety, and he was open on 73.1% of his targets against single coverage last season, the best rate in the league among tight ends. He’s one of the most effective receiving tight ends in the entire NFL, grading above 75.0 as a receiver in all but one of his seven years in the league.
Goedert, on the other hand, was a first-round-caliber prospect in 2018 but was drafted in the second round, at 49th overall. He had a strong rookie season and followed it up with an 82.7 overall grade last year that ranked 10th in the league. Goedert has a good combination of downfield speed and ball skills, and he can also block, as his 78.9 run-blocking grade ranked second in the league in 2019. We may see Goedert steal more of Ertz’s production as he heads into Year 3.
The Eagles have two legitimate top-15-caliber tight ends, giving them one of the best pairs in the league.
4. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
The Bucs already had one of the NFL’s best 1-2 punches at the tight end position in O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate, but adding WWE superstar Rob Gronkowski just makes the team even more dangerous.
While Gronkowski sat out the 2019 season and wasn’t even the same dominant player when he did play in 2018, his nine-year career was perhaps the best stretch of tight end play in NFL history. He has six seasons with 90.0-plus receiving grades, he’s an excellent blocker and even if he’s not the same Hall of Fame-caliber talent, just having his familiarity with quarterback Tom Brady is a huge win for the Bucs.
Howard has had a roller-coaster start to his career, grading at 61.4 as a rookie, 89.1 in his second year and 54.7 last season. He has the size, speed and long frame to win up the seam, and even with the ups and downs, Howard is still averaging an impressive 15.5 yards per reception over his career.
Meanwhile, Brate has seen his production decrease after two strong years in 2016 and 2017, but he’s a solid backup receiving option, especially if Gronkowski and Howard return to form. The potential is through the roof for this tight end corps, but it will all depend on Gronkowski’s condition and Howard looking like his 2018 self.
5. LOS ANGELES RAMS
The tight ends became a huge part of the Rams’ passing attack last season, finishing with 1,168 receiving yards, fifth-most of any tight end group in the league.
Tyler Higbee broke out to produce the third-best receiving grade among tight ends (90.1) while catching over 80% of his targets and averaging 5.8 yards after the catch per reception. Gerald Everett finished with the ninth-best receiving grade (78.9), making the duo the only teammates to rank within the top 10. Everett is also one of the most elusive tight ends in the league, as he forced 13 missed tackles on just 37 receptions last season.
Johnny Mundt played 170 snaps for the Rams, as well, doing his best work in the run game where his 72.4 grade ranked seventh among tight ends. The Rams also added Brycen Hopkins to the mix this offseason, and the fourth-rounder adds even more speed to the unit — he was the best vertical tight end threat in the 2020 NFL Draft, and he ran a 4.66 at the scouting combine.
Hopkins is more of a big slot receiver with “move” tight end potential, but he adds a nice depth and is more of a long-term play. The Rams have one of the best pass-catching tight end units in the league, and they may be called upon even more given the team’s uncertainty at the outside wide receiver position.
6. BALTIMORE RAVENS
Only Philadelphia’s tight ends caught more passes than Baltimore’s group, as the Ravens featured the position heavily and got 30-plus catches from three different players.
Mark Andrews broke out to post the position’s second-best receiving grade during the regular season (90.2), and he’s now averaged an impressive 14.0 yards per reception in his two years in the league.
While Andrews established himself as one of the best receiving weapons at the position, Nick Boyle also set career highs with 31 catches for 321 yards and posted the fifth-best run-blocking grade in the league, at 75.4.
With Hayden Hurst and his 500 snaps moving on to Atlanta, there’s room for a third tight end to emerge from a remaining group that contains Charles Scarff, Eli Wolf and Jacob Breeland, though these three players have yet to take an NFL snap.
7. MINNESOTA VIKINGS
Minnesota has one of the best one-two punches in the league at tight end, with Kyle Rudolph and Irv Smith. Rudolph has a huge frame, and while there always feels like there should be more production in there, he’s had a solid nine-year career for the Vikings. Last season, Rudolph had the No. 13 receiving grade during the regular season (76.9), though his run blocking has tapered off in recent years, given that he has graded in the 50s in this department for four consecutive seasons.
Smith brings a different skill set to the unit as more of an oversized receiver who can line up in the slot and make plays in space. He caught 39 passes for 350 yards as a rookie to go with a solid run-blocking grade of 65.4. Then there is 2018 fifth-rounder Tyler Conklin — and his 14 career catches — who will add depth to the group.
With so many question marks in the receiving corps and Minnesota’s penchant for two-tight end sets, expect even more production out of Rudolph and another step forward from Smith this season.
8. LAS VEGAS RAIDERS
One of the biggest stories of 2019 was Darren Waller emerging to produce the sixth-best receiving grade among tight ends, at 86.8. The college wide receiver showed flashes in 2018, but he put it all together last season, winning from various alignments and picking up 594 of his 1,146 yards after the catch to rank second at the position. Waller ranked just 40th with a run-blocking grade of 58.2, but his main role is creating mismatches, and he’s been one of the best value steals in the league in recent years.
The Raiders also signed Jason Witten this offseason, though he was a step slow in his return in 2019, averaging a career-low 8.4 yards per reception and posting a 60.1 run-blocking grade — his lowest mark since 2006. Witton is set to battle Foster Moreau for those short-area targets after Moreau caught 21 of his 23 targets while averaging 8.3 yards per reception last year as a rookie.
Derek Carrier also returns after producing the top run-blocking grade among the Raiders’ tight ends, at 68.7. As long as Waller continues his ascent to one of the NFL's most dangerous tight ends, the Raiders will rank near the top of the league, though they could use more juice among the backups.
9. LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
If Hunter Henry can stay healthy, he has top-five potential among tight ends. Henry posted an 85.7 receiving grade as a rookie in 2016, an 86.7 mark in his second season and then played just 14 snaps in 2018. He was then limited again last year, playing just 12 games.
Henry still graded at 73.2 overall, good for 14th in the league. He wins at all levels of the field and quarterbacks have a passer rating of 132.3 when targeting him, which is more than 10 points better than any tight end in the league since 2016.
The backup is Virgil Green, a run-blocking specialist who takes on the more difficult, in-line blocking assignments. Green is not much of a threat in the passing game — he’s never caught more than 22 passes in a season — but he’s performed his backup role well during his nine years in the league.
The rest of the depth chart includes Stephen Anderson, more of a “move,” H-back type, and 6-foot-8 Donald Parham, a third-year project out of Stetson College. The Chargers need a full year of Henry to maximize their pass-game potential, and if he stays healthy, they’ll have one of the more productive tight end units in the league.
10. CLEVELAND BROWNS
It’s clear that the Browns want to feature the tight end position in their offense, and they took the first steps toward that by signing free agent Austin Hooper to a $42 million contract this offseason.
Hooper is a solid all-around player, but he’s not a mismatch creator offensively. Since 2016, more than 75% of Hooper’s production has come either against zone or underneath the coverage, by far the highest rate in the league, but that should make him a productive part of the Browns’ offense. Hooper is a reasonable blocker, as well, though he is coming off a career-low 56.2 run-blocking grade.
The acquisition of Hooper raised questions about 2017 first-rounder David Njoku’s future with the team, but he should have plenty of opportunities in this tight end-heavy system. Njoku posted good receiving grades of 71.1 and 65.3, respectively, in his first two years in the league, and he complements Hooper well as more of a “move” option in this offense.
The Browns also drafted Harrison Bryant from Florida Atlantic in the fourth round. Bryant is a productive player and strong route-runner who posted the top receiving grade in the nation last year at 92.7, though his combine workout showed a below-average athlete.
Hooper should produce in Cleveland’s new offense, but it is Njoku’s development that could put this unit over the top and make it one of the league’s best.
