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An NFL player entering his rookie year in the league generally has high expectations for himself. Unfortunately, those expectations may not be met for all players and some may fall flat in their first NFL campaign.
A player entering his sophomore year will once again have high expectations and they may sometimes breakout, but other times they may not.
There were many skill players from the 2020 NFL Draft who didn’t have a great rookie year but are poised to breakout. Well, I am here to tell you that some from that class may flop again. Here are some tight ends who are set to bust again in their second NFL year:
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Devin Asiasi, New England Patriots
After the retirement of Rob Gronkowski, the Pats have had essentially no tight end production, as Ryan Izzo (I don’t know who he is either) led the TE room last season with 199 yards total on the season. A third-round pick last year, Asiasi managed a mere two receptions for 39 yards and a score on seven targets in NINE total games in his rookie campaign in 2020.
Aside from the fact that the 2020 draft pick is entering 2021 with a bad taste, adding more salt to the wounds is the addition of two capable tight ends in Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry during the team’s aggressive offseason.
Henry has managed at least 45 receptions, 575 yards, four touchdowns, and 63 targets in three of four NFL seasons with the Chargers. Smith is coming off his best NFL season in 2020 where he amassed 41 receptions for 448 yards and eight scores on 65 targets in 15 games with the Titans. Neither of these TEs is elite, but they are certainly more proven and capable than Asiasi. So... it will be another bust season for the second year TE.
Josiah Deguara, Green Bay Packers
The Packers selected Deguara in the third round of the 2020 draft, but he only played two games in which he accumulated one reception for 12 yards on two targets. The guy really stealing the show in 2020 was TE Robert Tonyan, who finished with a breakout season comprised of 52 receptions for 586 yards and 11 scores on 59 targets in 16 games. Jace Sternberger has looked good early in training camp but we've heard little about Deguara making progress. Aaron Rodgers is back, but that doesn’t mean good news for Deguara; it means good news for Tonyan. Firmly buried in the depth chart, Deguara is quite far from fantasy relevance.
Harrison Bryant, Cleveland Browns
Bryant had the most encouraging rookie season of anyone on this list, but that doesn’t mean he’ll thrive in his second year with Cleveland. For one, Austin Hooper is atop the TE depth chart on the team. Second, we can’t forget David Njoku is still on this roster and can contribute as well. Njoku had an incredible sophomore season in 2018 where he had 56 receptions for 639 yards and four scores on 88 targets in 16 games, so the potential is there.
Meanwhile, Bryant finished with 24 receptions for 238 yards and three scores on 38 targets in 15 games last year. Not the worst, but not that great either. Overall, the second-year TE will face a decent amount of competition for targets from a variety of pass catchers (Hooper, Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry, etc.) and will likely not be a priority for Baker Mayfield. Thus, Bryant is likely not due for a breakout campaign.
Albert Okwuegbunam, Denver Broncos
The Broncos picked the Missouri product last year in the fourth round and he was teammates with Drew Lock for a bit on the Tigers, so there was already established chemistry. That’s about the only positive that came out of Denver drafting this TE. Okwuegbunam had a disappointing rookie campaign where he managed 11 receptions for 121 yards and a score on 15 targets in four games.
Denver’s leading TE is Noah Fant who is coming off a stellar sophomore season with 62 receptions for 673 yards and three scores on 93 targets in 15 games. It’s safe to say Okwuegbunam isn’t a threat to Fant’s role and is buried in the overall receiving depth chart. He is not likely to have a big role in this offense in 2021 and thus is heading toward another bust year.
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