It's nice when stat tables show you something you weren't expecting. I heard about Jacksonville signing Brenton Strange to a big new deal yesterday, and my initial thought was to dismiss it. But Strange has been better than I initially thought.
In fantasy leagues, he's been a pretty modest performer the last two years. As a starter across 29 contests, he's averaged 3 catches for 33 yards, with a total of 5 touchdowns. That makes him the 23rd-best tight end in PPR formats on a per-game basis -- barely a No. 2 in typical leagues.
And then the Jaguars went out and drafted two tight ends in April, Nate Boerkircher in the second round and Tanner Koziol in the fifth. At that point I'm thinking Strange is as likely to be in his last year with the team as getting a new deal.
But now he has a new three-year, $48 million contract, so he would seem to be part of their offensive plans. And looking at things like catch rate and what he's been able to do with his targets, it's clear there's some playmaking ability.
A year ago, 39 tight ends had at least 40 passes thrown their way. Strange averaged 9 yards per target with his opportunities, 6th among that group. The only tight ends to do more than him are among the league's best playmakers at the position: four top veterans (Kincaid, Kraft, Kittle, LaPorta) and Chargers rookie Oronde Gadsden.
| TIGHT END YARDS PER TARGET, 2025 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Rec | Avg | TD | Tgt | Ctch% | Y/Tgt |
| Dalton Kincaid, Buff. | 39 | 571 | 14.6 | 5 | 49 | 79.6 | 11.7 |
| Tucker Kraft, G.B. | 32 | 489 | 15.3 | 6 | 44 | 72.7 | 11.1 |
| Sam LaPorta, Det. | 40 | 489 | 12.2 | 3 | 49 | 81.6 | 10.0 |
| Oronde Gadsden, LAC | 49 | 664 | 13.6 | 3 | 69 | 71.0 | 9.6 |
| George Kittle, S.F. | 57 | 628 | 11.0 | 7 | 69 | 82.6 | 9.1 |
| Brenton Strange, Jac. | 46 | 540 | 11.7 | 3 | 60 | 76.7 | 9.0 |
| Pat Freiermuth, Pitt. | 41 | 486 | 11.9 | 4 | 54 | 75.9 | 9.0 |
| Hunter Henry, N.E. | 60 | 768 | 12.8 | 7 | 87 | 69.0 | 8.8 |
| Juwan Johnson, N.O. | 77 | 889 | 11.5 | 3 | 102 | 75.5 | 8.7 |
| Colston Loveland, Chi. | 58 | 713 | 12.3 | 6 | 82 | 70.7 | 8.7 |
| Dawson Knox, Buff. | 36 | 417 | 11.6 | 4 | 49 | 73.5 | 8.5 |
| Darnell Washington, Pitt. | 31 | 364 | 11.7 | 1 | 43 | 72.1 | 8.5 |
| Brock Bowers, L.V. | 64 | 680 | 10.6 | 7 | 86 | 74.4 | 7.9 |
| Travis Kelce, K.C. | 76 | 851 | 11.2 | 5 | 108 | 70.4 | 7.9 |
| Kyle Pitts, Atl. | 88 | 928 | 10.5 | 5 | 118 | 74.6 | 7.9 |
| AJ Barner, Sea. | 52 | 519 | 10.0 | 6 | 68 | 76.5 | 7.6 |
| Trey McBride, Ari. | 126 | 1,239 | 9.8 | 11 | 169 | 74.6 | 7.3 |
| Dalton Schultz, Hou. | 82 | 777 | 9.5 | 3 | 106 | 77.4 | 7.3 |
| Mike Gesicki, Cin. | 28 | 307 | 11.0 | 2 | 42 | 66.7 | 7.3 |
| Tyler Warren, Ind. | 76 | 817 | 10.8 | 4 | 112 | 67.9 | 7.3 |
| Colby Parkinson, LAR | 43 | 408 | 9.5 | 8 | 56 | 76.8 | 7.3 |
| Cole Kmet, Chi. | 30 | 347 | 11.6 | 2 | 48 | 62.5 | 7.2 |
| Dallas Goedert, Phi. | 60 | 591 | 9.9 | 11 | 82 | 73.2 | 7.2 |
| Theo Johnson, NYG | 45 | 528 | 11.7 | 5 | 74 | 60.8 | 7.1 |
| Chig Okonkwo, Ten. | 56 | 560 | 10.0 | 2 | 79 | 70.9 | 7.1 |
| Cade Otton, T.B. | 59 | 572 | 9.7 | 1 | 81 | 72.8 | 7.1 |
| Noah Fant, Cin. | 34 | 288 | 8.5 | 3 | 41 | 82.9 | 7.0 |
| Zach Ertz, Was. | 50 | 504 | 10.1 | 4 | 72 | 69.4 | 7.0 |
| Harold Fannin, Cle. | 72 | 731 | 10.2 | 6 | 107 | 67.3 | 6.8 |
| T.J. Hockenson, Min. | 51 | 438 | 8.6 | 3 | 66 | 77.3 | 6.6 |
| Michael Mayer, L.V. | 35 | 328 | 9.4 | 1 | 50 | 70.0 | 6.6 |
| Gunnar Helm, Ten. | 44 | 357 | 8.1 | 2 | 55 | 80.0 | 6.5 |
| Jake Tonges, S.F. | 34 | 293 | 8.6 | 5 | 46 | 73.9 | 6.4 |
| David Njoku, Cle. | 33 | 293 | 8.9 | 4 | 48 | 68.8 | 6.1 |
| Evan Engram, Den. | 50 | 461 | 9.2 | 1 | 76 | 65.8 | 6.1 |
| Mark Andrews, Balt. | 48 | 422 | 8.8 | 5 | 70 | 68.6 | 6.0 |
| Jake Ferguson, Dall. | 82 | 600 | 7.3 | 8 | 102 | 80.4 | 5.9 |
| Mason Taylor, NYJ | 44 | 369 | 8.4 | 1 | 65 | 67.7 | 5.7 |
| Jonnu Smith, Pitt. | 38 | 222 | 5.8 | 2 | 54 | 70.4 | 4.1 |
Fantasy-wise, yards per target doesn't exactly put food on the table. You'd rather have Jake Ferguson, way down near the bottom of this list, since he caught 82 passes, than Strange or most of the guys ahead of him.
But the number does help explain Jacksonville's investment and interest in keeping him around, and both that and the contract suggests he'll be a part of whatever good stuff the offense is doing. Jacksonville has a lot of talented wide receivers and those two new rookie tight ends, but it would be, er, Strange not to see the veteran operating as a big part of the offense. Makes sense as a second tight end, with the potential to outperform where he'll be drafted. With the rookies, hard to see them doing much this year.
--Andy Richardson
