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This wasn’t a particularly strong draft class at the tight end. Out of 259 prospects drafted in the 2021 NFL draft, just 11 of them play the tight end position. There were only five positions that had fewer players taken over the course of seven rounds, and three of those positions were kicker, fullback, and punter. Of the 11 that were drafted, there was only a handful who were viewed as players that could contribute in Year 1.
Tight end is never a position that players hit the ground running, as there have been no rookies finishing higher than TE16 in the past three seasons despite some talented players coming out of those draft classes in Noah Fant of the Denver Broncos and Mike Gesicki of the Miami Dolphins. It generally takes a couple of years for them to hit their stride. While this was viewed as a weaker tight end class, there were still some names that could have ruffled some feathers for some veterans this year.
The guys we’re looking at today are the veterans that avoided any of the stray bullets on draft day. While guys like Hayden Hurst of the Atlanta Falcons saw star rookie Kyle Pitts come to town, these guys are heading for possibly huge seasons after no rookie competition was added to steal their snaps away. Coincidentally, there are a few guys on this list that could be heading into make-or-break seasons with their current teams.
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Dawson Knox, Buffalo Bills
Coming out of Ole Miss in 2019, there was a quiet bit of hype surrounding Dawson Knox. He had been buried on a college roster that featured star wideouts D.K. Metcalf and A.J. Brown along with DaMarkus Lodge, who had an extremely productive career in school. With only John Brown and Cole Beasley at the top of the receiving corps, Knox was viewed as the safety valve player to help quarterback Josh Allen begin to take the next step. Heading into Year 3, Knox has been set up with his best chance at success.
Tight end and running back were two skill positions the Bills could have looked to target. They didn’t draft a single player at either spot, and they added just one pass catcher in the sixth round in the form of wideout Marquez Stevenson. After being viewed as a possible breakout candidate last season, the only competition Knox has at the tight end spot is Tommy Sweeney and Jacob Hollister.
The main component for Knox to be successful will be capitalizing on his red zone opportunities. He saw six red-zone targets in 2020, but he only scored three touchdowns on the year. Through two seasons, in the five games he’s scored a touchdown, he’s averaging just under 12 PPR points per game. That would have firmly put him in the top-10 among tight ends last season. With Brown gone and no tight ends set to contest him, Knox’s chances of success went up following draft weekend.
T.J. Hockenson, Detroit Lions
T.J. Hockenson’s professional life has been one heck of a roller coaster since late November. Longtime starting quarterback Matthew Stafford was shipped off to the Los Angeles Rams. Head coach Matt Patricia and GM Bob Quinn were both fired, and the team’s receiving corps outside of Quintez Cephus has completely changed. Heading into the draft, the Lions were viewed as one of the teams that would have the wide receiver position at the top of their needs. Instead, they exited the draft with just one new pass catcher in the form of wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Hockenson was second on the team in targets last season and he’s the only player outside of running back D’Andre Swift that’s returning with more than 35 targets under their belt. Based on the additions the Lions have made, it would appear they’re content to run the passing game through Hockenson as the primary option, similar to how the Kansas City Chiefs operate through superstar Travis Kelce. Hockenson isn’t to the level of play Kelce is, but he has a clear path towards that level of a role this season, and it all starts with quarterback Jared Goff.
Goff saw a considerable bump in his performance over the last three seasons when his tight ends scored touchdowns. In the eight games Tyler Higbee scored a touchdown, he saw a bump just under four points, and he saw a nine-point bump in the five games Gerald Everett scored. Hockenson is objectively better than either of those two tight ends, and he’s the most talented pass-catcher left. If he and Goff are able to get chemistry built early on, he’s primed for a big season, especially with the news that free agent signing Josh Hill announced his retirement.
Adam Trautman, New Orleans Saints
If you look at the New Orleans Saints’ official depth chart, second-year tight end Adam Trautman is listed as the second-stringer behind veteran Nick Vannett, who will be on his fifth team since 2016 in 2021. However, by the time the season rolls around, Trautman should be the leading man in that position. The Saints thought enough of Trautman to make him one of their just four draft picks in 2020 despite already having Josh Hill and Jared Cook at the position and other more pressing needs.
In the 2021 draft, the Saints added just one pass catcher in the form of seventh-round wide receiver Kawaan Baker. This is despite the fact that they had lost Cook and Emmanuel Sanders in the offseason while only bringing in Vannett. Outside of two-time All-Pro wideout Michael Thomas and running back Alvin Kamara, the team doesn’t really have a consistent receiving threat. That leaves a lot of work available for Trautman to snatch up.
Trautman didn’t play the stiffest competition in college, but he put up some strong numbers, including 14 touchdowns and four different games of over 100 receiving yards in his final season. He also had at least 50 yards in all but two contests while scoring at least once in all but three outings. Trautman didn’t have a ton of rookie buzz around him last year, but he’s primed to show some life at a position that doesn’t have a ton of proven contributors outside of the top few.
Anthony Firkser, Tennessee Titans
Heading into the 2020 season, it was well noted that the Titans had no tight ends under contract past 2020 outside of undrafted free agent Tommy Hudson. Once free agency kicked off, the Titans lost just about every offensive weapon outside of A.J. Brown and Derrick Henry before bringing back Firkser and Geoff Swaim. The team also added Jared Pinkney, but the tight end room should be viewed with Firkser as the bright and shining prize. With wideouts Corey Davis, Adam Humphries, and Kalif Raymond along with tight end Jonnu Smith all out of the building, Firkser has a clear and defined role to step into.
The Titans lost 47.9 percent of their targets from last season, which ranks as the third-most in the NFL, and they lost 56.6 percent of the team’s air yards, which ranks as the second-most behind only the Lions. Firkser ranked fourth on the team in targets last season behind Brown, Davis, and Smith, but he finished the year with just one receiving touchdown, which was equal with Cameron Batson, Swaim, Darrynton Evans, and D’Onta Foreman despite having 23 more targets than those players combined.
Looking at his last three seasons playing behind Smith, Luke Stocker, and Delanie Walker, Firkser just never quite got the opportunities to show off his skills. However, in the rare occasions that he did, there were flashes of potential. In the six games he saw at least five targets, he averaged just under 10 points per game. As a late-round option at a largely barren position, you would take that out of Firkser every week and twice on Sunday.
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