Tight ends are asked to do so much in today’s NFL. They are asked to stress defenses in the secondary, particularly as the league looks to shift to more split-safety coverages, keeping both safeties deep to protect against the pass and daring offenses to run the football.
Many are also asked to take on the role of an extra offensive lineman, and to handle a variety of blocking assignments in the running game.
That combination of skills often makes for a tough adjustment to the league, but in this year’s version of this list, we see a pair of rookies debut as top talents at the tight end position.
Of course, there are some familiar names at the top, and as we will see in a moment, if you were to rank the top players in almost any order, you would have a strong case for doing so.
Here are the NFL’s top 12 tight ends, and all our other position lists to date, which will lead up to Touchdown Wire’s top 101 players in the NFL today.
The NFL’s top 12 slot defenders
The NFL’s top 12 outside cornerbacks
The NFL’s top 11 edge defenders
The NFL’s top 12 interior defensive linemen