National Tight Ends Day: Who are the top 10 tight ends in the NFL?

National Tight Ends Day is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of October, which means this Sunday, October 23, we have some celebrating to do. A rather new holiday, National Tight Ends Day came into existence in 2018, when 49ers tight end at the time Garrett Celek caught a touchdown pass. Tight end George Kittle recalled that quarter back Jimmy Garoppolo asked, “what is it, like National Tight Ends Day?”, and thus…it was.

And so we recognize the tight ends this Sunday, one of the more underrated positions in football. The tight end is a combination of an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. While the early days of the NFL saw the tight ends as more of pass blockers, since Mike Ditka joined the league in the 1960s, he changed the position forever. Today, tight ends can be used both as pass blockers and receivers, often putting up significant numbers.

To celebrate National Tight Ends Day, let’s take a look at some of the current best tight ends in the NFL in 2022.

1. Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs

Kelce is 33 years old, but you wouldn’t know it by the way he plays. Kelce is Patrick Mahomes’ safety net and has through six weeks of the 2022 season brought in 14 of 16 targets for 106 yards and a league-high four touchdowns. He is a seven-time Pro Bowler and future Hall of Famer and has earned 1,685 yards when aligned wide, twice the amount as any other tight end since 2018.

2. Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens

Andrews is a huge part of Balrimore’s passing game - he leads the Ravens’ other pass catchers with 1,158 yards on crossing routes over his five-year career. This season, he has accounted for 35.5% of their air yards, the most by any tight end in a season since 2016.

3. David Njoku, Cleveland Browns

Njoku is finally able to showcase what he can do this season after missing several games from the 2019-2021 seasons with injuries. He is a favorite target of quarterback Jacoby Brissett’s now is averaging 77 yards over the past four weeks this season with at least six targets in each game.

4. Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles

Goedert is one of those tight ends that doesn’t just catch that ball, but also does something with it. This year, he’s caught 85.7% of his passes and has over 76 yards after the catch over expected, which he’s tied with T.J. Hockenson for first.

5. Zach Ertz, Arizona Cardinals

Ertz is in the top three tight ends in receptions (17) and yards (151) and is fourth among tight ends with 22 receptions of fewer than 10 air yards. While the rest of Arizona’s receiving core is suffering, Ertz remains a consistent part of Kyler Murray’s offense.

6. Will Dissly, Seattle Seahawks

Though Dissly sees less targets than other tight ends, he produces extremely well with what he’s given. He has only missed one target all season and has a passer rating of 144.3 when targeted, leading all players who’ve been targeted at least 15 times.

7. Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers

Freiermuth is seeing the targets - he’s been targeted on 26% of his routes, the fourth-highest among tight ends who’ve run at least 50 routes. Not only that, but he has managed to get the ball moving downfield too with 136 receiving yards on targets of at least 10 air yards, second only to Travis Kelce.

8. T.J. Hockenson, Detroit Lions

Hockenson is currently tied for first with Goedert among tight ends who are catching over 76 yards after catch over expected. He’s averaging 7.9 receiving yards per target this season, ranked fourth among tight ends with at least 20 targets.

9. Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams

Higbee is still targeted quite often considering he’s playing alongside Cooper Kupp. Higbee is targeted on 28% of his routes, second behind Andrews among tight ends who have run at least 50 routes. He leads tight ends with 32 receptions and 273 yards on targets of fewer than 10 air yards.

10. Tyler Conklin, New York Jets

It’s strange to say, but the Jets are actually having a good season and even stranger to say that it’s because of the draft and offseason moves they made, one of which was acquiring Conklin. He is among the top three in the league in receptions (11) and yards (126) when aligned tight.