Chip Kelly has taken his talents to San Francisco, and that should be good news for the team's tight ends. Figuring out if one of them will be a solid fantasy starter, or if it's merely the group that will benefit, is the tricky part.
Thus far in camp, both Vance McDonald and Garrett Celek have got first-team work. San Francisco also has second-year tight end Blake Bell as a possibility, and yet another candidate is Bruce Miller, a fullback who's been transitioning to tight end over the course of the spring and summer.
In Kelly's three years running things in Philadelphia (2013-2015), only three teams had more total receiving yards from the tight end position than the Eagles (not surprisingly, the Saints, Patriots and Chargers, all of whom boasted elite tight ends in most of those seasons). Only four teams had more receptions from the position (Saints, Chargers, Washington and Tennessee). That's the kind of offense that's moving to San Francisco.
The 49ers, in those three years, were 18th in tight end yards and 25th in receptions among the NFL's 32 teams. Personnel has something to do with it, of course, but it's reasonable to think San Francisco's players at the position will start putting up better numbers.
Team tight end numbers over the last three years, sorted by yardage, are below. Kelly's old and new teams are in bold.
| TIGHT ENDS, TEAM TOTALS, 2013-2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | No | Yards | TD |
| New Orleans | 331 | 3707 | 47 |
| New England | 263 | 3633 | 39 |
| San Diego | 292 | 3462 | 30 |
| Philadelphia | 269 | 3408 | 21 |
| Carolina | 267 | 3230 | 22 |
| Tennessee | 279 | 3167 | 22 |
| Cleveland | 236 | 2991 | 21 |
| Washington | 286 | 2979 | 21 |
| Dallas | 266 | 2770 | 23 |
| St. Louis | 253 | 2747 | 22 |
| Kansas City | 236 | 2718 | 20 |
| Chicago | 263 | 2716 | 19 |
| Indianapolis | 246 | 2691 | 29 |
| Denver | 242 | 2627 | 33 |
| Seattle | 186 | 2425 | 17 |
| Baltimore | 236 | 2412 | 15 |
| Cincinnati | 242 | 2405 | 26 |
| San Francisco | 184 | 2336 | 21 |
| NY Giants | 234 | 2323 | 20 |
| Miami | 222 | 2309 | 18 |
| Minnesota | 215 | 2272 | 15 |
| Pittsburgh | 210 | 2193 | 10 |
| Buffalo | 191 | 2168 | 10 |
| Jacksonville | 180 | 2109 | 17 |
| Green Bay | 194 | 1956 | 21 |
| Arizona | 166 | 1915 | 12 |
| Atlanta | 196 | 1914 | 15 |
| Tampa Bay | 177 | 1913 | 16 |
| Detroit | 172 | 1812 | 19 |
| Houston | 168 | 1809 | 19 |
| Oakland | 184 | 1769 | 16 |
| NY Jets | 137 | 1628 | 12 |
In Kelly's first year in Philadelphia, stats were split fairly evenly the first season between Zach Ertz and Brent Celek. The two had nearly identical targets, receptions, yards and touchdowns. In Year 2 and 3, Ertz emerged as the key performer at the position, with Celek not as involved in the passing game.
| EAGLES TIGHT ENDS, 2013-2015 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Tgt | No | Yards | TD |
| 2013 | Zach Ertz | 57 | 36 | 469 | 4 |
| 2013 | Brent Celek | 51 | 32 | 502 | 6 |
| 2014 | Zach Ertz | 89 | 58 | 702 | 3 |
| 2014 | Brent Celek | 51 | 32 | 340 | 1 |
| 2015 | Zach Ertz | 112 | 75 | 853 | 2 |
| 2015 | Brent Celek | 35 | 27 | 398 | 3 |
So, we'll see. Would be nice to get one main, breakout tight end in San Francisco this year, but it's also possible that two or three will be involved, with none putting up big numbers.
--Andy Richardson
