Jordan Reed signed with San Francisco yesterday. Knee-jerk reaction might be excitement, since he's joining an offense that has produced some big numbers from tight ends, including Jacob Tamme, Austin Hooper and currently George Kittle. But that excitement is unwarranted.
While Kyle Shanahan's offenses have indeed had some great No. 1 tight ends, the No. 2s have done virtually nothing. Only once has a player caught 20 passes, and even that was when he began the year as the starter (2017, when Garrett Celek opened ahead of Kittle). The only other time that second tight end caught even 15 passes was Ross Dwelley last year, and 11 of his 15 catches came when Kittle was sidelined for nearly three games.
| 2ND TIGHT ENDS IN SHANAHAN OFFENSES | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Tgt | No | Yds | TD |
| 2014 | Gary Barnidge | 25 | 13 | 156 | 0 |
| 2015 | Levine Toilolo | 12 | 7 | 44 | 0 |
| 2015 | Tony Moeaki | 5 | 3 | 58 | 1 |
| 2017 | Garrett Celek | 33 | 21 | 336 | 4 |
| 2017 | Cole Hikutini | 3 | 2 | 15 | 0 |
| 2018 | Garrett Celek | 8 | 5 | 90 | 2 |
| 2018 | Ross Dwelley | 2 | 2 | 14 | 0 |
| 2019 | Ross Dwelley | 22 | 15 | 91 | 2 |
| 2019 | Levine Toilolo | 2 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
Left out of the table are Shanahan's 2016 season in Atlanta. That's because injuries required him to use three different No. 1s in Jacob Tamme, Austin Hooper and Levine Toilolo. All three caught 13-22 passes, but not as No. 2s. Similar story for Shanahan's 2013 in Washington, which was Reed's rookie season. Reed was available for 9 games that year; Logan Paulsen, Fred Davis and Niles Paul all took turns as that No. 1. Three of those players caught 28-plus balls, but as the top option at the time.
Working with Reed in 2013 might be a factor in this signing. Shanahan knows what a healthy Reed is capable of, and Reed is familiar with the offense.
But a healthy Reed is hard to come by, as Ian laid out a little while back. And even if Reed is healthy, he's going to need an injury to Kittle to be a factor in the offense. Unless we're in the habit of protecting tight ends with their backups in fantasy drafts, Reed can be left on the waiver wire.
--Andy Richardson