The Jets selected Kenyon Sadiq with the 16th overall pick, and the recent history of first-round tight ends augured well for his odds of a rookie impact. But lets tap the brakes a little.
Sadiq underwent offseason hernia surgery, missing a mandatory minicamp and part of OTAs. He was on the field at the start of training camp, so all seemed well, but apparently not. Sadiq had "a little setback," according to Aaron Glenn, and will miss some time.
Glenn is confident that Sadiq will be ready for Week 1, but Glenn has said enough things that haven't come to pass in his first season-plus as head coach that it's reasonable to take a wait-and-see approach. And take a closer look at last year's second-round tight end, Mason Taylor.
Taylor didn't have a standout rookie season (not enough to keep New York from drafting Sadiq, certainly), but he had some decent games. Six times he caught 4-plus passes; 5-plus in four of those. Just 1 touchdown, but let's not hold that against him; New York threw a league-low 15.
He was also playing in an offense that threw for fewer yards to tight ends than anyone but Tampa Bay, but it's a new offense (Frank Reich), so no reason to read too much into that.
Taylor is one of three tight ends drafted in the second round a year ago. The Rams selected Terrance Ferguson, the Seahawks took Elijah Arroyo. None did much (Taylor was best), with the other two blocked as rookies and in a similar situation this season. Taylor will seemingly be behind Sadiq, but we'll see.
In the last 10 years, there have been 16 other tight ends selected in the second round. Only one of those guys (Sam LaPorta) posted top-12 numbers (PPR) as a rookie; only four even ranked in the top 20. But there was a nice Year 2 leap: about a third (5 of 16) finished in the top 12 in that second season, and four others in the top 25.
Table shows those second-round tight ends and their Year 1 and 2 numbers, sorted by PPR rank in their second years.
| 2ND-ROUND TIGHT ENDS, 2016-2025, YEARS 1 AND 2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draft | Player | Year 1 | Rk | Year 2 | Rk |
| 2022 | Trey McBride, Ari. | 29-265-1 | 40 | 81-825-3 | 7 |
| 2021 | Pat Freiermuth, Pitt. | 60-497-7 | 13 | 63-732-2 | 8 |
| 2023 | Sam LaPorta, Det. | 86-889-10 | 1 | 60-726-7 | 8 |
| 2018 | Dallas Goedert, Phil. | 33-334-4 | 20 | 58-607-5 | 10 |
| 2018 | Mike Gesicki, Mia. | 22-202-0 | 49 | 51-570-5 | 12 |
| 2016 | Hunter Henry, S.D. | 36-478-8 | 18 | 45-579-4 | 14 |
| 2020 | Cole Kmet, Chi. | 28-243-2 | 42 | 60-612-0 | 21 |
| 2017 | Gerald Everett, LAR | 16-244-2 | 42 | 33-320-3 | 22 |
| 2019 | Irv Smith, Min. | 36-311-2 | 33 | 30-365-5 | 23 |
| 2019 | Drew Sample, Cin. | 5-30-0 | 92 | 40-349-1 | 30 |
| 2023 | Brenton Strange, Jac. | 5-35-1 | 79 | 40-411-2 | 31 |
| 2023 | Luke Schoonmaker, Dall. | 8-65-2 | 67 | 27-241-1 | 44 |
| 2023 | Michael Mayer, L.V. | 27-304-2 | 35 | 21-156-0 | 53 |
| 2024 | Ben Sinnott, Was. | 5-28-1 | 82 | 11-114-1 | 67 |
| 2017 | Adam Shaheen, Chi. | 12-127-3 | 49 | 5-48-1 | 78 |
| 2023 | Luke Musgrave, G.B. | 34-352-1 | 31 | 7-45-0 | 87 |
| 2025 | Elijah Arroyo, Sea. | 15-179-1 | 58 | ?-?-? | ? |
| 2025 | Mason Taylor, NYJ | 44-369-1 | 32 | ?-?-? | ? |
| 2025 | Terrance Ferguson, LAR | 11-231-3 | 52 | ?-?-? | ? |
If Sadiq's healthy and practicing a good amount of time before the season, Taylor's not going to look particularly viable. But let's see. If Sadiq isn't healthy for Week 1, or practicing much before that, maybe Taylor will make a nice Year 2 leap.
--Andy Richardson
