Who has the best tight end in the NFC East?
The tight end position has five superstars hovering above the crowded field in the NFL. Kansas City’s Travis Kelce, San Francisco’s George Kittle, Baltimore’s Mark Andrews, and Las Vegas’ Darren Waller were joined last season by Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts. Ranked underneath them the position is filled with solid players who could still be enormously important to offenses even if they aren’t game changers.
Whether big red-zone threats, seem stretchers, quarterback security blankets, or even just good blockers, tight ends impact offenses more than most other positions. Doing any of those jobs at a high level can create headaches for defensive coordinators, but ones who can do it all can be nightmares.
The NFC East as a whole has some very productive starters, but where do they rank versus one another? This series is a position-by-position breakdown of what each organization is bringing to the competition and the focus in this edition are the tight ends.
New York Giants
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The Giants are a true unknown at the tight end position after veteran free agent Evan Engram signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jordan Akins is the Giants most productive tight end on the roster, and Ricky Seals-Jones is another veteran who can help possible starter. Their hope has to be that rookie Daniel Bellinger becomes an instant production machine.
Bellinger is a 6-foot-5, 253-pound prospect who could be an excellent all-around tight end. He comes into the league with the mentality and size to block and an excellent athletic profile that could translate to a tough cover for linebackers and safeties.
He didn’t have a lot of production at the college level and most tight ends take time to develop, especially Day 3 picks.
Without anybody on the depth chart that is a real difference maker, the Giants had to land dead last in the NFC East. The Eagles, Cowboys, and Commanders all have viable options as starters.
Washington Commanders
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Logan Thomas, believe it or not, started his career as a quarterback way back in 2014 for the Arizona Cardinals. His first completion in the NFL even went for an 81-yard touchdown. His stint as a QB lasted two seasons, mostly on practice squads and he eventually switched to a tight end while on the Detroit Lions’ practice squad. After not doing much for four seasons he had his first big season in Washington in 2020. Thomas brought in 72 receptions for 670 yards and six scores.
Thomas could have his biggest year with the Commanders this coming season. Carson Wentz is a quarterback who loves throwing to his running backs and tight ends, but even if that comes to fruition it’s hard to move the needle here. At 31, and now in his seventh season, having one solid year isn’t good enough to match Dalton Schultz or Dallas Goedert.
Dallas Cowboys
(AP Photo/Ron Jenkins)
After developing for two years under Jason Garrett and behind future hall of fame tight end Jason Witten, Dalton Schultz had a breakout year in his first season with Mike McCarthy as head coach. Even without quarterback Dak Prescott for most of the season, Schultz still managed to accumulate 615 yards and four touchdowns on 63 receptions. In his first full season with Prescott, he backed it up with 78 catches for over 800 yards and found the end zone eight times.
With that kind of production how is it that Schultz is second in the division to anybody? The simple answer is, it’s unknown how much of the production Schultz has had is due to the level of player he is. The Cowboys offense has had Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, and Michael Gallup that defenses have had to worry about during Schultz’s two big years in Dallas.
The match ups every week typically leave Schultz in man coverage versus a linebacker or safety and having a QB like Prescott makes it easy to win in that scenario, but even Andy Dalton was able to exploit those match ups with positive plays. If one were to place Schultz with a lesser quarterback-skill-position environment, or a higher pedigree talent in the Cowboys’ offense and what would be the effect?
Schultz is doing his job well and shouldn’t be knocked for that, but there may be a reason the Cowboys didn’t put much effort into reaching a long-term agreement with him.
Philadelphia Eagles
(AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth)
Goedert is very close to being one of those game changers at the tight end position. Just last year he had more yards than Dalton Schultz on 22 less receptions. Goedert has averaged 48 receptions for 573 yards and four touchdowns while never being elevated by a great QB and having to split time with Zach Ertz.
In his first year as the clear starter without Ertz, Goedert did not disappoint. He put up 200 more yards than his previous career high, averaging over 14 yards a catch and when the QB targeted him the QBR was 121.1. Goedert plays more inline than the other top playmaking tight ends in the NFL because the Eagles are a run-first offense. Goedert is the top-rated run blocker at his position and has helped his team lead the league in rushing.
Pro Football Focus ranked Goedert in the elite tier at the position along with the top five guys mentioned earlier for a reason. He is a true dual threat that helps offenses at every level. He is a big part of the run game success, a big play machine, and a QB security blanket as well. It’s plausible that with a top-rated QB, Dallas Goedert could be the best tight end in the league.
Conclusion
Statistically the NFC East has two of the top ten tight ends in all of the NFL in Dalton Schultz and Dallas Goedert. Only the AFC West can top those two with Darren Waller and Travis Kelce, who are both top 5.
Logan Thomas could be looking to creep into that top 10 area with a tight end friendly Carson Wentz as his QB. IT wouldn’t be farfetched for him to be able to outproduce guys like Hunter Henry, Tyler Higbee, or T.J. Hockerson next season if he stays healthy.
The New York Giants are a project at tight end still that could see Akins start and be productive or just throw a good rookie prospect right out into the fire. If the Giants can bring anything to the table, the NFC East could have the best division of tight ends in the league.
You can find Mike Crum on Twitter @cdpiglet or at Youtube on the Across the Cowboys Podcast.
