Who will end up with the more successful NFL TE career?
- Thread starter Morrison71
- Start date
successful is a difficult word to define. I think who will be the most well known will be Fant. I see fant being a Fantasy Football must have for years to come slightly more so than Kittle. I see TJ as having a very long and productive career in the NFL but maybe not have as much receiving production as Fant and Kittle. I think all of them have successful careers but I think Fant is the most well known with the ball in his hands. I don't know how to put Dallas Clarke in this group. Clarke already is one of the top 5 most successful Tight Ends of all time in my opinion. Maybe Ive had too many beers but Clarke would probably be hard to beat
Amen, brother. Amen. Success ... defined by what TDs, yards, Super Bowls, Pro Bowls, catches, wins, games played, money made. Too open ended definition. Just be happy to make some money, stay relatively healthy, enjoy the game and play your best. You are doing something that like 1 in 100,000 kids each year played in your age bracket started back in junior high and you can get paid to do for while. Go as your NFL time is now ticking. Nothing last forever. Make and save enough money so you don't have to pay a huge mortgage, you don't have to wonder about your next paycheck to pay an overdue bill, and be able to really sleep at night. Peace of mind is success ( in my book).
Stats will depend on health, coaching staffs, opponents, YOUR QB(S), strategies employed, and other variable. Enjoy your time in the NFL. Work hard, play hard.
Mark Twain....."Too bad that youth is wasted on the young."
Just look at their situations...
Kittle has a revolving door of injured QBs throwing to him.
TJ has Stafford, who has misused TEs before.
Fant has a closer to the end of his career than beginning Flacco.
Dallas had Peyton Manning, the greatest pure QB ever.
How I’m expecting it will play out.
Going to be hard to beat Dallas’s situation which means going to be hard to beat his career. Just image if the current PI interpretation was in place for most of Dallas’s career.
Fant will likely be a TD machine, so important for the fantasy football crowd, plus he’s in the better situation than TJ as Flacco likes to utilize his TEs.
Kittle has a good offensive mind as his head coach, so if their main QB ever stays healthy he’s in a good situation. He’s a yards machine, but not as much with the TDs.
I have a feeling that TJ is stuck and underutilized in Detroit until his contract is up and will be rediscovered by a new team that has some semblance of how to run an NFL organization, unlike the Lions.
Kittle has a revolving door of injured QBs throwing to him.
TJ has Stafford, who has misused TEs before.
Fant has a closer to the end of his career than beginning Flacco.
Dallas had Peyton Manning, the greatest pure QB ever.
How I’m expecting it will play out.
Going to be hard to beat Dallas’s situation which means going to be hard to beat his career. Just image if the current PI interpretation was in place for most of Dallas’s career.
Fant will likely be a TD machine, so important for the fantasy football crowd, plus he’s in the better situation than TJ as Flacco likes to utilize his TEs.
Kittle has a good offensive mind as his head coach, so if their main QB ever stays healthy he’s in a good situation. He’s a yards machine, but not as much with the TDs.
I have a feeling that TJ is stuck and underutilized in Detroit until his contract is up and will be rediscovered by a new team that has some semblance of how to run an NFL organization, unlike the Lions.
Dallas Clark's career:
Indianapolis Colts (2003–2011)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2012)
Baltimore Ravens (2013)
Career highlights and awards
Receptions: 505
Receiving yards: 5,665
Receiving average: 11.2
Receiving TDs: 53
Gonna be hard for Kittle, Fant, and Hock to top this, but I'm certainly rooting for them!
Indianapolis Colts (2003–2011)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2012)
Baltimore Ravens (2013)
Career highlights and awards
- Super Bowl champion (XLI)
- Pro Bowl (2009)
- First-team All-Pro (2009)
- NFL Alumni Tight End of the Year (2009)
- Sports Illustrated NFL All-Pro Team (2008)
- Football Digest NFL All-Rookie Team (2003)
- Unanimous All-American (2002)
- John Mackey Award (2002)
- First-team All-Big Ten (2002)
Receptions: 505
Receiving yards: 5,665
Receiving average: 11.2
Receiving TDs: 53
Gonna be hard for Kittle, Fant, and Hock to top this, but I'm certainly rooting for them!
I'm actually surprised he was only a Pro Bowler once. I really thought he had around 3 of them.
The answer is Dallas Clark - leader in the clubhouse anyway, and as others have pointed out it is going to be tough for others to match him.
I could see Fant being more of a Jimmy Graham type and used as WR so if he creates a mismatch in the red zone he'll end up with a lot of TDs and a lot of fantasy owners thrilled to talk about him. Hockenson and Kittle are the all around TEs that do the dirty work too, but that's less sexy (although Kittle sure is well known now too).
I could see Fant being more of a Jimmy Graham type and used as WR so if he creates a mismatch in the red zone he'll end up with a lot of TDs and a lot of fantasy owners thrilled to talk about him. Hockenson and Kittle are the all around TEs that do the dirty work too, but that's less sexy (although Kittle sure is well known now too).
He was their first pick in the first round. When you have a new bright shiny toy, you play with it.
Or you risk losing your job.
Kittle can surpass the stats, especially if he gets a QB. Kittle has 1892 yds and 7 TDs after his 2nd year, while Clark only had 763 and 6 TDs after his 2nd season. Kittle already holds the season record for TE yardage and has a pro bowl selection so he's coming at Clark fast. Clark's Super Bowl win and college accolades will be a big point on who ends up with the better career.
I groaned when Hock got picked last night. Detroit is arguably the worst organization in the NFL and have been since I started watching football 50 years ago. He would have been much better off in the long run falling to the bottom of the first round. I hope he can remain relatively healthy until his rookie contract is up. Hell, Detroit itself may be an unincorporated area by then.
I truly hope that The Lions take advantage of TJ’s skill set, the Lions (my Lions) draft more TE’s early that any other team I can recall since watching the lions from back to the Barry day’s then they use them wrong, they leave and become All Pros. 
Lions fan. I loved the pick. Perfect TE for what they have right now with former Auburn RB Kerryon Johnson. Hock can block and catch which benefits both the run and the pass.I truly hope that The Lions take advantage of TJ’s skill set, the Lions (my Lions) draft more TE’s early that any other team I can recall since watching the lions from back to the Barry day’s then they use them wrong, they leave and become All Pros.
Got a good young RB mentioned above and a good young WR in Kenny Golladay.
I like the offensive weapons. Time to shore up some defensive deficiencies, or maybe OL.
Agree this. Fant's OC at Denver coached Kittle at SF last year. Fant has a coach who is going to feature him in the offense. Denver also has some WR talent, which will make it hard for defenses to focus on Fant.
Dallas will be tough to beat. He had one heck of a great career. I did go with TJ because the Lions and Stafford could have a parting of the ways in the near future. His replacement will likely be a better QB. Who knows, maybe Nate will step into the starting QB position for the Lions. The two of them would rewrite the record books for Detroit.
You'd surely think that the Lions want to use/feature TJ, when you take him as your number 8 pick! Stafford is a good QB and TJ will have a lot of production!
Seems as though Noah is getting a better fan reaction in Colorado than TJ is getting in Michigan there’s some real mixed emotions here about him going 8.. personally of course I’m happy to watch Iowa on Saturday and My hopeless Lions on Sunday with a Hawkeye skill position player.. Just hope TJ can take any negativity and use it to shut these native Michiganders up that said the Lions wasted their draft by getting him 8 and not getting Oliver, Bush or Rashan Gary.. & may TJ pancake RG every time they play GB’s chump A$$!
I don't know about success (how to define it), but Hockenson will be a godsend to Detroit as a runblocker as much as a receiver. The Lions have been atrocious at running the ball since Barry Sanders retired and in the NFC North with guys like K. Mack, E. Griffen, D. Hunter, and more they needed someone who could set the edge in both run and pass blocking. Hock will be sneaky good catching the ball as Stafford's safety valve on 3rd downs. All in all, Hockenson's role in Detroit probably won't lead to him catching the ball as much as Clark, Kittle, and Fant. Given that, it may be hard to tell, stats wise, how good Hockenson is compared to them. Just a different type of tight end on a team that will need to use him differently than Kittle, Clark, and Fant have been used and will be used.
Ebron went 10th to the Lions a few years ago... had a lot of drop issues. Landed in Indianapolis last year and had 66 catches for 750 yards and 13 TDs so I do believe maybe he got them corrected
And the Lions need all the run blocking and line help they can get.. The receivers are actually pretty solid but the run game needs him BAD.. with him needing to be another blocker for the Lions and the receivers being good not sure he’ll get the lime light that Fant may get if his primary job in Denver is to be a pass catcher thou. We’ll see.
Denver does like their TEs. Although Flacco is getting along in the years, he is still an upgrade over the last two years and he played a season with Dallas Clark. I think this puts Fant in a very favorable position for his rookie year.
TJ is in for more of a struggle in Detroit. But, I think he can still have a decent freshman campaign but not likely to catch as many passes as Noah will. His blocking abilities might be important to the Lions.
Kittle is good shape in San Fran regardless of who the QB is. He has played with all of them with success. I would like to see CJB get a shot at being the starting QB but the 49ers have a ton money in the guy who was Tom Brady's backup. Can't think of his name but if he is healthy, he will be the starter.
TJ is in for more of a struggle in Detroit. But, I think he can still have a decent freshman campaign but not likely to catch as many passes as Noah will. His blocking abilities might be important to the Lions.
Kittle is good shape in San Fran regardless of who the QB is. He has played with all of them with success. I would like to see CJB get a shot at being the starting QB but the 49ers have a ton money in the guy who was Tom Brady's backup. Can't think of his name but if he is healthy, he will be the starter.
Can't quickly forget, Hockenson catches anything close. Don't doubt at all he's going to earn his paycheck.
Fant has a great situation. Kittle's coach on a team hungry for production at the position.
But Kittle already knows his game now. He's a legit NFL star.
Exciting year watching these Hawkeyes at the next level.
Fant has a great situation. Kittle's coach on a team hungry for production at the position.
But Kittle already knows his game now. He's a legit NFL star.
Exciting year watching these Hawkeyes at the next level.
Given the somewhat surprising fact that Kittle has already seemingly established himself as one of the leaders on the 49er's O ... that bodes well for him remaining a consistently targeted player by the QBs. Thus, based on precedent and current trends ... it's foolhardy to pick somebody other than George.
However, that said, it's hard not to like the promise of either Fant or TJ. Noah is a great redzone target ... and he has the potential to provide a huge mismatch against opposing Ds. However, he'll need to continue to improve his consistency ... because QBs won't give him targets unless he can earn their trust. I love what Noah did for our Hawks ... but his lack of consistency cost us some games too.
Kittle will bypass catches and yard stats, but I don’t think he will come anywhere close to TDs.
