TE - The Problem The Jets Need To Solve

There are a lot of improvements the Jets can make this season, but providing Zach with a reliable TE is a priority.

Good morning Jets fans and welcome to Thursday’s edition of the TJW. I’m not sure what the plan is for the newsletter over the festive period, how often can I creep away from family gatherings to write up some Jets content? Who knows. We may just have to play it fast and loose and hope for the best, similar to what the Jets did with their TE’s this season.

What a fluid introduction into today’s newsletter theme. We’re going to talk about tight ends. Every single year I watch with envy as other teams enjoy the production they get from their TE position. This year you have Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews both with 1000+ receiving yards, last year it was Kelce and Las Vegas’s Darren Waller, George Kittle joined them in 2019. Last season the Jets got 373 yards total from their full-time tight ends Ryan Griffin and Chris Herndon, this year it’s at 400 between Tyler Kroft and Ryan Griffin, that’s simply not good enough in today’s NFL.

Cutting Ryan Griffin at the end of the season will free up over $3 million for the cap, Tyler Kroft was signed to a one-year deal last off-season, so the Jets have the opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start again. Kroft has had some horrible injury luck this year, and I wouldn’t be against bringing him back in a backup role as when he’s been on the field, he’s been useful. But Ryan Griffin? No. A couple of hundred yards and a fair few missed blocks including the one below shouldn’t be the acceptable standard for a team wanting to gain the respect of the league.

So far in 2021, 150 players in the NFL have more receiving yards than the Jets top TE, there are 29 TE’s alone who have more receiving yards than the Jets top TE. Some of that is absolutely on the QB and inconsistent play, but most of it is on talent level. Ryan Griffin has been in the league since 2013 and has passed 350 receiving yards once in his career (442 in 2016). Tyler Kroft has been in the league since 2015 and he’s only passed 150 yards in a season once (404 in 2017). There are 35 TE’s in the league who have come down with more contested catches than Griffin (2) and Kroft (2). So we are getting what we deserve based on the investment we made.

The trade of Chris Hernon (plus a 6th round pick) to the Vikings in August for a 4th round pick seems like more of a steal every single day, the former Jet has 4 catches for 40 yards in 14 games for Minnesota, after a bright start to his career, the fall has been quite dramatic.

Remember how good it was to have Dustin Keller? Back in 2011, he caught 65 passes for 815 yards and 5 touchdowns, the year before it was 55 passes for 687 yards and 5 touchdowns. Mickey Shuler may have started slow, but he had 5 straight seasons of 400 yards or more receiving, including a 76 catch, 879 yards, and 7 touchdown season in 1985. Jerome Barkum played on some awful Jets teams but he finished his career with nearly 5000 yards and 40 TD’s, all with the Jets.

All is not lost if you want to upgrade your TE position, the 2022 off-season is the perfect opportunity. There are numerous free agents set to be available and a draft class that may not have the top-end talent of a Kyle Pitts, but does have the depth through the middle rounds.

Free Agents

Here is a look at the free-agent class at tight end along with their stats from 2021. Some won’t hit the open market, but more than a couple will. I’ve left Rob Gronkowski off the list as there is no chance he’s landing in New York.

Like with anything stat-related, context is needed. Tonyan tore his ACL in October which limited him to 8 games, and who knows how he’ll bounce back from that injury. O.J Howard’s numbers aren’t great, but he is playing behind Rob Gronkowski, and even when Gronk was down he had to share the reps with Cameron Brate, yet Howard’s 70% completion on his targets is higher than both Gronkowski and Brate.

Gesicki’s contested catches look great, but that’s because Tua frequently throws it up for him, he’s completed 13 of 28 for a success rate of 46.4% which puts him at the lower end, behind the likes of Everett who is at 100% ( 4 from 4) and Schultz who is at 60% ( 9 of 15). Engram has improved his hands this year and he has Daniel Jones throwing to him, so how many opportunities have been left on the field? Maxx Williams is a great blocker but he’s well behind Ertz in terms of target share in Arizona.

Dalton Schultz for me is far and away the most appealing free-agent tight end. He’s a good blocker, he’s reliable and he’s productive. He does have the benefit of having Dak Prescott throw him the ball while the secondary needs to worry about Lamb, Cooper, and Gallup, but he still put up over 600 yards in 2020 with Andy Dalton throwing him the rock for the majority of the season.

Behind Schultz you have Njoku who’s 14.5 yard per reception average shows how explosive he can be, and he’s a much better blocker than people give him credit for. It could be argued that Cleveland don’t use him enough as he’s had to share reps and targets in 2021 with Austin Hooper (48 targets) and Harrison Bryant (23 targets).

The simple fact is that maybe outside of Williams, any of those players would be an improvement on what we have. But, if you’re trying to help your young rookie QB, a player like Schultz or Njoku should be your target.

NFL Draft

In an ideal world, I think you sign one big name tight-end and then you draft another between rounds 2-4. That’s where the value is to be had in this draft class. Using the same metrics as above, let’s take a look at some of the options that will be available.

There are four tight ends in here that I’m really interested in. Trey McBride, Isaiah Likely, Cole Turner, and a guy I’ve liked for a couple of years Iowa State’s Charlie Kolar.

All four of those guys are good in most areas you look for in a tight end coming out of college. They’re all good blockers at the college level, which doesn’t always translate well to the next level, but I’d rather take a good blocker at the FBS level than a bad one.

All of them have been productive, McBride, Turner, and Kolar’s contested catch numbers are outstanding, and Likely has shown the ability to win in those scenarios (like the one below), but his quickness often had him open, so no need for a contested catch.

A lot of people like Wydermyer, and while I like him, 8 drops on 40 catches is a concern and while he played in the more difficult SEC, his blocking is behind everyone but Grant Calcaterra who’s basically a slot receiver (only 27.5% of his snaps came as an in-line TE). I don’t always trust PFF, but the eye test matches the numbers there.

Jake Ferguson is a bit of a dark horse, he won’t get a ton of attention because he’s not flashy. He’s a traditional Y tight-end who’s as reliable as they come, in terms of a target and as a blocker. Wisconsin is a heavy run-team and they have experienced a lot of inconsistency with their passing attack, Ferguson has been the constant.

Perfect Pairing

As I mentioned earlier, my preference is to hit on one TE in free agency and one in the draft. If you want to bring Tyler Kroft back to be TE3 then I have no problems with that.

Dalton Schultz + Trey McBride/Isaiah Likely

I really like this pairing for a couple of reasons. They offer the Jets an incredible amount of versatility. Both are good blockers, Schultz is a better in-line blocker, and McBride/Likely are better move blockers. All can play in-line and all can play in the slot, they flash good hands and have the ability to win in the contested catch situation. All know how to work their way back to the QB and both would offer Zach a safe outlet.

Top Jets Tight Ends

Writing this post got me thinking about the best Jets tight ends of all time and as I love a list or two, I decided to put down my top 5:

1) Mickey Shuler

• A third-round pick out of Penn State in 1986, Shuler finished his career with over 5000 receiving yards and 37 touchdowns. He played for 12 years for the Jets before ending his career with a 2-year stint in Philadelphia.

2) Jerome Barkum

• Barkum was the 9th overall selection in the 1972 draft out of Jackson State. Like Shuler he played for the Jets for 12 years, but unlike Shuler he never played for another team. He finished with 4789 yards and 40 TD and was a hybrid WR/TE.

3) Dustin Keller

• Drafted by the Jets 30th overall in the 2008 draft out of Purdue, Keller had his career cut short when he tore his ACL, MCL and PCL after moving to the Dolphins in 2013. He was the best modern Jets TD by some margin finishing his career with 2,876 yards and 17 touchdowns over 5 seasons.

4) Rich Caster

• Caster was a 2nd round pick out of Jackson State in 1970 and was a 3 time pro bowler as a hybrid WR/TE. He played 8 years with the Jets catching 245 passes for 4434 yards and 36 TD’s. He went on to win a Super Bowl with the Washington Redkins beating the Dolphins.

5) Pete Lammons

• How could I leave our Super Bowl-winning TE off this list? Lammons was the 68th overall pick in the AFL draft in 1966 (The Browns also picked him in the 14th round of the NFL draft, but Lammons chose the Jets). Lammons played for the National Championship winning Texas Longhorns who defeated Roger Staubach and Navy in the 1964 Cotton Bowl. Over his 6-year career with the Jets he caught 184 passes for 2,364 yards and 14 TD’s.

Honorable mention: Chris Baker

As always thanks for reading. Tomorrow I’m going to be doing my first mailbag. So if you have any questions you want my thoughts on, pop them in the comments below.