411's NFL Round Up 06.24.08 The Top 10 Tight Ends of All Time

Posted by Emmett Wilks on 06.24.2008

News and Notes from around the NFL, as well as a examination of the new found importance of lineman in today's game. Also, the Top 10 continues with the tight ends in this week's Round Up!

Greeting everyone, and welcome to this weeks NFL Round Up! While I am an avid baseball fan, I must say, the summer months can be a drag for sports fans. This is the time between the end of basketball and the start of football when there is just not enough sports to fill my addict like needs. Arena Football just doesn't cut for me. A good game, sure, but I just can't get into. Anyway, I digress. Onto the Round Up!

QUICK NOTES


Michael Strahan sure didn't stay inactive for long, joining the Fox's NFL coverage for the upcoming season. I think he will do very well in the booth, as Strahan in articulate, smart, and most importantly for a former player, entertaining. How exactly he is going to handle the new role is yet to be seen. You can never really tell with ex players who are going to be good. Just look at two years ago with Tiki Barber and Keyshawn Johnson. Tiki had a host of hype surrounding him, only to be out performed by Johnson, the commentator no one saw coming. For FOX though, anything would be an upgrade from Tony Siragusa, who spouts about 10% good analysis to about 90% nonsensical crap during the course of a game.

So far, Adam Jones is doing very well in his new Dallas uniform. He has asked that the media stop referring to him as "Pacaman," the moniker he has used since his college days at West Virginia. He knows as well as anyone that he must keep his nose clean this season if he wants to play in this league. So far, he has been coordinal, hard working, and disciplined, based upon all media accounts. Let's hope for his, and Dallas' sake that this continues.

Call me crazy, I am just not at all concerned with Donovan McNabb's sore shoulder. For starters, this injury is unlike his previous ones. We all know he has missed significant playing time due to injuries during his career, but those were all injuries during a game, two of which from when he was hit, the other from being run out of bounds. This shoulder would suggest an older players wearing down, but I don't see that here. He is still in great shape and is not on the wrong side of 35, the bad age for a QB. It just seems more likely he took too may throws this off-season and is sore, nothing more. Well, hopefully for the Eagles sake, as it is still far too early to start the Kevin Kolb era in Philly.


McNabb's shoulder is not a major concern for the Eagles.


WHERE THE PRIORITIES ARE AT

The 2008 NFL off-season will shortly be coming to a close. And if there is one thing that this year has taught us about the NFL, it is that GM's know the game is won and lost in the trenches. While the signing of wide receivers such as Terrell Owens in Dallas, Randy Moss in New England, and Larry Fitzgerald in Arizona have garnered there fair share of headlines, it is clear the management has placed a higher value on offensive and defensive lines this off-season.

This trend is now demonstrating that owners and GM's are more likely to start shelling out the big money to lineman than they are towards other positions. While stars like Brian Urlacher in Chicago, Chad Johnson in Cincinnati, and Plaxico Burress in New York are vocally angry about their contract situations, lineman are collecting. Lineman on both sides of the ball, from Will Smith in New Orleans to Flozell Adams in Dallas (who signed well before TO) have all cashed in on good pay days without any of the aggravation that is besetting skill position players.

This week's big news on the resigning front came from Chicago. And just when you may start to think Bears management made concession to disgruntled all-world linebacker Brian Urlacher, think again. The Bears opted instead to focus on defensive tackle Tommie Harris, a three time Pro Bowl selection who just turned 25 earlier this year. While it may be true that Harris' 4 year, $40 million contract was mostly based on his youth and talent, it is also likely that the Bears recognized the value of having a great defensive tackle is a more pressing priority than a linebacker.
Of course there were several other circumstances involved in the Bears off-season with regards to Urlacher; including his already playing with a respectable, but still below market value, contract he signed in 2003. But the main philosophical point remains. Great linemen are more valuable to a football team than most all other positions, with the exception of quarterback.

Earlier this year, newly acquired Vikings defensive end Jared Allen became the highest paid defensive player in league history, despite mustering only one great year in the NFL. This just two years after the Vikings made offensive guard Steve Hutchinson the highest paid offensive lineman in league when they signed the free agent away from Seattle. And while Adrian Peterson is a great player, a very talented offensive line in Minnesota was more than a little bit responsible for his sensational rookie season.

Football is the ultimate team game. No player, with the possible exception of Barry Sanders, can truly thrive without the help of teammates. And the players who make it more possible than anyone to allow other teammates to be successful are the lineman. No decent offensive linemen equals no pass protection and a sacked quarterback. A sacked quarterback is unable to complete a pass to a wide receiver, therefore making the wide receiver useless, even if they are open on their pattern. It may seem overly simple, but often times, the game is just that straightforward. A similar logic can be used for linebackers and defensive backs. If a defensive linemen takes up two blockers, which gives greater freedom to a linebacker to pursue a running back. Likewise with defensive backs in a passing situation. When a defensive end rushes and hurries the quarterback, it significantly helps a corner or safety defending a receiver.

This years draft was only a further reinforcement of this idea. Of the 31 players selected in the first round, 15 players were lineman (9 offensive, 6 defensive). Linebackers accounted for just two first round selections, and wide receivers failed to even crack the first round. While many would simple argue that as more a reflection on the weakness of that class's position, it still reflects the inclination of teams to take care of the lines first, with other positions not as top a priority.

Linemen have indeed become priority A for many of the teams in the NFL. Successful teams begin with the big boys up front, and no matter how many new passing innovations, receiver sets, or defensive back alignments are developed, it all means nothing until the grunts in the trenches have their say on the matter.


TOP DOGS

Previous Top 10's-

Offensive Linemen

Linebackers

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Defensive Linemen


This week's edition of the Round Up's top 10 is dedicated to the tight end position. The evolution of the tight end position is one of the most fascinating in the history of football. For the first several decades of football, the position was regarded as more or less the third tackle along the offensive line. Though the player was always allowed to become a receiver, it was typically rare to see a tight end being a vital component to a passing offense. It would not be until the early 1960's that the position would forever be altered into a legitimate passing threat, with the rise of two of the top 10's members, John Mackey, Jackie Smith, and Mike Ditka. Today's NFL is inarguably the greatest the position has ever seen. With new emphasis, tight end has become a marquee position on several teams, and big time tight ends like Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez, and Jeremy Shockey are among the most recognizable names in all of football. Last week, NFL network premiered their countdown of the top 10 list. My list actually includes 9 of the 10 names they selected, albeit in a vastly different order. While it is one of the most entertaining shows on television, the NFL's Top 10 can be overly generous to the older generation of players, as was with their top 10 tight end list. Granted, the role of the position has changed greatly in the last two decades, generating bigger receiving statistics, but I firmly believe that the players in the more recently era of football are the best representation of what the tight end position can and should be. The most obvious will be Tony Gonzalez. Ranked 8th by NFL network, I have placed him at the number 2 spot on the list


Honorable Mention- Mark Bavaro, Ben Coates, Charlie JoinerJay Novacek, Mike Chumura.


10.) Jackie Smith St. Louis Cardinals (1963-1977) Dallas Cowboys (1978)

Among the first players to change the notion of what a tight end could be, Smith remains one of the positions defining players. An immediate impact his rookie year, he furthered the idea established by Mike Ditka that a tight end could be a big play threat, demonstrated by his 9 reception, 212 yard performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers during his rookie season. A track star in college, Smith translated that athleticism to the football field, becoming of the hardest players to bring down after he caught the ball. A terrific blocker, Smith was as adept to blocking a down lineman as he was a corner on the edges, making space for a host of running backs during his 16 year NFL career. He finished up with 480 receptions for 7,918 yards and 40 TD's. He was named to five straight Pro Bowl and All Pro teams from 1966-1970, and was a productive player well into the 70's.


9.) Dave Casper Oakland Raiders (1974-1980) Houston Oilers (1981-1983) Minnesota Vikings (1983) Los Angeles Raiders (1984)

Casper was the guy who just kept coming. Over his 11 NFL seasons, Casper worked hard to get better and better. An afterthought for his first two seasons, Casper eventually won the trust of coach John Madden and became a major factor in the Raiders offense. Casper would grab 52 touchdowns in his career to go along with 378 catches and 5,216 yards. He was also among the best blocking tight ends of the era as well, using his 6-4, 240 lbs frame to drive defenders off the ball with as much panache as he did with he great receiving skills. The "Ghost" as he was nicknamed would play of five Pro Bowl teams and win two Super Bowls while with the Raiders. Casper was also named first team tight end by the NFL for the All-Decade team 1970's.

8.) Antonio Gates San Diego Chargers (2003-present)

The youngest player to grace any top 10 list by far, Gates has been nothing short of remarkable in his brief and brilliant NFL career. A basketball player at Kent State in Ohio, Gates saw that the NBA would be too much of a stretch for a 6-5, 245 lbs low post player. So he decided to give football another try, after retiring in high school. Two football teams, the San Diego Chargers and the Cleveland Browns would send scouts, a mistake that 30 other NFL teams would very soon learn to regret. Those basketball skills translated very well to the NFL game. He utilizes great body positioning, soft hands, an unbelievable leaping ability that simply outclasses all those around him. In his first five seasons, he has already managed 332 receptions for 4,268 yards and 43 touchdowns. With four Pro Bowls and three All Pro teams' selections already to his credit, he is with Tony Gonzalez in a class of their own in the tight end position. Barring injuries, he very well may sit atop of this list in the next few seasons, serving as the benchmark for all tight ends. But for now, he sits here at 8, already among the greats to play the position.

7.) Todd Christensen New York Giants (1978) Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders (1978-1988)

One of the best players in Raiders history. Todd Christensen was the precursor to the H-back position, a hybrid of both full back and tight end, who could line up most anywhere during an offensive snap. Drafted by the Giants in 1978, he broke his foot during the preseason, which caused his release before the season began. Talk about harsh times for a rookie. The Giants trash became the Raiders gold, as they signed Christensen soon after. Christensen would not make an impact until the 1982 season while playing behind All-Pro teammate Dave Casper. In '82, he caught 40 passes for just over 500 yards. But he would become of the NFL's elites the next year, amassing 92 catches (a record for years) and 1,247 yards and 12 touchdowns. A very well-educated man (BYU grad) Christensen was known as the "Renaissance Man" for spouting of philosophy and Shakespeare at the drop of a hat. A five time Pro Bowl participant, Christensen would conclude his great career with 461 receptions, 5,872 yards, 41 TD's and two Super Bowl rings.


6.) Ozzie Newsome Cleveland Browns (1978-1990)

Newsome was among the beginning players of the modern incarnation of the NFL tight end. A first round draft pick, Newsome quickly made an impact with the Browns, and help lead the Brown offense during his 13 year career. Newsome was great receiver, whose knack for making tough catches help propel him into one of the positions all-time greats. He was the Browns leader, starting in 198 games during his tenure, and catching a pass in 150 consecutive games, a record later broken by the legendary Jerry Rice. Newsome was selected to seven All-Pro teams and made three trips to the Pro Bowl. His career stats were top among tight ends when he retired; 662 receptions 7,980 yards, and 47 TD's. Newsome's post football career has been equally successful as a general manger with the Baltimore Ravens. While there, he has drafted All Pro players such as Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs as the Ravens have been among the NFL's best defensive teams for a decade.

5.) Mike Ditka Chicago Bears (1961-1966) Philadelphia Eagles (1967-1968) Dallas Cowboys (1969-1972)

The name Ditka has taken on many forms during his public life. For many in my generation, his name is most commonly related the great Saturday Night Live sketch of the late 80's and early 90's. But to Chicagoans, he is "Iron Mike," one of the greatest players (and coaches) the storied team has ever known. While the Colts John Mackey may have been the player that forever changed the perception of the tight end, Ditka was the first to make defensive everyone notice. During his rookie campaign, Ditka collected an unheard of 56 catches for 1,076 yards (19.2 YPC) and 12 touchdowns, earning him Rookie of the Year honors. He matched that unseen offensive output by being equally devastating at blocking, opening holes for future teammate Gale Sayers. He finished his 12 year career with 427 receptions and 5,812 yards and 43 touchdowns, a large bulk of which were accumulated in his first four seasons, before injuries limited his receiving production. Ditka also played on an NFL title team in with the Bears in 1963 and a Super Bowl team in 1971 for the Dallas Cowboys. His coaching career was equally successful. As head coach of the Bears from 1982-1992, he lead arguably the greatest team ever in 1985 to a Super Bowl title.

4.) John Mackey Baltimore Colts (1963-1971) Dallas Cowboys (1972)

There was the tight end position before Mackey, and there was the tight end position after Mackey. And it never would look the same way again. Coming off the heels of another trendsetter in Mike Ditka two years earlier, Mackey would more than any other single player change the perception of what a tight end can mean to an offensive game plan. Drafted in the second round (pick 19) of the 1963 draft by legendary Don Shula, Mackey was originally slated to be a full-back. At 6-3, 225 lbs., few would argue with that initial assessment. But Shula decide to try him at tight end, seeing the success Bears coach George Halas had with Mike Ditka. The move help propel not only the Colts offense, but change offensive football. Mackey was perhaps the most powerful runner ever at the tight end position, with an ability to plow through defenders as well as run around them. His best season came in 1966, when he scored nine touchdowns, 6 of which came on plays of 50 yards or more. He finished his career with 331 catches for 5.321 yards and 38 touchdowns to go along with 5 Pro Bowl teams and 3 All-Pro selections.

3.) Kellen Winslow San Diego Chargers (1979-1987)

The forefather of the modern NFL tight end, Kellen Winslow remains on of the positions brightest stars. Many who played against him found the tight end label a deceptive one. Winslow was as much a wide receiver as a Steve Largent or Jerry Rice in the 1980's. He was among the first tight end to line up at the slot receiver position and to go in motion, mostly to set up him up as the primary option on a passing play. During his nine seasons with the Chargers, Winslow amassed 541 receptions, 6,471 yards and 45 touchdowns, and winning three AFC West Championships. During the 1980 season, he led the NFL with 89 catches for 1,290 yards and followed that with a league-leading 88 for 1,075 yards in 1981. He finished his Hall of Fame (but still injury shortened career) with five Pro Bowl and four All-Pro team selections. In 1994, he was named 2nd team tight end in the NFL's 75th Anniversary Team.


2.) Tony Gonzalez Kansas City Chiefs (1997-present)

The greatest athlete to ever play the position of tight end, Gonzalez has defined what a modern tight end is today. At his core, Gonzalez is basically a HUGE wide receiver. Too big for a corner to cover, too fast for a linebacker. Simply put, Gonzalez is one of the greatest offensive weapons of this or any era. Gonzalez in a nearly perfect looking football player. At 6-5 and 250lbs., he runs perfectly crisp, precise routes and possess truly special leaping and receiving skills. His career numbers are not that of a tight end, put a great wide receiver. Currently he stands atop all-time tight end list with 816 receptions, 66 touchdowns, and three separate 1000 yard seasons. His 9,882 receiving yards places him second behind only Shannon Sharpe. He has been named to nine Pro Bowl teams and been selected to eight All-Pro teams during his time with the Chiefs. His blocking has always been good, but never the most exceptional aspect of his game, even though he has blocked for two of the best runners this decade, Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson. While his career is winding down now, entering his 12th NFL season, he remains of the games elite players at the tight end spot.

1.) Shannon Sharpe Denver Broncos (1990-1999, 2002-2003) Baltimore Ravens (2000-2001)

Sharpe rewrote the rules for what a tight end can and should be. Sharpe, more than any other player, has set the level of excellence all tight ends will be measured by. As one of the great draft steals of all-time (192nd pick out of Savannah State), Sharpe quickly impressed coaches and teammates with his athleticism and drive. He would play 14 seasons in the NFL, in which he accumulated 10,060 receiving on 815 catches and 62 touchdowns. He would also be part of three Super Bowl teams, the 1997 and 1998 Broncos and the Baltimore Ravens, leading each of those teams in receptions those seasons. What he often forgotten during the eight Pro Bowl and 6 All Pro seasons was how good a blocker Sharpe actually was. While many tight ends during that time were still in the 260+ weight range, Sharpe was a nimble (but sculpted) 6-2, 228 lbs. He used his superior size to dominate corners and safety on the perimeter and his quickness and agility to block linebackers. But alas, it was the receiver skill that truly made Sharpe one of the most special players to ever suit up. His mammoth hands are among the best to ever touch a football, with the ability to make tough grabs in small spaces seem commonplace. Sharpe's wit and humor delighted (and infuriated) fans for years, and has now led him to a commentating career with CBS sports for NFL Today. While his southern drawl may be a bit strong, he remains on of the smarter commentators in the game today.


Shannon Sharpe is the definition of greatness for a tight end.


For future consideration- Jason Witten Dallas Cowboys, Kellen Winslow Jr. Cleveland Browns, Vernon Davis(too much athletic ability to go to waste).


That's it for this week. Stay safe out there. Peace.