Fantasy Football: 25 TE Statistics from 2017
In our “25 Statistics” series, we will look into each position and grab 25 of the most meaningful and fantasy relevant statistics that ultimately reveal a bigger narrative of a player’s season. Check out the recent 25 QB Stats, 25 RB Stats, 25 WR Stats and stay tuned as we reveal a position each week over the next month.
It’s time to tackle the tight-ends. Listen to the TRUTH about TEs in 2017 episode on the podcast debuting soon.
1) There were 8 TEs that averaged at least 10 fantasy points per game in PPR scoring. That’s the fewest number of TEs to hit that mark since 2008 when there were 7.
2) Trey Burton emerged as a reliable TE handcuff this season. In the two games in which Zach Ertz was unable to play, Burton finished as the TE #7 and TE #1.
3) This season Travis Kelce was the only TE to finish with at least 120 targets. It’s the first time since 2011 that there hasn’t been at least 3 TEs in the league to hit that threshold.
4) Despite finishing as the TE21 in standard leagues, George Kittle’s 16 red zone targets were tied with Kyle Rudolph and only one less than Zach Ertz.
5) Despite his “baby hands”, Jack Doyle finished with the 2nd most receptions, despite finishing with the 5th most targets among TEs.
6) Jimmy Graham lined up for only 68% of his team’s offensive snaps. 25 other TEs in the league saw more playing time, however, Graham led the league in both TDs and red zone targets.
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7)The three biggest single-game performances at the TE position came from Jack Doyle (Week 8), Marcedes Lewis (Week 3), and OJ Howard (Week 7).
8)Ed Dickson, who finished the season inside the top 20, recorded 40% of his entire season’s yardage in one game. His 175-yard explosion in Week 5 against the Lions bested Gronk’s 168 yards for most in one game for the season.
9) Jack Doyle was the only TE to have a game with more than 10 receptions. However, in 2016, we saw 4 different TEs (Zach Ertz, Jordan Reed, Kyle Rudolph, and Dennis Pitta) accomplished that feat.
10) Austin Hooper’s 88-yard receiving TD in Week 1 was the longest by a TE since Byron Chamberlain in 1999.
11) Benjamin Watson and Jason Witten were the only two TEs inside the top 12 to catch more than 70% of their targets.
12)Despite finishing as a TE1 (#11 overall in PPR), Benjamin Watson was actually out-snapped by teammate Nick Boyle.
13) Greg Olsen’s broken foot was disappointing to more than just fantasy owners. It snapped a streak of 160 regular season games played in a row.
14) Delanie Walker has finished inside the top 12 for 5 consecutive seasons. Another way of saying that is, every year since he’s been a Tennessee Titan.
15) Jared Cook finished the year with a putrid 132.8 PPR points. good enough for TE12 overall. That is the lowest TE1 season since the immortal Anthony Fasano in 2008, who somehow registered a top 12 TE in Week 7 this year.
16) In PPR leagues, Jimmy Graham tied Travis Kelce and Zach Ertz for most TE1 weeks with 11. However, he registered only 3 top 5 performances all season, which ranked 7th at the position.
17) San Francisco TE George Kittle had as many top 2 PPR weeks (2) as Delanie Walker, Zach Ertz, Evan Engram, Hunter Henry, Kyle Rudolph, and Jack Doyle… COMBINED.
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18) Three teams had 15 or more plays over 20 yards go to their TE position: the Patriots, The Chiefs, and… wait for it…. the Browns. Rookie TE David Njoku averaged 12 yards per catch showcasing his big-play ability and the reason he was a 1st round draft pick.
19) Jason Witten finished the year as the TE10 in 0.5 PPR scoring. He has now been a TE1 every SINGLE SEASON since 2004. Also known as the year when Friends ended, when Facebook started, and Larry Fitzgerald‘s rookie year.
20) Despite seeing only ONE target for the first 9 weeks of the season and the 85th most snaps among TEs on the year, Jason’s favorite player of all-time, Ricky Seals-Jones, still had 2 top 5 fantasy finishes. That was as many as Jason Witten, who was on the field for 100% of the Cowboys plays, the most among TEs.
21) Cameron Brate had 8 weeks as a top 12 PPR option which tied Jack Doyle for 6th most among TEs. He went through a major rough spot from Weeks 7-12 averaging 2.7 standard fantasy points per game, which was 47th best.
22) In PPR leagues, there were 7 instances of teammates both having top 12 performances the same week, the exact same number as 2016. However, none of the following we teammate repeats from 2016: Week 1 (D. Harris/Kelce), Week 3 (Willson/Graham), Week 4 (Brate, Howard), Week 6 (Sims/Miller), Week 7 (Howard, Brate), Week 12 (Graham/Vannett), Week 17 (Clay, O’Leary)
23) This 23rd stat goes out to a 23 year old pass catcher who just submitted the BEST PPR SEASON since 1989 for a rookie TE. Evan Engram’s 173.6 PPR points topped Jeremy Shockey’s 2002 campaign for most in the last 28 years. Mike Ditka’s 1961 still owns the top spot where he put up a line of 56-1076-12.
Rich Schultz/Getty Images Sport
24) In 2017, there was only one rushing TD among TEs: Delanie Walker‘s Week 2 1-yard rumble against Jacksonville (excluding Levine Toilolo‘s Week 15 fumble recovery in the end zone). In 2016, there were 3 (Coby Fleener, Eric Ebron and Rhett Ellison) and 2 in 2016, both by Ed Dickson.
25) Although he was a high school QB and shown himself capable as a Wild-Cat facilitator, Travis Kelce’s Week 10 INT against the Giants was the first INT thrown by a tight-end since the illustrious Robert Awalt of the Phoenix Cardinals in 1989. In fact, Kelce’s misfire was just the 6th INT credited to a TE in the league’s history according to Pro-Football Reference’s Play Index.