2005 season review: tight ends

Tight Ends:

Jeremy Shockey, Giants: 65 catches for 891 yards and 13.7 ypc, 7 TDs</font>
comments: just short of 1k mark... one of the best bets to get it next season, if stays healthy

Todd Heap, Ravens: 75 catches for 855 yards, 7 TDs, longest catch 48 yards</font>
comments: just imagine what he would do with a semi decent QB... think maybe 1200+ yards, 12 TDs

Chris Cooley, Redskins: 71 catches for 774 yards and 10.9 avg ypc, longest of 32 yards, 7 TDs, 6 plays over 20</font>
comments: breakthrough season for this young tight end/H-back in Joe Gibbs offense

Jason Witten, Cowboys: 66-757 yards, 11.5</font> ypc 6 TDs

Dallas Clark, Colts: 37 catches for 488 yards</font>, 4 TDs
comment: should have double of those numbers, but only got so many looks from Manning

Jeb Putzier, Broncos: 37 catches for 481 yards

Heath Miller</font>, Steelers: 39 catches for 459 yards, 11.8 ypc and 6 TDs, 8 catches over 20 yards
comments: too bad that all his TD catches came in first two months of a season; when Big Ben went down Miller had 4 or 5 very quiet games... hopefully will be Ben's favourite target for years to come; big talent, great size and speed combo

Steve Heiden, Browns: 43 catches for 401 yards</font>, 3 TDs

Zach Hilton, Saints: 35 catches for 396 yards and a TD, 11.3 ypc and 4 catches over 20 yards</font>
comments: in his 3rd season he was given a chance to demonstrate what he could do given a ball... very good physique at 6'8" should have a great season in 2006

Doug Jolley, Jets: 29-334 and 1 TD
comments: expected more of him; QB carousel in NY didn't help him, but sometimes struggled to get open

Kris Mangum, Panthers: 23-202 yards and 2 TDs

Adam Bergen</font>, Cardinals: 28 catches for 270 yards and 1 TD

Aaron Shea, Browns: 18-153 and a TD

Matt Schobel, Bengals: 18.193 and a TD

Eric Edwards, Cardinals: 12-133 and a TD</font>

Kyle Brady, Jaguars: 18-157 yards and a TD

Christian Fauria, Patriots: 8-57 and 2 TDs
comments: worst season of his pro career, he was mostly used as a blocking TE with very few looks, and even that mostly as a safety valve

Ben Utecht, Colts: 3-59, 2 TDs</font>
comments: why is he being used so little is beyond me...

Major disappointments: Still no 1000 yards received by a white TE (getting closer though); Casey Fitzsimmons, Lions only 45 yards and 1 TD; fading Jimmy Kleinsasser out by Vikings; Justin Peele getting only one TD...

RED</font> denotes rookies
BLUE</font> denoted career high

Christian Fauria can only catch the ball. Ben Watson can run a 4.4 and is big/black so under "caste policies" he has to start within 2 years even if he drops tons of passes.

Like Dallas Clark, Heath Miller is on the wrong team. This guy could be a monster, but on the Steelers a tight end is primarily a blocker for the running game no matter how talented a receiver he is.

I personally wouldn't call Jim Kleinsasser a disappointment. His main role in the Vikings scheme is as a "point of attack" blocker, something that he is arguably the best in the league at. He isn't a true Tight End that is running down seams. Now, one could argue that its because he is white, but I would counter that its because he fills the one roll so much better then anyone else can. If the Vikings had another beast like #40 to man that role, Kleinsasser would very likely play the receiving TE role instead of the blocking TE role.

Also, a good young White TE named Richard Owens is waiting in the wings on the Vikings, keep an eye on him in the future.

Skal

i agree Skal, but in the same time, Jimmy K. is more than capable of having similar numbers to tightends like Clark or Putzier (although he isn't as fast as Clark)... so really it is just a matter of throwing him a bone every now and again, in my opinion