While Kelce aligns in-line enough. Reading Time: 6 mins read. Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith finds San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle for a NFC touchdown in the Pro Bowl Games. Deguara has been nothing more than a role player in the run game, Tonyan averaged 8.9 yards per catch in 2022, Lewis turns 39 in May and Davis wasnt impactful on offense last season. Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James intercepts Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith pass at the goal line in the Pro Bowl Games. So theres some holes there. 26)Cameron Brate, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Not unlike other positions, the AFC North has a wide array of talent at the position even depth-wise with players like Nick Boyle, Harrison Bryant, etc. Watch the reveal of the tight ends on 2022 AFC, NFC Pro Bowl rosters. Head coach DeMeco Ryans has reached the top of the coaching ladder in the place where he began his playing career and now he says he has "hit the ground running," to transform the Texans into a legitimate threat in the AFC South. Signed to a four-year extension last November, Goedert will be part of Philadelphias offensive attack for seasons to come. However, our focus here specifically relates to thestarting tight endsin the division. Former quarterback Eli Manning rocks new Death Row chain in an interview with Snoop Dogg and Peyton Manning. The start of training camp is now just days away for teams across the NFL, with preseason and the regular season not far down the line. That increased pass volume, paired with a young wide receiver group, led to tight end Mark Andrews finishing as the fantasy TE1 on an absurd for the Ravens 154 targets. Thats almost half of the average delta from the other 31 teams in the same splits from a season ago. If he can stay healthy, Kittle will be a reliable target for presumptive 49ers quarterback Trey Lance in his first year as a full-time starter. The Ravens started their draft by addressing a pass defense that ranked just 25th in 2021 (which, as well see shortly, had a lot to do with injuries more than anything else), selecting safety Kyle Hamilton with the 14th pick of the first round. He served as quarterback Colt McCoy's safety valve and has a chance to thrive in coach Pat Shurmur's new West Coast offense. Our purpose here, over a selection of series throughout the summer months, will be to evaluate this talent and rank the starting players at each position within the division. The Steelers had somewhat of a down year defensively last season, allowing the 22nd most points per game at 24.4. Njoku finally found his game in the NFL last year for the Browns as well, turning in a 36/475/4 season, leading to a huge extension from the Browns after receiving the franchise tag. If Miami is going to be as run-heavy as McDaniels 49ers were last season, Gesicki will have to get better as a blocker. All other NFL-related trademarks are trademarks of the National Football League. 25) Tyler Conklin, New York Jets Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams laterals to Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill for eye-catching TD for AFC. For our rankings, we will utilize prior performance via advanced metrics and data (with an emphasis placed on the most recent season), as a benchmark. This week ESPN.com ranked the NFL's best tight ends, and no one in the AFC North made the cut. He should see a lot of single coverage from safeties and linebackers in Cincinnati, which should help him find his 2020 level once again. Those guys either have to step into those roles and fill them, or were going to have to look other places, Gutekunst said Tuesday. The AFC North has been one of the most unpredictable divisions in football over the past few years. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the division with an unimpressive 8-9 record, and the other three teams followed closely behind with a 7-10 record each. His calling card is a very good blocking and catching tight end that . . Stats: 40 receptions, 599 yards, five touchdowns. 17) C.J. Mike Gesicki is not your fathers tight end. Rader is a solid special teams player and overall blocker, while Sternberger has 12 career catches and one score in his three-year career. On the other side of the ball, the Browns chose to make Njoku the fifth-highest paid tight end in the league from a yearly perspective. NFL footage NFL Productions LLC. Daxton Hill gives the back end another athletic option, capable of playing all five positions in the secondary as well as being a near-perfect fit for zone usage. 2023 NFL Enterprises LLC. They made their second pick in the first round as well, selecting center Tyler Lindbaum with the 25th pick. AFC North Bengals Browns Ravens Steelers AFC South Colts Jaguars Texans Titans AFC West Broncos Chargers Chiefs NFC East Commanders Cowboys Eagles Giants NFC North Bears Lions Packers. Temporibus autem quibusdam et aut officiis debitis aut rerum necessitatibus saepe eveniet. The Seahawks took second place, led by veteran Geno Smith, who many wrote off as a career backup or bridge QB after the . 2 in Cleveland, though it remains a run-heavy system overall. The Ravens target the tight end position the most in the league at 29 percent. But Miller remains one of the leagues most well-rounded and dependable tight ends. As a rookie, Pat Freiermuth started nine games for the Steelers. 2 hole thanks to the emergence of Freiermuth, who looked like the next great young tight end as a rookie in 2021. Why is that important to us moving forward? Pittsburgh has long taken care of its own under Tomlin and this year is no different with the in-house promotion at defensive coordinator. Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb makes a toe-tapping touchdown catch on a deep dime from Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith's for the NFC Pro Bowl Team. Cleveland did quite the number with their quarterback position this off-season, selling the farm to land Deshaun Watson and his baggage from Houston. Steelers work to keep playoff hopes, Mike Tomlin's streak alive. Ben Roethlisberger's retirement makes this a transitional season in . The former third-round pick appeared in all 17 games as one of the few Ravens players who managed to stay fully healthy last year, and he was efficient even when Lamar Jackson was unavailable. Austin Allen and Nick Guggemos are signed but have never played in a regular-season game. 20) Gerald Everett, Los Angeles Chargers Kansas City's Travis Kelce, San Francisco's George Kittle, Baltimore's Mark . 2005-2023 CBS INTERACTIVE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. He topped 1,000 yards in all those campaigns, and even a slightly down year in 2021 resulted in a 92-1,125-9 line. Sign up for the Raiders Wire newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning, Raiders have a new DL coach in former Ravens OLB coach Rob Leonard, Assessing Raiders level of need at EDGE as free agency approaches. While the stars of the position are typically elite . Thats an especially vital skill in a San Francisco offense that ran the ball at the fourth-highest clip in the league in 2021. Odds & lines subject to change. Yes, he ran more routes and played more snaps, but the magnitude of that delta is absurd. Losing Uzomah to the Jets will really hurt this position group overall in Cincinnati. Though some big names like Austin Hooper, CJ Uzomah and Eric Ebron have departed, star-caliber players in Mark Andrews, Pat Freiermuth and David Njoku remain. 2 TE role well. Njoku has long been lauded for his athletic profile with the ball in his hands, but the Browns immediately pointed out his blocking acumen after signing him. Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence's first-ever Pro Bowl Games touchdown pass goes to Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams in the second flag football game between the AFC and NFC Pro Bowl Teams. The parity should continue into the 2022-23 campaign. Jarwin sadly suffered a potentially career-ending hip injury in 2021 and is no longer with the Cowboys, so Schultz wont have any competition for targets next season. The AFC North is a perpetual battleground with four rosters that have talent abound, the strengths of which can (and do) vary from position to position. The Baltimore Ravens have one of the deepest tight-end groups of any team in the NFL, and leveraged that strength to great effect in 2022. Starting off with Week 5's highest over/under point total on SI Sportsbook, it's a AFC West divisional rivalry game between the Raiders and Chiefs ( O/U 51 ). With it comes the start of free agency. All Rights Reserved. Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith and San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk team up for a NFC Pro Bowl Team touchdown on a direct snap flea-flicker trick play. Blake Jarwin was far more involved in the teams offense from 2018-19, and the former undrafted free agent signed a three-year extension with the Cowboys in March 2020. 2022 AFC North. In the fourth installment, we are going to rank the starting tight ends in the division. Which internal free agents should the Packers want back this offseason? Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst can see exactly what the outside world sees looking in: tight end and safety are big roster needs in Green Bay this offseason. While he could reach a new mark now that Ertz is gone, Goedert will have to contend with the addition of A.J. In 2021, Pitts saw 110 targets and caught 68 of them for 1,026 yards and one touchdown. He topped 1,000 yards in all those campaigns, and even a slightly down year in 2021 resulted in a 92-1,125-9 line. Most notably, Taylor calls plays on the offensive side, and Anarumos defense has continued to over-perform based on the talent and experience of the players available to him. Ravens tight end Mark Andrews is undeniably the best player at the position in the AFC North and is one of the best across the entire NFL. The secondary needs to be so much better besides Minkah Fitzpatrick, who continues to be an amazing . Michael Mayer - Notre Dame Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer (87) celebrates a. July 19, 2022 11:38 am CT. His 2.8% positive run-block rate ranked last, and his 22.1% negative run-block rate was the second worst among his peers. More specifically, he was most impactful on short passes in the center of the field where he caught 25 of 29 targets for 214 yards and 16 first downs. All four teams (the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, and Pittsburgh Steelers) have general managers, front offices, and personnel departments that have proven more than capable of evaluating, acquiring, and retaining talent in recent years. The defensive continuity remains strong, with Marcus Peters and Marlon Humphrey locking down the back end while Calais Campbell, Odafe Oweh, and Justin Madubuike wreak havoc up front. Gutekunst specifically pointed to both positions when asked about his roster at the NFL Scouting Combine. The former first-round draft pick was tied for third on the Bengals with 52 receptions. Freiermuth was targeted at the highest clip (61.0 percent) and accumulated his most yardage (345) on throws from 0-9 yards downfield. The 2022 NFL Draft is officially over, and over 250 prospects now have new teams. 3 job in Cleveland remains up in the air as Miller Forristall, Nakia Griffin-Stewart, Zaire Mitchell-Paden, and Marco Santos-Silva will battle it out for the third and final spot on the roster at the position. University of Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter, one of the top prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft, is the subject of arrest warrants in Athens, Georgia, on reckless driving and racing charges as a result of an ongoing investigation into a fatal car crash on Jan. 15, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department said on Wednesday. The NFC South was an absolute mess last year. Last season, the Baltimore Ravens ascended to the top spot in my Ranking The Rooms: AFC North TEs piece, in large part due to the star power of Andrews, and the impressive depth featuring names like Nick Boyle and Tony Poljan. Really, the only other major addition through free agency came with the signing of tight end Hayden Hurst, who should split duties with 2019 second-round pick Drew Sample. Skinny: Watson was Cleveland's best receiving threat last year, as the team's receivers continue to struggle. Stats: 52 receptions, 471 yards, four touchdowns. Thats a somewhat tough pill to swallow considering how tight this division is projected to be this year. Goedert has never received more than 87 targets in a single season. How would you rank the AFC North starting tight ends? That remains to be seen. His career production is up there with Gonzalez, Antonio Gates, Jason Witten, and other legends at the position. Skinny: Gresham had a strong rookie showing for Cincinnati. Published 6/13/2022. Mounting injuries were the real Achilles heel of this defense in 2021, more than any quantitative metric. 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