In the past, the “ideal” tight end was a perfect mix of an offensive tackle, fullback, and short area receiver. Blocking inline as an extension of the tackle position was first and foremost the most important role of a tight end. After that, being able to block in space and be fullback on the line of scrimmage, paving the way down the field. And finally, being able to catch a short pass or two a game would have been great.
Within the past ten years, however, the development of the tight end position has been drastically altered. From Tony Gonzales and Dallas Clark, to Jeremy Shockey and Antonio Gates, to now a host of outstanding basketball-style athletes at tight end (Jimmy Graham, Jermaine Gresham, Rob Gronkowski, Dustin Keller, Jermichael Finley, Vernon Davis and more) is a sign of the times changing, both for the position itself as well as how offenses attack defenses in the passing game.
And it’s easy to see why. Rob Gronkowski is having an outstanding year touchdown-wise that rival many all-time great receivers. Jimmy Graham and Jermichael Finley are, at times, the best receiving option on their teams, both of which are Top 3 offenses in the NFL.
They pose an unbelievable match-up issue. They have the size and strength to get off chip-blocks by linebacker and get to the seam to be a middle of the field option that forces safeties inside and linebackers to drop deeper. They have the length and quickness to flip to an outside route and position themselves in front of cornerbacks. They can line up in the slot at out-match physicality-wise with linebackers and safeties. And in the redzone, they have the ability to play out wide with cornerbacks, out-muscle for position, and use a basketball-type rebounding ability to catch fades and jump balls.
The real question is how far can teams take this idea of utilizing these athletes as receiving option. Let’s say the Patriots somehow got Jermichael Finley in a trade from Green Bay. So, the Patriots three tight ends would be Gronkowski, Finley, and Aaron Hernandez. So after Wes Welker, who are your three best receiving options? It’d be those three tight ends. What’s stopping the Patriots from running three tight ends (one lined up off the line), Welker on the outside, and a running back in the backfield? Imagine the possibilities of having three 250+ tight ends that have the size to be adequate blockers on the outside and have the length to, at worse, contain linebackers, as well as having four receiving options on any play in basically a run-oriented formation?
Recently, each NFL team has seen the need for a “two-back system”. Well, within the next 5 years, in this “copycat” league, we’ll see each team likely employee a “two-tight end system”. In just the past 3 Drafts, 53 tight ends have been selected. In that time, 7 teams selected two tight ends in the same draft (including Houston twice), and 7 teams have selected 3 or more tight ends in the past three years.
Finally, only four teams haven’t selected a tight end in the past three years: the New York Jets (selected Dustin Keller in 2008), the Carolina Panthers (drafted a tight end each year from 2006-2008 and traded for Greg Olsen), and the Atlanta Falcons (who likely will be selecting a tight end in this year’s draft early), and the Chicago Bears (in a Mike Martz system that doesn’t utilize tight ends).
In essence, I firmly believe THIS is the future of the NFL. As the saying that is regurgitated consistently by past and current coaches on TV, the game today is “all about match-ups”. The tight end position has turned into THE position to exploit match-ups, and it’ll soon be time to expect tight ends to overtake receivers as the primary position in the offensive passing game.
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