Chargers tight end Tre’ McKitty spent last week attending “Tight End University”, a three-day summit for tight ends in the NFL.
The TEU camp was originally founded by Travis Kelce, George Kittle, and Greg Olsen in 2021.
#Chargers TE Tre McKitty was one of many that attended TEU this week in Nashville pic.twitter.com/GAh0XONyJn
— Guilty As Charged Podcast (@GACPodcast17) June 24, 2023
McKitty is entering his third year in a prime position to show some development going forward. Assuming the Chargers keep the same group together that’s currently on the depth chart, his role will probably have to be expanded.
Gerald Everett is entering a contract year for Los Angeles in what could be his last season with the team. While Donald Parham Jr. has performed well when healthy, he’s only been able to play 18 out of a possible 34 games in the last two seasons due to injuries. If the Chargers don’t sign another tight end, they’ll need McKitty to take a decent step forward as a blocker.
McKitty unfortunately took a step back in multiple respects last season. While functional enough as a pass blocker, McKitty ranked 68th out of 72 qualified tight ends in PFF run blocking grade.
As a receiver, it’s even worse. He was last place out of 49 eligible tight ends in receiving grade. McKitty had a drop rate of 14.3% and averaged 0.4 yards per route run. For context, Cameron Brate is last place on PFF’s 2022 tight end rankings in yards per route run at 0.7. Had McKitty hit the eligible number of snaps, he would’ve finished last by a significant amount.
Once the pads come on in camp, the Bolts will know if they’ve seen some improvement or development from the formerGeorgia product this offseason. If they don’t see a step forward from McKitty early on, one has to wonder if the free agent market would be an option with blockers like Geoff Swaim, Kyle Rudolph, Marcedes Lewis, etc. available.
Hopefully, TEU in addition to McKitty’s other offseason activities proves fruitful in what is probably a make-or-break season for the third-year tight end.