The Seahawks signed 35-year-old Greg Olsen to a one-year, $7 million deal back in February. It was a surprising move. Olsen's had a great career and is far more accomplished when what Seattle had on its roster, but it's a curious allocation of resources.
Will Dissly has been very good for the team -- when healthy -- the last two years. Staying healthy has been a problem, of course, but Olsen has also missed 18 of 48 games the last three years, and they're guaranteeing him $5.5 million.
When Dissly got hurt last year, Jacob Hollister stepped in and was also very good. And then in April, perhaps mindful they'd added an old and injury-prone guy in Olsen, they drafted Stanford's Colby Parkinson in the fourth round. Parkinson caught 48 passes for the Cardinal a year ago, so he could be viewed as the future at the position.
In any case, until injuries strike, Seattle's got a pretty crowded field of options to choose from. On a per-game basis, the Seahawks will send out three of 2019's top 16 players at the position (among tight ends to start at least 6 games last year).
| TIGHT ENDS PER GAME, 2019 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | St | No | Yds | TD | FPG |
| Travis Kelce, K.C. | 16 | 6.1 | 76.8 | .38 | 16.0 |
| George Kittle, S.F. | 14 | 6.1 | 75.2 | .36 | 15.9 |
| Austin Hooper, Atl. | 13 | 5.8 | 60.5 | .49 | 14.7 |
| Zach Ertz, Phil. | 15 | 5.9 | 61.1 | .42 | 14.5 |
| Mark Andrews, Balt. | 15 | 4.3 | 56.8 | .67 | 13.9 |
| Darren Waller, Oak. | 16 | 5.6 | 71.6 | .19 | 13.9 |
| Evan Engram, NYG | 8 | 5.5 | 58.4 | .38 | 13.7 |
| Hunter Henry, LAC | 12 | 4.6 | 54.3 | .44 | 12.7 |
| Kaden Smith, NYG | 6 | 5.0 | 44.5 | .50 | 12.5 |
| Will Dissly, Sea. | 6 | 3.8 | 43.7 | .67 | 12.3 |
| Jared Cook, N.O. | 14 | 3.1 | 50.4 | .64 | 12.0 |
| Tyler Higbee, LAR | 15 | 4.6 | 48.9 | .20 | 10.7 |
| Jacob Hollister, Sea. | 8 | 4.5 | 38.9 | .38 | 10.6 |
| Dallas Goedert, Phil. | 15 | 3.9 | 40.5 | .33 | 9.9 |
| Jason Witten, Dall. | 16 | 3.9 | 33.1 | .27 | 8.9 |
| Greg Olsen, Car. | 14 | 3.7 | 42.6 | .14 | 8.8 |
| Mike Gesicki, Mia. | 16 | 3.2 | 35.6 | .31 | 8.6 |
| Eric Ebron, Ind. | 11 | 2.8 | 34.1 | .27 | 7.9 |
| Delanie Walker, Ten. | 7 | 3.0 | 30.7 | .29 | 7.8 |
| Ryan Griffin, NYJ | 13 | 2.6 | 24.6 | .41 | 7.5 |
| Kyle Rudolph, Min. | 16 | 2.4 | 22.9 | .40 | 7.1 |
| Noah Fant, Den. | 16 | 2.5 | 35.1 | .19 | 7.1 |
| Jack Doyle, Ind. | 16 | 2.7 | 28.0 | .25 | 7.0 |
| Gerald Everett, LAR | 13 | 2.8 | 31.4 | .15 | 6.9 |
| Darren Fells, Hou. | 16 | 2.1 | 21.3 | .44 | 6.9 |
| T.J. Hockenson, Det. | 12 | 2.7 | 30.6 | .17 | 6.7 |
| Tyler Eifert, Cin. | 16 | 2.7 | 27.3 | .21 | 6.7 |
| Jonnu Smith, Ten. | 16 | 2.2 | 27.4 | .19 | 6.5 |
| Jimmy Graham, G.B. | 16 | 2.4 | 27.9 | .19 | 6.3 |
| O.J. Howard, T.B. | 14 | 2.4 | 32.8 | .07 | 6.1 |
| Vance McDonald, Pitt. | 14 | 2.7 | 19.5 | .21 | 6.0 |
| Cameron Brate, T.B. | 16 | 2.3 | 19.4 | .25 | 5.7 |
| Jordan Akins, Hou. | 16 | 2.3 | 26.1 | .13 | 5.6 |
| Blake Jarwin, Dall. | 16 | 1.9 | 22.8 | .19 | 5.3 |
| Dawson Knox, Buff. | 15 | 1.9 | 25.9 | .13 | 5.3 |
| Foster Moreau, Oak. | 13 | 1.6 | 13.4 | .38 | 5.3 |
| Irv Smith, Min. | 16 | 2.3 | 19.4 | .13 | 4.9 |
| Ricky Seals-Jones, Cle. | 12 | 1.1 | 17.9 | .33 | 4.9 |
| Hayden Hurst, Balt. | 16 | 1.9 | 21.8 | .13 | 4.8 |
| Nick Boyle, Balt. | 16 | 1.9 | 20.1 | .13 | 4.7 |
| Josh Hill, N.O. | 16 | 1.6 | 14.1 | .19 | 4.1 |
| Jeremy Sprinkle, Was. | 11 | 1.7 | 16.9 | .09 | 4.0 |
| C.J. Uzomah, Cin. | 16 | 1.7 | 15.1 | .13 | 4.0 |
| Seth Devalve, Jac. | 7 | 1.7 | 20.0 | .00 | 3.7 |
| Anthony Firkser, Ten. | 9 | 1.3 | 16.9 | .11 | 3.7 |
| Demetrius Harris, Cle. | 14 | 1.1 | 10.6 | .24 | 3.6 |
| Benjamin Watson, N.E. | 10 | 1.7 | 17.3 | .00 | 3.4 |
| Geoff Swaim, Jac. | 6 | 2.2 | 10.8 | .00 | 3.3 |
| Charles Clay, Ariz. | 15 | 1.2 | 15.8 | .07 | 3.2 |
| Matt LaCosse, N.E. | 11 | 1.2 | 11.9 | .09 | 2.9 |
| Trey Burton, Chi. | 8 | 1.8 | 10.5 | .00 | 2.8 |
| Maxx Williams, Ariz. | 16 | .9 | 12.6 | .06 | 2.6 |
| Adam Shaheen, Chi. | 8 | 1.1 | 9.3 | .04 | 2.3 |
| Marcedes Lewis, G.B. | 16 | .9 | 9.8 | .06 | 2.3 |
| Jeff Heuerman, Den. | 14 | 1.0 | 8.1 | .07 | 2.2 |
| Jesse James, Det. | 16 | 1.0 | 8.9 | .00 | 1.9 |
| Stephen Carlson, Cle. | 9 | .6 | 5.7 | .11 | 1.8 |
| Tyler Kroft, Buff. | 11 | .5 | 6.5 | .09 | 1.7 |
| Durham Smythe, Mia. | 16 | .4 | 4.1 | .00 | .8 |
They're paying Olsen like a starter, so he's evidently the one to draft first. But in deeper, TE-premium leagues, might be better to wait until the end and throw a pick at Hollister. Just seems to be a shaky track record for either Olsen or Dissly to stay on the field all season.