Kings of third down: Tight Ends

Tight ends always have around five elite players each season, and another five with enough production and consistency that they merit fantasy attention. All the rest – “just another player.” And the usage of a tight end on a third-down play is the least of all positions. Just five players ended up with more than 17 third-down plays, therefore averaging more than one per game.

This breakdown is very fantasy relevant in that it shows the true importance that these players have to their offenses. And those with the higher yards-per-catch are used more as a receiver than as a blocker.

The below considers any tight end that had at least ten third-down catches.

Third-down receptions

	Tight End	Third Downs	First Downs
1	Pat Freiermuth	24	14
2	Travis Kelce	22	19
3	Anthony Firkser	21	10
4	Mark Andrews	19	15
5	Kyle Pitts	19	13
6	Mike Gesicki	17	13
7	Evan Engram	17	9
8	Noah Fant	17	4
9	Zach Ertz	16	11
10	Hunter Henry	15	14
11	Dalton Schultz	15	13
12	Tyler Higbee	14	11
13	George Kittle	14	10
14	Tyler Conklin	14	5
15	Jared Cook	13	11
16	Gerald Everett	13	9
17	Dallas Goedert	12	12
18	T.J. Hockenson	12	8
19	Cole Kmet	12	3
20	Rob Gronkowski	11	10

The rookie Pat Freiermuth impressed on a Steelers team that did not  throw the ball downfield due to weak-armed Ben Roethlisberger. That called up his number more often than expected, and it could change with a new quarterback taking over for 2022. But he’s already a big cog in the passing machine and in just his first season. Freiermuth will only get better.

Kyle Pitts also ranked well with 19 first-down catches. Anthony Firkser was an oddity in that he had a very marginal year (34-291-2) but well over half of his catches came on third down, after The first two downs usually went to Derrick Henry. Mike Gesicki turned in a career year (73-780-2) and stepped up not only in fantasy points but on how often the Fins looked his way when they needed a first down.

Third-down yards-per-catch

	Tight End	YPC	Third Downs
1	Rob Gronkowski	17.0	11
2	Dallas Goedert	16.3	12
3	George Kittle	15.4	14
4	Mark Andrews	15.1	19
5	Dawson Knox	14.3	10
6	Kyle Pitts	13.6	19
7	Travis Kelce	12.5	22
8	Dalton Schultz	11.5	15
9	Jared Cook	11.3	13
10	Dan Arnold	11.3	11
11	Mike Gesicki	10.9	17
12	Tyler Higbee	9.9	14
13	Zach Ertz	9.4	16
14	C.J. Uzomah	9.4	10
15	Cole Kmet	8.9	12
16	Hunter Henry	8.9	15
17	Anthony Firkser	8.9	21
18	Tyler Conklin	8.8	14
19	Evan Engram	8.8	17
20	Gerald Everett	7.9	13

The average tight end gains under ten yards per catch, so producing more than that on the most critical down of a drive is a true measure of what value they bring to the passing scheme. And the top five – Rob Gronkowski, Dallas Goedert, George Kittle, Mark Andrews and Dawson Knox all averaged higher on third down than their overall averages. They got better when the pass was thrown on third down.

There are no major surprises here, but Dallas Goedert’s hefty 16.3-yard-average impressed more considering the offense around him.

Third-down success rate

	Player	Success	Third Downs	First Downs	YPC	TD
1	Dallas Goedert	100%	12	12	16.3	1
2	Hunter Henry	93%	15	14	8.9	4
3	Rob Gronkowski	91%	11	10	17.0	4
4	Dalton Schultz	87%	15	13	11.5	2
5	Travis Kelce	86%	22	19	12.5	4
6	Jared Cook	85%	13	11	11.3	3
7	Dawson Knox	80%	10	8	14.3	3
8	Mark Andrews	79%	19	15	15.1	1
9	Tyler Higbee	79%	14	11	9.9	3
10	Mike Gesicki	76%	17	13	10.9	0
11	George Kittle	71%	14	10	15.4	1
12	Gerald Everett	69%	13	9	7.9	2
13	Zach Ertz	69%	16	11	9.4	1
14	Kyle Pitts	68%	19	13	13.6	0
15	T.J. Hockenson	67%	12	8	8.4	1
16	Dan Arnold	64%	11	7	11.3	0
17	C.J. Uzomah	60%	10	6	9.4	2
18	Pat Freiermuth	58%	24	14	6.9	2
19	Evan Engram	53%	17	9	8.8	2
20	Anthony Firkser	48%	21	10	8.9	1
21	Tyler Conklin	36%	14	5	8.8	0
22	Cole Kmet	25%	12	3	8.9	0
23	Noah Fant	24%	17	4	7.2	1

Once again, Dallas Goedert bubbled up to the top as the only tight end that logged a first down each time he caught a pass on a third down. Hunter Henry (93%) and Dalton Schultz (87%) did not gain  many yards on third down but were more successful than most. Any tight end with more than 50% success on third down is notable for their team, but the Top-10 were all 75%.

Pat Freiermuth fell in this metric, and worse yet, he only gained 6.9 yards per catch. Such was the Steelers passing game last year. Noah Fant also fell badly in this measurement with only four first downs despite 17 third-down passes.

The most notable here were Goedert, Henry, and Schultz. Jared Cook rated well but at 34 years old, may not be back. That could get more work for Donald Parham, who caught three third-down passes  and two were touchdowns.