Photo: Andy Lewis/Icon Presswire

When comparing the top 10 tight ends in Receiving Total Points from the 2023 season and the 2024 season, there is a lot of turnover. Only a few names find themselves on both lists at this point of the season. Along with that, there have been a handful of players who have missed significant time due to injury as well, which have impacted their respective teams one way or another.

* Missed multiple games this season due to injury

This season’s top 10 list features a breakout rookie along with a few other young players. Half of the list features tight ends who are still within their first 3 seasons in the NFL. This seems to signal a youth movement at the position.

* Missed at least one game this season due to injury

The only players who are on both lists are George Kittle and Kyle Pitts. While Pitts has been healthy all year, Kittle has been banged up while still being very productive and a vital piece for the 49ers.

The 49ers are 0-2 when Kittle doesn’t suit up this season and 1-4 without him since the start of the 2022 season. He’s been dealing with a lingering hamstring injury as well as rib and foot injuries throughout the season. 

When he doesn’t play the 49ers offense operates virtually the same in terms of personnel groupings, motion percentage, and play action percentage. To my surprise most of the passing stats improve when he’s off the field. Completion percentage is way up, touchdown percentage is up and interception percentage goes down. The one passing area that diminishes without Kittle is yards after catch. Kittle averages 29.5 yards after catch per game, trailing only Brock Bowers among tight ends. The 49ers definitely miss that skill when trying to extend drives in Kittle’s absence.

That doesn’t tell the whole story though. When Kittle doesn’t suit up the 49ers might miss his presence in the blocking and run game more than the passing game.

He’s such a well rounded tight end that his absence affects the offensive line and the running backs. It’s evident because Kittle is second among tight ends in Total Points on blocking snaps.

There is a different tight end who was on the top 10 of 2023 who I wanted to look into. Like Kittle, he has missed multiple games this season. His team is currently over .500 though, Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert.

A hamstring injury cost Goedert three games this season. One big change in the Eagles’ offense this season when Goedert is on field is the amount of passes to the short middle part of the field. 

44% of throws by Jalen Hurts go to this area compared to 28% when he’s sidelined. Hurts also takes care of the ball much better when he has his reliable tight end. 

Another sign of Goedert’s importance for the Eagles is how he steps up on 3rd down to be a major threat. Among tight ends with at least 5 targets on 3rd down, he ranks first in Total Points per route run. For what it’s worth, Kittle ranks third on that list.

The similarities with Goedert and Kittle don’t stop there; Goedert has a huge impact on the Eagles’ blocking and run game. Just like the 49ers, the Eagles’ sack allowed percentage and blown block percentage go up without Goedert on the field. Also the yards per carry goes from 4.8 without him to 5.8 with him on the field. He’s one of only five tight ends with at least 100 snaps to have 0 blown blocks on the season. For an Eagles team that ranks first in run play percentage, Goedert’s presence as a blocker might get overlooked as a key piece to their whole offensive attack.

Another “tight end” worth mentioning that doesn’t appear on either top 10 list is Taysom Hill. The unique swiss army knife tight end is asked to do more things on the offensive side of the ball than just about any other player. He’s also missed time this season due to injury and the Saints are 0-4 when he doesn’t play this season (with overlap from Derek Carr’s absence). He’s definitely not a traditional TE, as he has 34 carries on the season with 6 rushing touchdowns and averages a robust 7.9 yards per carry.

The Saints offense operates with multiple tight ends about 90% of the time when he is on the field compared to about 30% when he is off of it. Hill is usually sharing the field with other tight ends which gives the Saints the freedom to have him in different alignments all over the formation. The offense as a whole has been significantly worse when he is on the sideline.

An individual player who benefits a ton when he is on the field is Alvin Kamara. With teams having to deal with the threat of Hill getting the ball, Kamara has more room to be effective. His yards per carry goes from 3.8 without Hill to 5.9 with him sharing the field. We’ll see if interim head coach Darren Rizzi has more plans to keep Hill heavily involved moving forward, not only as an option himself, but as a decoy as well.

Diving into the tight end position opened my eyes to how important they are to their teams because of the versatility. Whether it be an extension of the offensive line, catching a 3rd down throw, or even running the ball, having an impactful tight end opens up a team’s offense. We see the large impact missing these high end players have on their respective teams, and we hope everyone stays healthy as the season reaches the stretch run.