ESPN’s positional rankings are continuing to trickle in and today it was the tight ends that got their time to shine. And as always, there was controversy abound.
The top five is probably where the greatest amount of debate is being had. San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle got the top spot once again, followed by Kansas Chiefs TE Travis Kelce, Las Vegas Raiders TE Darren Waller, Baltimore Ravens TE Mark Andrews and Atlanta Falcons TE Kyle Pitts.
People immediately started taking issue with the placement of some of those tight ends. There was a lot of issue with Mark Andrews being outside of the top three.
Another big point of contention was seeing Kyle Pitts in the top five. Some pointed out that his rookie stats didn’t warrant being placed so high already.
All five of the tight ends in the top five are coming off superb seasons. Kelce, Andrews and Pitts all went over 1,000 receiving yards this season while Waller had a huge role in the Raiders’ offense as they made the playoffs for the first time in five years.
It’s often hard to quantify how to rank someone heading into a season. Do we go off what they just did or what they’re expected to do if they’re healthy next year?
Clearly we don’t have the answers to those questions as it pertains to tight ends just yet.