It's a little early to be stacking a board, but there's a second-year tight end I think I'm going to have some interest in this season. Tennessee's fourth-rounder out of Texas, Gunnar Helm.
Tennessee has a new coaching staff (including OC Brian Daboll), and they also signed a pair of Giants receivers, with Wan'Dale Robinson the big-ticket item and tight end Daniel Bellinger. Certainly possibly they're fond enough of Bellinger to give him a decent share of the offense.
But Helm was pretty good with his chances last year, and Tennessee let Chig Okonkwo leave in free agency. We'll see, but I think Helm will get the chance to start and be their main guy at the position.
As a rookie, he averaged just under 3 catches and 22 yards, with 2 TDs. Okonkwo was a lot busier, out-targeting him 79-55. But Helm turned 80 percent of the passes thrown his way into receptions. That was the 4th-highest rate in the league (minimum 50 targets), up there with three of the league's best options at the position.
| TIGHT END CATCH RATES, 2025 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Tgt | No | Rec | Avg | TD | Pct |
| Trey McBride, Ari. | 169 | 126 | 1,239 | 9.8 | 11 | 74.6 |
| George Kittle, S.F. | 69 | 57 | 628 | 11.0 | 7 | 82.6 |
| Jake Ferguson, Dall. | 102 | 82 | 600 | 7.3 | 8 | 80.4 |
| Gunnar Helm, Ten. | 55 | 44 | 357 | 8.1 | 2 | 80.0 |
| Dalton Schultz, Hou. | 106 | 82 | 777 | 9.5 | 3 | 77.4 |
| T.J. Hockenson, Min. | 66 | 51 | 438 | 8.6 | 3 | 77.3 |
| Colby Parkinson, LAR | 56 | 43 | 408 | 9.5 | 8 | 76.8 |
| Brenton Strange, Jac. | 60 | 46 | 540 | 11.7 | 3 | 76.7 |
| AJ Barner, Sea. | 68 | 52 | 519 | 10.0 | 6 | 76.5 |
| Pat Freiermuth, Pitt. | 54 | 41 | 486 | 11.9 | 4 | 75.9 |
| Juwan Johnson, N.O. | 102 | 77 | 889 | 11.5 | 3 | 75.5 |
| Kyle Pitts, Atl. | 118 | 88 | 928 | 10.5 | 5 | 74.6 |
| Brock Bowers, L.V. | 86 | 64 | 680 | 10.6 | 7 | 74.4 |
| Dallas Goedert, Phi. | 82 | 60 | 591 | 9.9 | 11 | 73.2 |
| Cade Otton, T.B. | 81 | 59 | 572 | 9.7 | 1 | 72.8 |
| Oronde Gadsden, LAC | 69 | 49 | 664 | 13.6 | 3 | 71.0 |
| Chig Okonkwo, Ten. | 79 | 56 | 560 | 10.0 | 2 | 70.9 |
| Colston Loveland, Chi. | 82 | 58 | 713 | 12.3 | 6 | 70.7 |
| Travis Kelce, K.C. | 108 | 76 | 851 | 11.2 | 5 | 70.4 |
| Jonnu Smith, Pitt. | 54 | 38 | 222 | 5.8 | 2 | 70.4 |
| Michael Mayer, L.V. | 50 | 35 | 328 | 9.4 | 1 | 70.0 |
| Zach Ertz, Was. | 72 | 50 | 504 | 10.1 | 4 | 69.4 |
| Hunter Henry, N.E. | 87 | 60 | 768 | 12.8 | 7 | 69.0 |
| Mark Andrews, Balt. | 70 | 48 | 422 | 8.8 | 5 | 68.6 |
| Tyler Warren, Ind. | 112 | 76 | 817 | 10.8 | 4 | 67.9 |
| Mason Taylor, NYJ | 65 | 44 | 369 | 8.4 | 1 | 67.7 |
| Harold Fannin, Cle. | 107 | 72 | 731 | 10.2 | 6 | 67.3 |
| Evan Engram, Den. | 76 | 50 | 461 | 9.2 | 1 | 65.8 |
| Theo Johnson, NYG | 74 | 45 | 528 | 11.7 | 5 | 60.8 |
Clearly Helm will need to be busier to pay off in fantasy leagues, but there's nothing wrong with his hands. And in his final year at Texas, he caught 60 passes for 786 yards and 7 TDs. He was the team's 2nd-leading receiver, behind Packers first-rounder Matthew Golden.
I'm interested in drafting him in a later round this season, and seeing what happens.
--Andy Richardson
