June 5, 2025 • 27 mins
Tom and Jacob rank their top ten tight ends from the 2024 season and looking ahead to next season in 2025.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
We'll get to our party of tight ends next, And
by next, I mean in a couple of minutes. I
tease that, like the episode was about to end as
it just started. But I got a couple of things
that I do want to throw by you. First of all,
I don't even know we don't have a name for this,
like a random stat or just a random thing that
Tom saw, but I'm going to bring it up anyway
(00:31):
because I saw this using Instagram reels on the Throne
earlier this morning.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
On the Throne. Did you know that you call it?
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Did?
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Twenty eight percent of the MVPs in the NFL's history
have come from two franchises, No, twenty eight percent. The
Colts and the Packers have won twenty eight percent of
all the dating to almost three out of ten times.
Dat name it's a Packer or a cult the MVP
dating back to whenever. I mean, you've got Manning obviously
(01:04):
with the Colts, right Rogers racking up a ton, You've
got Unitis with the Baltimore Colts racking up some.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
You've got Burt Jones, who could forget Burt Jones.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
You've got Earl Morale, Morale another quarterback for the Colts
that won him, and then you got guys like Paul Horning,
Jim Taylor, Bart Starr and then Rogers and Farv just
won an absurd amount each at MVP for those franchise.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
So I won again.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
I'm wondering if it's just like in the I mean,
I don't know, because like thirty eight is the first
time everybody was called the Joe f Car Trophy.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Who won that? Was it a cult? Let's see?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
No, he was a New York Giant. Look it was
mel Hine.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
No, I think this goes back to everything, so.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Including melhin because because the AP MVP didn't start until
nineteen fifty seven, won by Jim Brown and he was
a Brown.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
But then the next guy to win it was Johnny You.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
I mean with Hornung and you were talking about guys
who played in the fifties in the sixties, man, like,
so yeah, this goes all the way back.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
No, no, no, no, Horning didn't win until nineteen sixty
one when we had the AP title.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
I know, but I'm just saying, like, so.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
I'm just wondering if it's just the AP. I don't know,
it's a long time, it's it's it's not.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Because you just kind of went down a weird path
of No, I didn't well technically and horn at nine
and are we sure that it wasn't won by other
team either way, even if you do add in some
more culture packers or more players going back to whatever
in nineteen thirty, it was whenever, it was still the
(02:45):
cults and packers that have an absurd amount of MVP awards.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Packers.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I kind of get Colts a sneak.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
It is a sneaky one though, but it.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Makes sense because Payton has the most individual MVP awards
won five two Johnny U has I want to say
he has at least two m v ps two three,
He's got three.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
It's three m vps for Johnny U. So it's five,
five for Peyton, three for Johnny U. Yeah, that's eight
MVP between the two guys.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Guys. Andrew Luck never won the MVP. No, he never did.
Hardbod didn't win it when he was there. I'm trying
to think the other guys there.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Earl Morale and Burt Jones were the only other guys
for the Colts, and they were playing for Baltimore when
they won the m v ps. All quarterbacks for the
Colts Packers had running back for the Packers.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Sorry to get nerdy on you.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
If you were to split up Baltimore versus Indianapolis, how
would that rank?
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Well? Based on Indianapolis?
Speaker 1 (03:41):
I mean, it's just paint five with Peyton's still really
really right?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Five?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
You're you're more than a lot of franchise, Peyton.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
That's probably that's probably why we think this number is.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Weirds more than this franchise.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
No, didn't Terry win it one year?
Speaker 3 (03:58):
That's what's five? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (03:59):
Yeah, okay, I think he said five. Maths with Jake,
I thought he said five more. Excuse me, we got
to put on some magic school bus for you. Yeah,
get miss Frizzle up in here. A lot, like you know,
seems like a high number, but it's really not. It's thirty.
But like you said, like a lot of teams probably
(04:20):
don't even have an MVP.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Correct. All right, let's move past this obscure STATY mean.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
The next one. You said you had two things to
talk about here, the.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Over analyzation of OTAs, and you're really seeing that.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
It's funny though, Well, I saw something with Will Howard
where they put out his stats from OTAs and it
had to be a joke.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
What does that even mean? Stats from the didn't follow
through on it enough.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I just kind of closed my eyes, scrolls past it
and said, I'm just going to choose to believe that
that guy's joking, because what are we doing here? But
my take here of over analyzation of Otias does not
come from the Brownies. No, I just blew it does
not come from Will Howard. But it comes from the Browns.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
Okay, because we just spent a couple of minutes ago
in the last episode talking about I was blew it.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
My brain was found out.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
It is not about Will Howard and his stats. It
is about the over analyzation of the Brownies in their
quarterback room.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Dude.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
I've seen people say, like Shaudor Sanders has looked better
than any quarterback we've ever seen out here. He looks great,
he looks polished. I've seen people say Shaudor Sanders looks bad.
I have seen someone in a radio host in Cleveland
go through the consensus number one best quarterback in camp
was Flacco. The consensus number two at OTA's was Shador.
Gabriel was number three, and he said the consensus worst
(05:40):
quarterback from people I talked to at Brown.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Yeah, I've seen that.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Too, Dude.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
They're in Jim Schwartz, and I gotta be honest with you,
the Browns are really hurting themselves here by having four
quarterbacks legitimately compete for something.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
It's impossible. You can't do it.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
There's not enough reps to go around for four of
these quarterbacks to legitimately get a good shot here to
legitimately be able to compete for this job. I saw
a headline the other day that said, Sir dor Sanders
went through practice without ever getting a first team rep.
It was just going to Gabriel, Pickett and Flacco in
the rotation. Now I read that headline, and you know what,
I thought, It's.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
A good move from Stefanski.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Let's put a little adversity on this kid's player, Like, hey,
let's see how he handles not being with the first
team and being the only quarterback not with the first team.
You know what, you probably did. He probably even in
what you're hoping he does. Don't even say a thing
about it. They don't even mention They doesn't even notice it.
Moral doesn't change, body language doesn't change. Maybe Privately, he says,
man has messed up. I didn't even get to play
with the first team. But everything's honky dory publicly. But
(06:42):
there's just such an over analyzation of that room. There's
just such an over analyzation of OTAs, especially when it
comes to the Browns in that quarterback room right now,
and that quarterback room is just going.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
To be.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
So rife with drama for most of the season. I
do think shir Door Sanders starts not at the beginning
of the year, and I think it's gonna be before
the season wraps up that we see Schudor as the
starting quarterback in the NFL, and one of them's got
to get cut right, and one of them has to.
You can't create four guys on a roster. You'll you'll
hurt yourself special teams wise, ye, unless Gabriel is gonna
go play special teams too.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
I thought the direction you were going with it makes sense.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
Obviously the quarterback is the obvious answer, but I thought
you were going to allude to how we spent a
couple of minutes in the previous episode talking about how
Deontay Johnson failed to show up to Brown's OTAs which
is not analyzing the stats of OTAs, but it is
analyzing over analyzing or or putting more impotence on OTAs.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
And maybe we should.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
But I think for Deontay's case, it actually does matter, right,
I think for Deontay, like, that's not something you can
just kind of like f around with.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
You gotta show up. And this is your fifth team
in three years.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
If you have been a a if you have been
like a good soldier wide receiver and you're as elder
as Deonta is in the league, you don't have to
show up to ots if you don't want to.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
But you're not. You don't have that room.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
You're not that guy.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Pal, You got to read the room.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Bro.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
All right, let's get to These are your best tight
ends in the NFL, according.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
To Jacob And no, no, no, there's an objective list that.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
We have created.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
But it's going to be different. So how can we
say it'll average out? You're just saying that it's a
rite off and Seinfeld.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
You just write it off.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
It just averaged out too. How does it average out?
It just averages out? You take the average? All right?
Speaker 1 (08:35):
You ready for my JDQMTC. Yeah, all right, number fifteen.
I got Dallas Goddard out of Philadelphia. Okay, I've got
in joke Ku. Yeah, number fourteen. I always have been
very high on in Djoku. I think he's good. He
never realizes his full potential, though, but he.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Is a good He's got a bunch of quarterbacks.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
He's had problems.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Uh yeah, Baker for a little bit there. Number thirteen,
I have Mike Kasiki. Look out for Mike Kasiki this year.
Now in year two with Cincinnat, he might establish a
Yeah he.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Never really took out.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Yeah, he never really took off this past.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Okay, Hunter Henry number twelve. Henry is like the meat
potatoes type in the NFL.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
Oh yeah, so I got I got Hunter coming up.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
And then at.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Number uh, let me see, Oh I think I screwed
up one here the bump one off.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
I got a tie at eleventh. Okay, I'll just do it.
Tie you mean title eleven or we're oh so we're
working down the sid go to.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Thirty twelve and these are tied eleven, working down, So
tied at eleventh. I've got Kyle Pitts. Okay, I've got
Isaiah Likely out of Baltimore.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
I like like I like likely, okay, so usually go eleven.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Yeah, I know, okay, so I'm gonna start eleven.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
I got Hunter Henry at eleven, like you said, just perfect,
does everything you ask him to, and maybe you know
who knows, maybe he'll get even better numbers as time
goes on. I got a joke you at twelve and
this one I feel like you're gonna have a couple
problems with.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
But I got Hock at thirteen just because he was hurt.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
But if he comes back and plays fully healthy this year,
he'll jump right back.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Into the top ten for me. Who is that Hock Hockinson?
Speaker 3 (10:15):
CJ. Howkinson? Yeah, yeah, I didn't even put him anywhere on.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Oh okay, I thought it ought to be like, come on,
is that.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Is that a common enough nickname to be able to
do that throw out? I guess not everybody know what
you're talking about.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
I don't think anybody knows him like that, all right?
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Number ten, Yeah, I'm going with an elder statesman here
at going with zach Ertz Washington Commanders, formerly of the
Philadelphia Eiggles seven tuties, six hundred and fifty four yards
last year. Yeah, that guy had a very good season.
He was targeted ninety one times by Jade and Daniels
caught sixty six passes. You've got Deebo, Samuel and Allen Washington.
(10:50):
You have Terry McLaurin in Washington. Very nice safety blanket
there with zach Ertz, and he has really aged gracefully,
had a nice little second act of his career. After
Phililadelphia got Dallas Goddard moved on from zach Ertz, and
now zach Ertz is in Washington. But as you can
tell from my list, I still think zach Ertz is
better than Dallas Goddard in Philadelphia.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
So give me Ertz at number ten.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Okay, I did.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
I did it?
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Okay, to start about stick, I do it at the
pick too, number ten.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
My pick at number ten, I did the thing. I
put our guy, I put mouth here.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
You're a hater because I put Pat Firmuth at number nine.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Wow, we'll get to it. You're a hater for zach
Ertz because I put zach Ertz.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
A number nine.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Did you really put right here? Okay? Nice? A little
flip flop there between Mouth and Ertz. Little Keystone boys, you.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Can try to keep mouth out of your top ten.
That you're numbers, you're negligent, they don't let you. Yeah, right,
then you run out of tight ends. Here's run out
of tight ends to put in front of him.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
Here's the thing too, that just shows like how good
he could be because all career long for Pat f Arnmuth,
we've said he can do so much more, and we
have taken the side of is it Muth or is
it how the team uses him? And we've always taken
the side off it's how the team uses him. So
the team if he no offense to the Steelers and
(12:14):
the play calling, if he was on like an offense
that actually utilized the tight ends, or put him on
Kansas City, let Pat Mahomes throwing the ball instead of
Travis Kelce. Pat Farronmuth is probably a top five ten
in the league.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
I think he's got the potential to be that player.
I think he's got the talent to be that player.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Like, don't put him on a team that's ranked bottom
ten in offense. And every year that he's been on
the team.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Caught seven tuties.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Last year, had six hundred and fifty three yards. Last
year he converted seventy eight targets into sixty five catches.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
That's absurd efficiency. I mean, there's thirteen times which we
knew that was his biggest ass.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
It's thirteen times he was targeted that it didn't end well,
that didn't end with at least him getting a ball.
So I got Firemuth at nine, you got him at ten,
You have ERTs at nine, and I have Ertz at ten.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
So let's move to number eight, number eight for me. Yeah,
I think he's a little off the radar. Okay, where
are you going? I'm going Tucker Craft in Green Bay. Yeah, Okay,
I think not a lot of people know about no
his game.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
No are familiar with the Charles or the Shaquille O'Neil
I wasn't familiar with. Yeah, right, I apologize. I think
that's the case with Tucker Craft. Hasn't that always kind
of been the case with the Packers and their tight
ends too, other than the Jimmy Graham years when they
had him there for a little bit with Rogers, like
do you remember, there were always just guys that were
kind of like like, sure, who's this guy?
Speaker 3 (13:33):
But then you pick him.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Up in fantasy and he has like an eight hundred
yard season and like six touchdowns well.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
That's exactly what Craft was last year.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
He had seven hundred and seven yards and he had
seven touchdowns and not to like.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
Michael Finley, is the big one that sticks just like yeah,
like Mercedes Lewis was a big one.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Yeah, Tanyan, you remember Robert Tanyan. I do remember Robert
tanya That was a huge.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
One where it's like no one thinks about him, but
he's probably a top ten tight end when you just
look at his production. And Rodgers has a lot to
do with that, sure, and now with Tucker Craft, Jordan
Love has a good bit to do with that too
and a great offensive mind.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
And but we like with Tucker.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Craft compared to could be future two his quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, we.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Like, uh so number eight Tucker Craft for me, much
like muth not to the level of mouth, but he
converted seventy targets to fifty catches, So that's really good
efficiency from Craft. He averaged fourteen point one yards per catch.
That's stretching the field and being a playmaker for a
tight end. And again, like I said, seven tuddies, So
I'll take Tucker Craft in his forty two yards per
(14:37):
game at the tight end spot in Green Bay, checking
in at my spot.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
My number eight.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
Probably the worst year of this guy's career, but still
top ten worthy. I got mister Kelsey theft you're a
number eight.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Kelsey was a tough one to rank. I got him
a little bit higher. But you're right, he fell.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
He fell.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
I mean, this is a guy's number one, And maybe
I was too harsh because the guy that's been number
one for each the last like six years. It's too
big of a fall or too harsh of a rating
to just have him fall that far from yards.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
And he almost had one hundred catches, you know what
I mean, like for his standard, not as good, but
still a top tight end.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
And we're talking about a history.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
We're talking about a first ballot Hall of fam We're
talking about first ballot Hall of Famer. Yes, like we
talked about how Dale Alway stood up to Troy palm all'
his name sat down at the Hall of Fame meeting.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
All you have to do for King Travis. Yeah, I mean,
you're looking at a Mount Rushma a tight ends. You're
looking at Kelsey, You're looking at Rovinzalez, You're looking at
Gronk Ditka. I guess I'll say that just because I
love him. Probably someone else that we're missing.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
In Kelsey is a you can't make that Mount Rushmore
without ends.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
But that is a little harsh, I think dropping him down.
He was eight for you, Yeah, all right.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Number seven for me is kind of another guy that
was in kind of that holy trinity of tight ends
for years and years, but had a bit of a
fall off here.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
For me, this is where I have Mark Andrews coming
in at number seven.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Mark Andrews got some of the yardage and the targets
taken off of his plate because of Isaiah likely.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
But the dude caught eleven touchdown passes this year. Jacob.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
He is still Lamar Jackson's go to guy when they
get down into that red area, he gets in the paint.
I mean, that's a great fantasy tight end, even though
he only had the six hundred yards on the air,
because he's racking up eleven touddies, the most of any
tight end by a good bit last year in the NFL.
No one else had double digit touchdowns in the NFL.
Andrews comes in with eleven at the tight end spot.
He dropped the most important touchdown of his season and.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
Maybe of his career. Yes he did.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
That's the irony of sports, right, the league leading tight
end and touchdown catches drops the layup in the most
important games.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
He did.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
But I still think Mark Andrews is in a top
ten tight end. I have him at number seven. I
wouldn't be surprised if we see likely and Andrews get
closer and closer together and maybe likely eventually pass him.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
Yeah I had I think we reversed. I had Mark
Andrews much higher on my list, had Kelsey much higher.
But again, you can't argue that he's still a top
ten worthy guy. My number seven was someone that you
claimed flew under the radar, but guess what, I ranked
him higher than you did. I have Tucker Craft number seven,
(17:14):
but no one knows who he is, like they should.
No one thinks about Tucker They really should, though.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
That's a fantasy people out there. You wait a little
bit on tight ends.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
I bet you Tucker Craft will be sitting there pretty
for you in a later round, and he's a great player.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
And you got a quarterback that can get in the ball.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yeah, that's like.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Most important with tight ends too, because quarterbacks that are
great love.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
I mean, yeah, like Kyle Pitts, like you had in
your j d q MTC. Yeah, I didn't even even
I didn't even have in mind because I.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
Didn't even have in mind.
Speaker 4 (17:40):
I mean, look at the quarterbacks that Kyle Pitts has
played with since entering the league.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Now, was his quarterback his rookie year?
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Was it not?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
You're right because he came in any.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Just like the third pick of that draft.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Yeah, So that's that's it. That's it.
Speaker 4 (17:59):
You might even want to give Pitt's credit for getting
to like a thousand yards this past season with such
bad quarterback play.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Yeah, I think you do, actually, all right.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
So that was my number seven.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
My number seven was Andrews.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
My number six is potential soon to be Steeler Johnny Smith.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Okay, I got him a little higher. This is where
I have john This is kind of fun though, right
because you.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Have Pat and Johnny Smith the only team with ten
tight ends according.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
To me and you.
Speaker 4 (18:26):
I think I think Jonan Smith is on everyone's top ten.
It just depends on where you put it.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Ravens close because we both have likely in our jdqmtc's
and Andrews in our top ten.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
So the Ravens. Ravens have the best.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Team I could have put.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
I could have put likely in my top m I JDQ.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Ravens have the best tandem right now when it comes
to Titan. Yes, but the Steelers would.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Be the potential, if not better. You could argue it.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Yeah, Johnny Smith had a better year than any of
those guys last year, because you say, well, what about
Andrews and his eleven tuddies?
Speaker 4 (18:53):
Smith at eight hundred and eight year eighty, he was
like third in yards and third and touchdowns on all
the tight ends, and he.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Got a ton of targets. He had one hundred and
eleven targets, he caught eighty eight balls. He on receiving
yards per game average was fifty two in the eight touchdowns.
So I got Johnny Smith coming in at number six.
He's a legitimately good to potential top five tight end
in the NFL. And you have him in your top five,
I do you have at number six?
Speaker 4 (19:20):
Number six? I got the guy who could be the
new face of the position. I got San Laporta here
and again helps that he's on a top five offense
in the league, no doubt, But even so, without that,
he's still putting up gigantic numbers.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
He is a monster.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
Like we were talking about tight ends scoring touchdowns, he got
seven touchdowns this year.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
That's a top five number for him.
Speaker 4 (19:45):
I mean, he's very young, but he is a massive
contributor to that offense. And like I said, I think
he could be as Andrews and Kittle and Kelsey are
all getting older, San Laporta as long as too this
offense continues to be high octane, he could be the
face of that position.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Yeah, I think he could. There's some other guys that
have a claim.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
I guess brought Bowers.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Yeah, but I like Laporter. You'll hear about laport from
me in a little bit. But number five starting my
top five is where I dropped.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Travis Kelce is still.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
See that's that's I probably should have done this.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Still in the top five, but not at that perch
that he's been at for so many years. Again by
his standards. Yeah, it was an underwhelming year. Eight and
twenty three yards, fifty one point four yards per game,
only three touchdowns in the regular season. That's a problem
for Travis Kelce definitely, But he's still such a great
tight end. I think the telling stat though, is that
(20:42):
he only averaged eight point five yards per catch. They
were giving him the ball like very short dump off
type of things last year. And you know what we're
used to seeing from Travis Kelce. He's that seam breaker
right like, he just runs right up the middle of
the field and no one seems to be.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
Able to catch him.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
So I got Kelsey at number five, maybe the all
time greade at the position, but has finally, I think,
given up his his spot at the top of this
power ranking. And it's been years since you could say that.
Speaker 4 (21:10):
Yeah, I mean, yeah, but I probably I think the
takeaway here is that I may have knocked him a
little harsh, too harsh.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
Yeah, who's your number five?
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Who starts my number five?
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Again?
Speaker 2 (21:20):
This is another guy who's new to the scene.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
Like I said, San Laporta could be the face, but
it's probably gonna be this guy.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
I got brock Bowers. It's low. You think it's low?
Speaker 3 (21:32):
Yeah, all right, that's fair.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
And I want everyone to know I made this ranking
a long time ago, before the John new Smith rumors
even started.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
I've got John news Smith.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Spoiler alert.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
I got Johnny at number four, above Rock Bowers, above
San Laporta.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Bro hold On.
Speaker 4 (21:54):
Among all tight ends this past season, Johnny Smith ranked fourth,
and receiving yards ranked third, sorry ranked second, tied for
second and touch and touchdowns, and was one of only
four guys with over one hundred targets.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
You have a two.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Out of those three things that you just listed, brock
Bowers did better than he did receiving yards and the targets.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Whoops, like, I mean, it's.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Okay, Well, you just brought a bunch of facts.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Again.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
They're one spot at there, They're next to each.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
Other on my rankings. I think you're wrong about this.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
One.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Number four for.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Me is Sam Laporta, So let's catch up. Okay, that's
where I have laport from the Lions.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
So you have Powers at number five five, and I've
John at four. All right.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
So your number three tight end then is well on,
let's just stop there. No, no, no, I want to
know who's coming up next. Your number three tight end
is this is where I got Kittle, all right. I
have Kittle at two, okay. I put Andrews at too.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
Okay, I put Trey McBride at three.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Uh oh, hand up? No, no, no, no, no, I'm good.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Is he your number one. Number one. Yeah, I brought
powers is my number one?
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Okay, So let's okay, So let's take a step back,
my let's let's get back to like five. So I
have Bowers there and you have who Kelsey Kelsey. Number four,
I have John New and you have Laporta Laporta. Is
there anyone you want to stop and talk about because
we're kind of just listening to talk about those guys?
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (23:23):
So number three, I have Kittle and you have Kittle.
At two, I have Trey McBride at three.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Okay, let's talk about these guys now.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Trey McBride had two touchdowns last year, but he had
a thousand, one hundred and forty six yards.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
And you remember he was on Touchdown Watch, like he
went like into like week twelve or week thirteen.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Touchdown seventy one point six yards per game for Trey McBride.
The only risk tight end that did more than that
in a per game basis was the guy who I
have in front of him in George Kittle, who averaged
seventy three point seven yards per game. He had eight touchdowns,
He had one and six yards for the San Francisco
forty nine ers He was the only weapon they had
last year really and played well.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
He was available the whole season.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Yuk and McCaffrey were out.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
McCaffrey came back, Deebo was where yeah, yeah, not himself.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
So it was all about Kittle and he stepped up.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
Yeah, and he did step up.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
So I still have Kittle at number two, kind of
a bit of a hat tip to him for just
because it was a trio of him, Andrews and Kelsey
for so long and I have Kelsey and Andrews kind
of back from that now. Still think Andrews is producing
or excuse me, Kittle is still producing at that level, right,
So I put him at two, and then try McBride.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
I put so, I put Andrews at two.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
You did, surprising me a little bit.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
Well, let the league in touchdowns at the position, and
again like one of only four guys that have one
hundred targets at that position.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
Sorry he was not, and that would be true, but
he's well below, well below that.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
They have Isaiah likely they spread the ball around when
it comes to tight ends and they actually are starting
to throw to their receivers now and again.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
And then number one being brock Bowers.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
For me and I had. So you haves a rookie
at once the.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Best tight end in football, and he was the best
receiving option out.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Of all the rookies last year, and he's top four
in the NFL as far as receiving yards. Now, McBride's
not that far behind as far as receiving yards is concerned, either.
But Bowers got the better of him in that. He
got the better of him in targets, He got the
better of him in catches, he got the better of
him in touchdowns.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
So I look at Bowers.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Bowers led all the tight ends in yards, he led
all tight ends and receptions. He was third in yards
per game, he led all tight ends and targets. I
think a lot of stuff points to brock Bowers.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
Being the guy.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
That's fine, iake up.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
He did it with Aiden O'Connell as his quarterback.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Right.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
You let me guess you have more of an issue
of me putting Bowers at five than me putting Kelsey
at eight.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Yeah, that's that's fair.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
Probably.
Speaker 4 (26:00):
And again, you know, we made these rankings a long
time ago. I probably didn't properly give Bowers as doing
it was closer to the end of the season. So
I was just saying, hey, kids, a rookie, like let's
see more than once, but you're probably right, like your
usual rookie.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Now you're right.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
Now he's got a quarterback ish to Fishy.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
He's the guy who could remember like Gino was top
five and passing yards last y. Yeah, and there's really
no one else to sling the ball to except you
know genty.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
That's a top five fantasy pick this year. Rock powers.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Not top five overall, buddy.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
If he has one hundred catches and twelve hundred yards
and eight times.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
He's a first round pick. But like in like twelve
man leagues, like which is the average? Now top five is?
I think it's like a first round pick. It's it's
fine to say top five. Man, you haven't played yearly
fantasy in a while.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
I know catches and touchdowns and yards are important.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Depends if you're doing PPR half PPR.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Okay, this is too nerdy for me.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Now he's Jacob on It's it's if you equate.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
If you do the equation, your nerd voice just sounds
like your normal voice. Come on, he's Jacob.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
Last day of OTAs is today, Mini Camp starts next week.
We will be back next week and maybe we'll.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Have We will be back. Will Will Aaron Rodgers be
the quarterback for the Steelers. We will find out or
we want.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
It's been the Steelers standard on Steelers Nation Radio, on
the Steelers Audio Network
We'll get to our party of tight ends next, And
by next, I mean in a couple of minutes. I
tease that, like the episode was about to end as
it just started. But I got a couple of things
that I do want to throw by you. First of all,
I don't even know we don't have a name for this,
like a random stat or just a random thing that
Tom saw, but I'm going to bring it up anyway
(00:31):
because I saw this using Instagram reels on the Throne
earlier this morning.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
On the Throne. Did you know that you call it?
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Did?
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Twenty eight percent of the MVPs in the NFL's history
have come from two franchises, No, twenty eight percent. The
Colts and the Packers have won twenty eight percent of
all the dating to almost three out of ten times.
Dat name it's a Packer or a cult the MVP
dating back to whenever. I mean, you've got Manning obviously
(01:04):
with the Colts, right Rogers racking up a ton, You've
got Unitis with the Baltimore Colts racking up some.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
You've got Burt Jones, who could forget Burt Jones.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
You've got Earl Morale, Morale another quarterback for the Colts
that won him, and then you got guys like Paul Horning,
Jim Taylor, Bart Starr and then Rogers and Farv just
won an absurd amount each at MVP for those franchise.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
So I won again.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
I'm wondering if it's just like in the I mean,
I don't know, because like thirty eight is the first
time everybody was called the Joe f Car Trophy.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Who won that? Was it a cult? Let's see?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
No, he was a New York Giant. Look it was
mel Hine.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
No, I think this goes back to everything, so.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Including melhin because because the AP MVP didn't start until
nineteen fifty seven, won by Jim Brown and he was
a Brown.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
But then the next guy to win it was Johnny You.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
I mean with Hornung and you were talking about guys
who played in the fifties in the sixties, man, like,
so yeah, this goes all the way back.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
No, no, no, no, Horning didn't win until nineteen sixty
one when we had the AP title.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
I know, but I'm just saying, like, so.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
I'm just wondering if it's just the AP. I don't know,
it's a long time, it's it's it's not.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Because you just kind of went down a weird path
of No, I didn't well technically and horn at nine
and are we sure that it wasn't won by other
team either way, even if you do add in some
more culture packers or more players going back to whatever
in nineteen thirty, it was whenever, it was still the
(02:45):
cults and packers that have an absurd amount of MVP awards.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Packers.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I kind of get Colts a sneak.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
It is a sneaky one though, but it.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Makes sense because Payton has the most individual MVP awards
won five two Johnny U has I want to say
he has at least two m v ps two three,
He's got three.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
It's three m vps for Johnny U. So it's five,
five for Peyton, three for Johnny U. Yeah, that's eight
MVP between the two guys.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Guys. Andrew Luck never won the MVP. No, he never did.
Hardbod didn't win it when he was there. I'm trying
to think the other guys there.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Earl Morale and Burt Jones were the only other guys
for the Colts, and they were playing for Baltimore when
they won the m v ps. All quarterbacks for the
Colts Packers had running back for the Packers.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Sorry to get nerdy on you.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
If you were to split up Baltimore versus Indianapolis, how
would that rank?
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Well? Based on Indianapolis?
Speaker 1 (03:41):
I mean, it's just paint five with Peyton's still really
really right?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Five?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
You're you're more than a lot of franchise, Peyton.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
That's probably that's probably why we think this number is.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Weirds more than this franchise.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
No, didn't Terry win it one year?
Speaker 3 (03:58):
That's what's five? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (03:59):
Yeah, okay, I think he said five. Maths with Jake,
I thought he said five more. Excuse me, we got
to put on some magic school bus for you. Yeah,
get miss Frizzle up in here. A lot, like you know,
seems like a high number, but it's really not. It's thirty.
But like you said, like a lot of teams probably
(04:20):
don't even have an MVP.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Correct. All right, let's move past this obscure STATY mean.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
The next one. You said you had two things to
talk about here, the.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Over analyzation of OTAs, and you're really seeing that.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
It's funny though, Well, I saw something with Will Howard
where they put out his stats from OTAs and it
had to be a joke.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
What does that even mean? Stats from the didn't follow
through on it enough.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I just kind of closed my eyes, scrolls past it
and said, I'm just going to choose to believe that
that guy's joking, because what are we doing here? But
my take here of over analyzation of Otias does not
come from the Brownies. No, I just blew it does
not come from Will Howard. But it comes from the Browns.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
Okay, because we just spent a couple of minutes ago
in the last episode talking about I was blew it.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
My brain was found out.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
It is not about Will Howard and his stats. It
is about the over analyzation of the Brownies in their
quarterback room.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Dude.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
I've seen people say, like Shaudor Sanders has looked better
than any quarterback we've ever seen out here. He looks great,
he looks polished. I've seen people say Shaudor Sanders looks bad.
I have seen someone in a radio host in Cleveland
go through the consensus number one best quarterback in camp
was Flacco. The consensus number two at OTA's was Shador.
Gabriel was number three, and he said the consensus worst
(05:40):
quarterback from people I talked to at Brown.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Yeah, I've seen that.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Too, Dude.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
They're in Jim Schwartz, and I gotta be honest with you,
the Browns are really hurting themselves here by having four
quarterbacks legitimately compete for something.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
It's impossible. You can't do it.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
There's not enough reps to go around for four of
these quarterbacks to legitimately get a good shot here to
legitimately be able to compete for this job. I saw
a headline the other day that said, Sir dor Sanders
went through practice without ever getting a first team rep.
It was just going to Gabriel, Pickett and Flacco in
the rotation. Now I read that headline, and you know what,
I thought, It's.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
A good move from Stefanski.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Let's put a little adversity on this kid's player, Like, hey,
let's see how he handles not being with the first
team and being the only quarterback not with the first team.
You know what, you probably did. He probably even in
what you're hoping he does. Don't even say a thing
about it. They don't even mention They doesn't even notice it.
Moral doesn't change, body language doesn't change. Maybe Privately, he says,
man has messed up. I didn't even get to play
with the first team. But everything's honky dory publicly. But
(06:42):
there's just such an over analyzation of that room. There's
just such an over analyzation of OTAs, especially when it
comes to the Browns in that quarterback room right now,
and that quarterback room is just going.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
To be.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
So rife with drama for most of the season. I
do think shir Door Sanders starts not at the beginning
of the year, and I think it's gonna be before
the season wraps up that we see Schudor as the
starting quarterback in the NFL, and one of them's got
to get cut right, and one of them has to.
You can't create four guys on a roster. You'll you'll
hurt yourself special teams wise, ye, unless Gabriel is gonna
go play special teams too.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
I thought the direction you were going with it makes sense.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
Obviously the quarterback is the obvious answer, but I thought
you were going to allude to how we spent a
couple of minutes in the previous episode talking about how
Deontay Johnson failed to show up to Brown's OTAs which
is not analyzing the stats of OTAs, but it is
analyzing over analyzing or or putting more impotence on OTAs.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
And maybe we should.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
But I think for Deontay's case, it actually does matter, right,
I think for Deontay, like, that's not something you can
just kind of like f around with.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
You gotta show up. And this is your fifth team
in three years.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
If you have been a a if you have been
like a good soldier wide receiver and you're as elder
as Deonta is in the league, you don't have to
show up to ots if you don't want to.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
But you're not. You don't have that room.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
You're not that guy.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Pal, You got to read the room.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Bro.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
All right, let's get to These are your best tight
ends in the NFL, according.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
To Jacob And no, no, no, there's an objective list that.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
We have created.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
But it's going to be different. So how can we
say it'll average out? You're just saying that it's a
rite off and Seinfeld.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
You just write it off.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
It just averaged out too. How does it average out?
It just averages out? You take the average? All right?
Speaker 1 (08:35):
You ready for my JDQMTC. Yeah, all right, number fifteen.
I got Dallas Goddard out of Philadelphia. Okay, I've got
in joke Ku. Yeah, number fourteen. I always have been
very high on in Djoku. I think he's good. He
never realizes his full potential, though, but he.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Is a good He's got a bunch of quarterbacks.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
He's had problems.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Uh yeah, Baker for a little bit there. Number thirteen,
I have Mike Kasiki. Look out for Mike Kasiki this year.
Now in year two with Cincinnat, he might establish a
Yeah he.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Never really took out.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Yeah, he never really took off this past.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Okay, Hunter Henry number twelve. Henry is like the meat
potatoes type in the NFL.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
Oh yeah, so I got I got Hunter coming up.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
And then at.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Number uh, let me see, Oh I think I screwed
up one here the bump one off.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
I got a tie at eleventh. Okay, I'll just do it.
Tie you mean title eleven or we're oh so we're
working down the sid go to.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Thirty twelve and these are tied eleven, working down, So
tied at eleventh. I've got Kyle Pitts. Okay, I've got
Isaiah Likely out of Baltimore.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
I like like I like likely, okay, so usually go eleven.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Yeah, I know, okay, so I'm gonna start eleven.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
I got Hunter Henry at eleven, like you said, just perfect,
does everything you ask him to, and maybe you know
who knows, maybe he'll get even better numbers as time
goes on. I got a joke you at twelve and
this one I feel like you're gonna have a couple
problems with.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
But I got Hock at thirteen just because he was hurt.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
But if he comes back and plays fully healthy this year,
he'll jump right back.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Into the top ten for me. Who is that Hock Hockinson?
Speaker 3 (10:15):
CJ. Howkinson? Yeah, yeah, I didn't even put him anywhere on.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Oh okay, I thought it ought to be like, come on,
is that.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Is that a common enough nickname to be able to
do that throw out? I guess not everybody know what
you're talking about.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
I don't think anybody knows him like that, all right?
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Number ten, Yeah, I'm going with an elder statesman here
at going with zach Ertz Washington Commanders, formerly of the
Philadelphia Eiggles seven tuties, six hundred and fifty four yards
last year. Yeah, that guy had a very good season.
He was targeted ninety one times by Jade and Daniels
caught sixty six passes. You've got Deebo, Samuel and Allen Washington.
(10:50):
You have Terry McLaurin in Washington. Very nice safety blanket
there with zach Ertz, and he has really aged gracefully,
had a nice little second act of his career. After
Phililadelphia got Dallas Goddard moved on from zach Ertz, and
now zach Ertz is in Washington. But as you can
tell from my list, I still think zach Ertz is
better than Dallas Goddard in Philadelphia.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
So give me Ertz at number ten.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Okay, I did.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
I did it?
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Okay, to start about stick, I do it at the
pick too, number ten.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
My pick at number ten, I did the thing. I
put our guy, I put mouth here.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
You're a hater because I put Pat Firmuth at number nine.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Wow, we'll get to it. You're a hater for zach
Ertz because I put zach Ertz.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
A number nine.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Did you really put right here? Okay? Nice? A little
flip flop there between Mouth and Ertz. Little Keystone boys, you.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Can try to keep mouth out of your top ten.
That you're numbers, you're negligent, they don't let you. Yeah, right,
then you run out of tight ends. Here's run out
of tight ends to put in front of him.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
Here's the thing too, that just shows like how good
he could be because all career long for Pat f Arnmuth,
we've said he can do so much more, and we
have taken the side of is it Muth or is
it how the team uses him? And we've always taken
the side off it's how the team uses him. So
the team if he no offense to the Steelers and
(12:14):
the play calling, if he was on like an offense
that actually utilized the tight ends, or put him on
Kansas City, let Pat Mahomes throwing the ball instead of
Travis Kelce. Pat Farronmuth is probably a top five ten
in the league.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
I think he's got the potential to be that player.
I think he's got the talent to be that player.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Like, don't put him on a team that's ranked bottom
ten in offense. And every year that he's been on
the team.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Caught seven tuties.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Last year, had six hundred and fifty three yards. Last
year he converted seventy eight targets into sixty five catches.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
That's absurd efficiency. I mean, there's thirteen times which we
knew that was his biggest ass.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
It's thirteen times he was targeted that it didn't end well,
that didn't end with at least him getting a ball.
So I got Firemuth at nine, you got him at ten,
You have ERTs at nine, and I have Ertz at ten.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
So let's move to number eight, number eight for me. Yeah,
I think he's a little off the radar. Okay, where
are you going? I'm going Tucker Craft in Green Bay. Yeah, Okay,
I think not a lot of people know about no
his game.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
No are familiar with the Charles or the Shaquille O'Neil
I wasn't familiar with. Yeah, right, I apologize. I think
that's the case with Tucker Craft. Hasn't that always kind
of been the case with the Packers and their tight
ends too, other than the Jimmy Graham years when they
had him there for a little bit with Rogers, like
do you remember, there were always just guys that were
kind of like like, sure, who's this guy?
Speaker 3 (13:33):
But then you pick him.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Up in fantasy and he has like an eight hundred
yard season and like six touchdowns well.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
That's exactly what Craft was last year.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
He had seven hundred and seven yards and he had
seven touchdowns and not to like.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
Michael Finley, is the big one that sticks just like yeah,
like Mercedes Lewis was a big one.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Yeah, Tanyan, you remember Robert Tanyan. I do remember Robert
tanya That was a huge.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
One where it's like no one thinks about him, but
he's probably a top ten tight end when you just
look at his production. And Rodgers has a lot to
do with that, sure, and now with Tucker Craft, Jordan
Love has a good bit to do with that too
and a great offensive mind.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
And but we like with Tucker.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Craft compared to could be future two his quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, we.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Like, uh so number eight Tucker Craft for me, much
like muth not to the level of mouth, but he
converted seventy targets to fifty catches, So that's really good
efficiency from Craft. He averaged fourteen point one yards per catch.
That's stretching the field and being a playmaker for a
tight end. And again, like I said, seven tuddies, So
I'll take Tucker Craft in his forty two yards per
(14:37):
game at the tight end spot in Green Bay, checking
in at my spot.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
My number eight.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
Probably the worst year of this guy's career, but still
top ten worthy. I got mister Kelsey theft you're a
number eight.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Kelsey was a tough one to rank. I got him
a little bit higher. But you're right, he fell.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
He fell.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
I mean, this is a guy's number one, And maybe
I was too harsh because the guy that's been number
one for each the last like six years. It's too
big of a fall or too harsh of a rating
to just have him fall that far from yards.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
And he almost had one hundred catches, you know what
I mean, like for his standard, not as good, but
still a top tight end.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
And we're talking about a history.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
We're talking about a first ballot Hall of fam We're
talking about first ballot Hall of Famer. Yes, like we
talked about how Dale Alway stood up to Troy palm all'
his name sat down at the Hall of Fame meeting.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
All you have to do for King Travis. Yeah, I mean,
you're looking at a Mount Rushma a tight ends. You're
looking at Kelsey, You're looking at Rovinzalez, You're looking at
Gronk Ditka. I guess I'll say that just because I
love him. Probably someone else that we're missing.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
In Kelsey is a you can't make that Mount Rushmore
without ends.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
But that is a little harsh, I think dropping him down.
He was eight for you, Yeah, all right.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Number seven for me is kind of another guy that
was in kind of that holy trinity of tight ends
for years and years, but had a bit of a
fall off here.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
For me, this is where I have Mark Andrews coming
in at number seven.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Mark Andrews got some of the yardage and the targets
taken off of his plate because of Isaiah likely.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
But the dude caught eleven touchdown passes this year. Jacob.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
He is still Lamar Jackson's go to guy when they
get down into that red area, he gets in the paint.
I mean, that's a great fantasy tight end, even though
he only had the six hundred yards on the air,
because he's racking up eleven touddies, the most of any
tight end by a good bit last year in the NFL.
No one else had double digit touchdowns in the NFL.
Andrews comes in with eleven at the tight end spot.
He dropped the most important touchdown of his season and.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
Maybe of his career. Yes he did.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
That's the irony of sports, right, the league leading tight
end and touchdown catches drops the layup in the most
important games.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
He did.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
But I still think Mark Andrews is in a top
ten tight end. I have him at number seven. I
wouldn't be surprised if we see likely and Andrews get
closer and closer together and maybe likely eventually pass him.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
Yeah I had I think we reversed. I had Mark
Andrews much higher on my list, had Kelsey much higher.
But again, you can't argue that he's still a top
ten worthy guy. My number seven was someone that you
claimed flew under the radar, but guess what, I ranked
him higher than you did. I have Tucker Craft number seven,
(17:14):
but no one knows who he is, like they should.
No one thinks about Tucker They really should, though.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
That's a fantasy people out there. You wait a little
bit on tight ends.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
I bet you Tucker Craft will be sitting there pretty
for you in a later round, and he's a great player.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
And you got a quarterback that can get in the ball.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yeah, that's like.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Most important with tight ends too, because quarterbacks that are
great love.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
I mean, yeah, like Kyle Pitts, like you had in
your j d q MTC. Yeah, I didn't even even
I didn't even have in mind because I.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
Didn't even have in mind.
Speaker 4 (17:40):
I mean, look at the quarterbacks that Kyle Pitts has
played with since entering the league.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Now, was his quarterback his rookie year?
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Was it not?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
You're right because he came in any.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Just like the third pick of that draft.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Yeah, So that's that's it. That's it.
Speaker 4 (17:59):
You might even want to give Pitt's credit for getting
to like a thousand yards this past season with such
bad quarterback play.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Yeah, I think you do, actually, all right.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
So that was my number seven.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
My number seven was Andrews.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
My number six is potential soon to be Steeler Johnny Smith.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Okay, I got him a little higher. This is where
I have john This is kind of fun though, right
because you.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Have Pat and Johnny Smith the only team with ten
tight ends according.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
To me and you.
Speaker 4 (18:26):
I think I think Jonan Smith is on everyone's top ten.
It just depends on where you put it.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Ravens close because we both have likely in our jdqmtc's
and Andrews in our top ten.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
So the Ravens. Ravens have the best.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Team I could have put.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
I could have put likely in my top m I JDQ.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Ravens have the best tandem right now when it comes
to Titan. Yes, but the Steelers would.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Be the potential, if not better. You could argue it.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Yeah, Johnny Smith had a better year than any of
those guys last year, because you say, well, what about
Andrews and his eleven tuddies?
Speaker 4 (18:53):
Smith at eight hundred and eight year eighty, he was
like third in yards and third and touchdowns on all
the tight ends, and he.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Got a ton of targets. He had one hundred and
eleven targets, he caught eighty eight balls. He on receiving
yards per game average was fifty two in the eight touchdowns.
So I got Johnny Smith coming in at number six.
He's a legitimately good to potential top five tight end
in the NFL. And you have him in your top five,
I do you have at number six?
Speaker 4 (19:20):
Number six? I got the guy who could be the
new face of the position. I got San Laporta here
and again helps that he's on a top five offense
in the league, no doubt, But even so, without that,
he's still putting up gigantic numbers.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
He is a monster.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
Like we were talking about tight ends scoring touchdowns, he got
seven touchdowns this year.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
That's a top five number for him.
Speaker 4 (19:45):
I mean, he's very young, but he is a massive
contributor to that offense. And like I said, I think
he could be as Andrews and Kittle and Kelsey are
all getting older, San Laporta as long as too this
offense continues to be high octane, he could be the
face of that position.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Yeah, I think he could. There's some other guys that
have a claim.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
I guess brought Bowers.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Yeah, but I like Laporter. You'll hear about laport from
me in a little bit. But number five starting my
top five is where I dropped.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Travis Kelce is still.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
See that's that's I probably should have done this.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Still in the top five, but not at that perch
that he's been at for so many years. Again by
his standards. Yeah, it was an underwhelming year. Eight and
twenty three yards, fifty one point four yards per game,
only three touchdowns in the regular season. That's a problem
for Travis Kelce definitely, But he's still such a great
tight end. I think the telling stat though, is that
(20:42):
he only averaged eight point five yards per catch. They
were giving him the ball like very short dump off
type of things last year. And you know what we're
used to seeing from Travis Kelce. He's that seam breaker
right like, he just runs right up the middle of
the field and no one seems to be.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
Able to catch him.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
So I got Kelsey at number five, maybe the all
time greade at the position, but has finally, I think,
given up his his spot at the top of this
power ranking. And it's been years since you could say that.
Speaker 4 (21:10):
Yeah, I mean, yeah, but I probably I think the
takeaway here is that I may have knocked him a
little harsh, too harsh.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
Yeah, who's your number five?
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Who starts my number five?
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Again?
Speaker 2 (21:20):
This is another guy who's new to the scene.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
Like I said, San Laporta could be the face, but
it's probably gonna be this guy.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
I got brock Bowers. It's low. You think it's low?
Speaker 3 (21:32):
Yeah, all right, that's fair.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
And I want everyone to know I made this ranking
a long time ago, before the John new Smith rumors
even started.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
I've got John news Smith.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Spoiler alert.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
I got Johnny at number four, above Rock Bowers, above
San Laporta.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Bro hold On.
Speaker 4 (21:54):
Among all tight ends this past season, Johnny Smith ranked fourth,
and receiving yards ranked third, sorry ranked second, tied for
second and touch and touchdowns, and was one of only
four guys with over one hundred targets.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
You have a two.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Out of those three things that you just listed, brock
Bowers did better than he did receiving yards and the targets.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Whoops, like, I mean, it's.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Okay, Well, you just brought a bunch of facts.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Again.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
They're one spot at there, They're next to each.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
Other on my rankings. I think you're wrong about this.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
One.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Number four for.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Me is Sam Laporta, So let's catch up. Okay, that's
where I have laport from the Lions.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
So you have Powers at number five five, and I've
John at four. All right.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
So your number three tight end then is well on,
let's just stop there. No, no, no, I want to
know who's coming up next. Your number three tight end
is this is where I got Kittle, all right. I
have Kittle at two, okay. I put Andrews at too.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
Okay, I put Trey McBride at three.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Uh oh, hand up? No, no, no, no, no, I'm good.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Is he your number one. Number one. Yeah, I brought
powers is my number one?
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Okay, So let's okay, So let's take a step back,
my let's let's get back to like five. So I
have Bowers there and you have who Kelsey Kelsey. Number four,
I have John New and you have Laporta Laporta. Is
there anyone you want to stop and talk about because
we're kind of just listening to talk about those guys?
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (23:23):
So number three, I have Kittle and you have Kittle.
At two, I have Trey McBride at three.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Okay, let's talk about these guys now.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Trey McBride had two touchdowns last year, but he had
a thousand, one hundred and forty six yards.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
And you remember he was on Touchdown Watch, like he
went like into like week twelve or week thirteen.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Touchdown seventy one point six yards per game for Trey McBride.
The only risk tight end that did more than that
in a per game basis was the guy who I
have in front of him in George Kittle, who averaged
seventy three point seven yards per game. He had eight touchdowns,
He had one and six yards for the San Francisco
forty nine ers He was the only weapon they had
last year really and played well.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
He was available the whole season.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Yuk and McCaffrey were out.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
McCaffrey came back, Deebo was where yeah, yeah, not himself.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
So it was all about Kittle and he stepped up.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
Yeah, and he did step up.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
So I still have Kittle at number two, kind of
a bit of a hat tip to him for just
because it was a trio of him, Andrews and Kelsey
for so long and I have Kelsey and Andrews kind
of back from that now. Still think Andrews is producing
or excuse me, Kittle is still producing at that level, right,
So I put him at two, and then try McBride.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
I put so, I put Andrews at two.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
You did, surprising me a little bit.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
Well, let the league in touchdowns at the position, and
again like one of only four guys that have one
hundred targets at that position.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
Sorry he was not, and that would be true, but
he's well below, well below that.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
They have Isaiah likely they spread the ball around when
it comes to tight ends and they actually are starting
to throw to their receivers now and again.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
And then number one being brock Bowers.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
For me and I had. So you haves a rookie
at once the.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Best tight end in football, and he was the best
receiving option out.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Of all the rookies last year, and he's top four
in the NFL as far as receiving yards. Now, McBride's
not that far behind as far as receiving yards is concerned, either.
But Bowers got the better of him in that. He
got the better of him in targets, He got the
better of him in catches, he got the better of
him in touchdowns.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
So I look at Bowers.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Bowers led all the tight ends in yards, he led
all tight ends and receptions. He was third in yards
per game, he led all tight ends and targets. I
think a lot of stuff points to brock Bowers.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
Being the guy.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
That's fine, iake up.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
He did it with Aiden O'Connell as his quarterback.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Right.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
You let me guess you have more of an issue
of me putting Bowers at five than me putting Kelsey
at eight.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Yeah, that's that's fair.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
Probably.
Speaker 4 (26:00):
And again, you know, we made these rankings a long
time ago. I probably didn't properly give Bowers as doing
it was closer to the end of the season. So
I was just saying, hey, kids, a rookie, like let's
see more than once, but you're probably right, like your
usual rookie.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Now you're right.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
Now he's got a quarterback ish to Fishy.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
He's the guy who could remember like Gino was top
five and passing yards last y. Yeah, and there's really
no one else to sling the ball to except you
know genty.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
That's a top five fantasy pick this year. Rock powers.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Not top five overall, buddy.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
If he has one hundred catches and twelve hundred yards
and eight times.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
He's a first round pick. But like in like twelve
man leagues, like which is the average? Now top five is?
I think it's like a first round pick. It's it's
fine to say top five. Man, you haven't played yearly
fantasy in a while.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
I know catches and touchdowns and yards are important.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Depends if you're doing PPR half PPR.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Okay, this is too nerdy for me.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Now he's Jacob on It's it's if you equate.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
If you do the equation, your nerd voice just sounds
like your normal voice. Come on, he's Jacob.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
Last day of OTAs is today, Mini Camp starts next week.
We will be back next week and maybe we'll.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Have We will be back. Will Will Aaron Rodgers be
the quarterback for the Steelers. We will find out or
we want.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
It's been the Steelers standard on Steelers Nation Radio, on
the Steelers Audio Network
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