I know I talk a lot about how irrelevant we are on the national stage but I am continually amazed at how out of sight and out of mind we are even when we have grounds on the merits to be part of a conversation. The latest example is PFF's list of the top ten returning tight ends in America. Their list:
1. Brock Bowers (Georgia)
2. Michael Mayer (Notre Dame)
3. Arik Gilbert (Georgia)
4. Brant Kuithe (Utah)
5. Jaheim Bell (South Carolina)
6. Erick All (Michigan)
7. Dalton Kincaid (Utah)
8. Austin Stogner (South Carolina)
9. Marshon Ford (Louisville)
10. Sam LaPorta (Iowa)
Sleeper to Watch: Jahleel Billingsley (Texas)
Where's Benjamin Yurosek?
By PFF's own grades, Stogner and LaPorta graded lower than Yurosek in 2021. I realize that those two have been around for years and are quite established, but it would have been defensible to sneak Yurosek into this list.
It's receiving output that makes Yurosek's omission stand out to me. He had 59.8 yards per game last year. That's an enormous amount for a tight end. To put it into perspective, here are the 2021 receiving yards per game for all these guys:
Mayer - 70.0
Yurosek - 59.8
Bowers - 58.8
LaPorta - 47.9
Kuithe - 43.6
Ford - 42.3
Bell - 38.2
Kincaid - 36.4
All - 33.6
Billingsley - 17.1 (at Alabama)
Stogner - 13.8 (at Oklahoma)
Gilbert - N/A (he's been away for personal reasons and it's unclear if/when that will change but like his teammate Bowers he appears to be an all-timer)
These are all great players. It's not outrageous for Yurosek to be excluded but it's eye-opening in light of only Mayer and Bowers racking up receiving production like Yurosek did. I would have included him on my list. Hopefully Yurosek has a good enough year that a list like this would not be considered credible without him.
1. Brock Bowers (Georgia)
2. Michael Mayer (Notre Dame)
3. Arik Gilbert (Georgia)
4. Brant Kuithe (Utah)
5. Jaheim Bell (South Carolina)
6. Erick All (Michigan)
7. Dalton Kincaid (Utah)
8. Austin Stogner (South Carolina)
9. Marshon Ford (Louisville)
10. Sam LaPorta (Iowa)
Sleeper to Watch: Jahleel Billingsley (Texas)
Where's Benjamin Yurosek?
By PFF's own grades, Stogner and LaPorta graded lower than Yurosek in 2021. I realize that those two have been around for years and are quite established, but it would have been defensible to sneak Yurosek into this list.
It's receiving output that makes Yurosek's omission stand out to me. He had 59.8 yards per game last year. That's an enormous amount for a tight end. To put it into perspective, here are the 2021 receiving yards per game for all these guys:
Mayer - 70.0
Yurosek - 59.8
Bowers - 58.8
LaPorta - 47.9
Kuithe - 43.6
Ford - 42.3
Bell - 38.2
Kincaid - 36.4
All - 33.6
Billingsley - 17.1 (at Alabama)
Stogner - 13.8 (at Oklahoma)
Gilbert - N/A (he's been away for personal reasons and it's unclear if/when that will change but like his teammate Bowers he appears to be an all-timer)
These are all great players. It's not outrageous for Yurosek to be excluded but it's eye-opening in light of only Mayer and Bowers racking up receiving production like Yurosek did. I would have included him on my list. Hopefully Yurosek has a good enough year that a list like this would not be considered credible without him.
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