Travis Kelce isn’t the only notable tight end playing in this year’s championship game. Dallas Goedert is also a big-time threat, and I could see him playing a key role on Sunday.
Goedert isn’t as heavily used. He caught 55 passes in the regular season, exactly half as many as Kelce. While Goedert missed five games, he’s not used in the same featured way. The Eagles tend to rely more on their wide receivers (as well as running the ball more).
When the Eagles go to him, however, it tends to pay off nicely. Goedert caught 55 of the 69 passes thrown his way, and he gets downfield more often than other tight ends. He caught almost 80 percent of the passes thrown his way (3rd-best among starting tight ends) and he averaged 12.8 yards per catch – exactly the same as Kelce.
For overall efficiency, Goedert averaged 10.2 yards per pass play, best at the position. He was similarly great last year, up at 10.9. With his size, speed and role, he can create some Gronk-like matchup problems downfield. With KC worried about containing A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, I could see Goedert chipping in some big catches in Sunday’s game.
| TIGHT ENDS / YARDS PER TARGET | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Yd/Tgt |
| Dallas Goedert, Phi. | 69 | 55 | 702 | 3 | 10.2 |
| Chigoziem Okonkwo, Ten. | 46 | 32 | 450 | 3 | 9.8 |
| Will Dissly, Sea. | 38 | 34 | 349 | 3 | 9.2 |
| Jordan Akins, Hou. | 54 | 37 | 495 | 5 | 9.2 |
| George Kittle, S.F. | 86 | 60 | 765 | 11 | 8.9 |
| Travis Kelce, K.C. | 152 | 110 | 1338 | 12 | 8.8 |
| Hunter Henry, N.E. | 59 | 41 | 509 | 2 | 8.6 |
| Dawson Knox, Buff. | 65 | 48 | 517 | 6 | 8.0 |
| Cole Kmet, Chi. | 69 | 50 | 544 | 7 | 7.9 |
| David Njoku, Cle. | 80 | 58 | 628 | 4 | 7.9 |
| Evan Engram, Jac. | 98 | 73 | 766 | 4 | 7.8 |
| Juwan Johnson, N.O. | 65 | 42 | 508 | 7 | 7.8 |
| Foster Moreau, L.V. | 54 | 33 | 420 | 2 | 7.8 |
| Noah Fant, Sea. | 63 | 50 | 486 | 4 | 7.7 |
| Daniel Bellinger, NYG | 35 | 30 | 268 | 2 | 7.7 |
| Kylen Granson, Ind. | 40 | 31 | 302 | 0 | 7.6 |
| Mark Andrews, Balt. | 113 | 73 | 847 | 5 | 7.5 |
| Greg Dulcich, Den. | 55 | 33 | 411 | 2 | 7.5 |
| Pat Freiermuth, Pitt. | 98 | 63 | 732 | 2 | 7.5 |
| Austin Hooper, Ten. | 60 | 41 | 444 | 2 | 7.4 |
| Robert Tonyan, G.B. | 67 | 53 | 470 | 2 | 7.0 |
| Mike Gesicki, Mia. | 52 | 32 | 362 | 5 | 7.0 |
| Dalton Schultz, Dall. | 89 | 57 | 577 | 5 | 6.5 |
| Gerald Everett, LAC | 87 | 58 | 555 | 4 | 6.4 |
| Tyler Conklin, NYJ | 87 | 58 | 552 | 3 | 6.3 |
| Isaiah Likely, Balt. | 60 | 36 | 373 | 3 | 6.2 |
| Hayden Hurst, Cin. | 68 | 52 | 414 | 2 | 6.1 |
| T.J. Hockenson, Min. | 86 | 60 | 519 | 3 | 6.0 |
| Cade Otton, T.B. | 65 | 42 | 391 | 2 | 6.0 |
| Zach Ertz, Ari. | 69 | 47 | 406 | 4 | 5.9 |
| Tyler Higbee, LAR | 108 | 72 | 620 | 3 | 5.7 |
| Harrison Bryant, Cle. | 42 | 31 | 239 | 1 | 5.7 |
| Logan Thomas, Was. | 61 | 39 | 323 | 1 | 5.3 |
—Ian Allan