With eight weeks of the season in the books outside of Monday Night Football, it’s time to look towards some more of PFF Elite’s signature stats. This week, we’re going to be highlighting the league’s tight ends and their best performers in terms of yards per route run and drop rate, two of our exclusive signature stats for the position, further examining just how effective a tight end can be in the receiving game for their team.
Yards Per Route Run
PFF's “Yards per Route Run” figure takes into account the number of snaps a player ran in a pass pattern, which provides a better indicator of production than yards per reception or even yards per target.
1. Vernon Davis, Washington Redskins
PFF Grade: 76.7
Yards Per Route Run: 2.50
The 12-year veteran has been a threat for the Redskins ever since he signed with the team in 2016. With Pro Bowl tight end, teammate Jordan Reed struggling through injury, Davis has stepped up and produced in a big way for the team. Through eight weeks, he’s amassed 312 receiving yards from his 125 snaps in route and has put up more yards on a per-route basis than anyone else.
2. Charles Clay, Buffalo Bills
PFF Grade: 60.3
Yards Per Route Run: 2.22
In his seven years in the league, Clay has never managed to crack the top-10 in yards per route run, but this year could very well be the season that changes that. Through the five games in which he’s played, Clay has put up 258 receiving yards from his 116 pass patterns, with 113 of those yards coming from throws of 20 or more yards downfield.
3. Cameron Brate, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
PFF Grade: 84.8
Yards Per Route Run: 2.20
When the Bucs drafted O.J. Howard with the 19th pick of the 2017 draft, many expected Brate to take a step back in his fourth year with the team, however, through eight weeks of the season, this has been anything but the case. So far, Brate has run a total of 184 routes, with 121 of them coming from the slot, and has racked up 405 receiving yards, second most among his teammates. His four touchdowns tie him with Mike Evans for the most among Buccaneers’ players.
4. Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots
PFF Grade: 85.3
Yards Per Route Run: 2.12
Arguably one of the most dominant playesr in all of football, Gronkowski is on pace to add yet another chapter to an already stellar career. In his seven full seasons in the league, Gronkowski has finished in the top five in yards per route run in all of them, including four first-place finishes. Since 2015, Gronkowski has racked up 2,226 yards from 919 snaps in route, and only three offensive players are ahead of him in terms of yards per route run, which is remarkable for a tight end. Through eight weeks of this year alone, his 510 receiving yards from 241 pass patterns rank fourth among players at the poistion.
5. Zach Ertz, Philadelphia Eagles
PFF Grade: 79.2
Yards Per Route Run: 2.06
After eight games, the Eagles tight end has gotten off to his best start to a season since he entered the league in 2013. Through Week 8, Ertz not only leads the league’s tight ends in targets (57), receptions (43), touchdowns (6) and routes run (256), but his 528 receiving yards and 175 receiving yards from deep passes also see him first among his peers.
Drop Rate
PFF's “Drop Rate” shows the percentage of catchable targets a player drops, giving us a clear measure of who hangs on those catchable balls most often, the bottom line on the receiving end of the passing game.
T-1. Delanie Walker, Tennessee Titans
PFF Grade: 83.2
Drop Rate: has not dropped a pass on 32 catchable targets
A major factor in the Titans passing attack, Walker has been targeted 42 times through the seven games that he’s played in, second only to teammate Rishard Matthews. He has shown great hands, and caught all 32 catchable targets that have been thrown his way, including two deep passes that travelled 20 or more yards in the air.
T-1. Kyle Rudolph, Minnesota Vikings
PFF Grade: 76.7
Drop Rate: has not dropped a pass on 32 catchable targets
Despite playing without his starting quarterback in Sam Bradford for most of the year, the seventh-year tight end has still been productive in the Vikings attack and has seen 42 of the 301 passes that the Vikings have thrown. Through eight weeks, Rudolph has seen 32 catchable targets, with 11 coming on third down, and he is yet to drop a pass.
3. Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
PFF Grade: 86.9
Drop Rate: 2.63
Before Monday night's game against Denver, Kelce boasts both our highest overall grade (86.9) and receiving grade (87.5) among tight ends, and for good reason. He’s already racked up 423 receiving yards (the third-most receiving yards among tight ends) and has caught 37 of his 38 catchable targets, with four of those catches coming on deep passes.
4. Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys
PFF Grade: 60.7
Drop Rate: 2.86
Fifteen years into his Hall of Fame worthy career, and the 35-year-old tight end is still displaying some of the safest hands in the league. Through eight weeks, Witten has dropped just one of his 35 catchable targets which adds to an already impressive record. Witten has seen a total of 979 catchable targets in the PFF era (2006-present) and he’s dropped just 44 of them, which equates to one drop for every 22.25 targets.
5. Zach Ertz, Philadelphia Eagles
PFF Grade: 79.2
Drop Rate: 4.44
Adding to his already impressive first half of 2017, Ertz has shown reliable hands through his first eight games and has dropped just two of his 45 catchable targets. Ertz is yet to drop a deep pass or a pass thrown to him out of the slot, and he has also caught 8-of-9 catchable targets in the red zone, the league’s best mark.
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