Jun 4

Jun 4 The 5 Greatest Tight Ends in NFL History

Ross Crawford

Opinion

The 5 Best Tight Ends in NFL History - Everything You Need to Know

The tight end position has enjoyed - for want of a better phrase - a “glow-up” in recent seasons.

But which players have excelled at TE? Sports writer Ross Crawford lists the top 5.

Ron Gronkowski - One of the greatest tight ends in NFL history — Gronk - unique in every way

The Tight End Position: A Bit of Context

Something of a hybrid position on the offence, the tight end traditionally lines up on either side of the offensive line to block in the run or pass game.

Crucially, it’s also an eligible receiver position in the passing game, so a tight end must be able to catch passes.

Despite the scheme flexibility tight ends might be able to offer coaches, for decades the average tight end’s usage was primarily as the extra blocker.

The extent of the position’s usage in the passing game was the occasional six yards route meandering upfield, turn and say the athlete’s prayer.

However, trailblazers at the position over the years have shown coaches the competitive advantage of an athletic tight end within the passing game, offering an offence a genuine option outside of the wide receivers and an additional runner on occasion to compliment the running back.

Increasingly, the offensive philosophy of coaches in the NFL is that the tight end should be one of the most athletic players on the team and a crucial part of the passing game.

Often, blocking is very much a secondary part of their skill set nowadays.

So just how good were the trailblazers of the past? Have they since been surpassed by the talented tight ends that have stepped on the NFL field in the past few decades?

We take a look at some of the best tight ends in NFL history.

5. Kellen Winslow

San Diego Chargers 1979-87
Three-time first-team All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowler
Pro Football Hall of Famer

As one of those trailblazers, Winslow was one of the first league-wide known deep threats in the NFL at the tight end position.

He entered the league as a first-round pick for the Chargers, and Winslow spent his entire professional career playing for them.

An injury forced the Hall of Famer to sit out most of his rookie season in 1979. However, he made up for that by leading the league in receptions in 1980 and 1981.

He became only the second tight end to ever lead the league in back-to-back seasons (Mike Ditka was the other).

The Chargers used Winslow in ways the league really hadn’t seen consistently out of the tight end position before.

Often seen as Winslow’s career-defining moment was the “Epic in Miami”, where the tight end caught a postseason record of 13 receptions for 166 yards and a touchdown - and blocked a field goal to take the game to overtime!

An iconic game that led to Winslow being carried off the field by his teammates, due to his exhaustion.

Winslow’s career was ended prematurely due to injury in 1987, but he made his mark on the league, finishing with 6,741 receiving yards and 45 touchdowns in an era where those sort of numbers were not expected out of a tight end.

4. Shanon Sharpe

Denver Broncos 1990-99, 2002-03; Baltimore Ravens 2000-01
Four-time first-team All-Pro, eight-time Pro Bowler
Three-time Super Bowl Champion, Pro Football Hall of Famer

Although a lot of NFL fans may know Shanon Sharpe for his sports punditry, he earned that career path thanks to his elite performances as a tight end, playing over 14 playing seasons in the league.

Sharpe entered the league as an unheralded 7th-round pick for the Broncos in 1990, and it took a while for him to find his feet in the NFL.

A wide receiver in college, scouts considered Sharpe too big to play his college position in the pros. He’s seen as one of the first “oversized receivers” to step into the tight-end position as a pro.

When Sharpe got going, he proved virtually unstoppable and utilised those receiver skills against linebackers and safeties in the middle of the field, less capable of covering a smooth route runner.

He became a vital part of Denver’s offence with John Elway at quarterback through the 1990s, winning Super Bowls in back-to-back years (1997 and 1998).

Sharpe was the security blanket over the middle of the field for his quarterback on those championship teams, and later for Trent Dilfer on the Baltimore Ravens in 2000.

Sharpe finished his career with two more productive seasons back in Denver, which helped him surpass 10,000 receiving yards for his career.

3. Antonio Gates

San Diego Chargers 2003-18
Three-time first-team All-Pro, eight-time Pro Bowler
NFL record for touchdown receptions at the TD position

Whenever you hear a commentator mention how a tight “posted up” in the endzone on a play, Antonio Gates’ name is likely to be mentioned.

Gates was an extreme example of the trend at the time to scout and sign former basketball players to play the tight end position in the league.

Gates never even played football in college. Still, he signed with the Chargers as an undrafted free agent - and he was possibly the greatest undrafted free agent signing of all time.

Like Winslow, Gates also played his entire career for the Chargers, racking up 11,841 receiving yards in 16 seasons.

He currently still holds the NFL record for touchdown receptions at the tight end position, putting six points up on the board 116 times, good enough for 7th among NFL players all time.

Gates was part of several good Chargers teams in the late 2000s and had an excellent connection with his quarterback Phil Rivers.

However, the AFC Championship game was as close to a Lombardi trophy as either player achieved. Regardless, Gates was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2023.

2. Tony Gonzalez

Kansas City Chiefs 1997-2008, Atlanta Falcons 2009-13
Six-time first-team All-Pro, 14x Pro Bowler
Pro Football Hall of Famer

Gonzalez enjoyed a 17-year NFL season, an impressive feat in itself, particularly for the tight end position. He is about as consistent a player as you’ll find in the history of the league.

After a slow rookie season, Gonzalez never dipped below 600 receiving yards in a season for the rest of his career. Gonzalez pioneered the trend of basketball players, making the transition to the tight-end position.

His blend of size and speed in the position made Gonzalez a matchup nightmare at a time when tight ends were still more of an afterthought in the passing game for most teams.

The Hall of Famer still holds the tight end record for receiving yards in a career, finishing with 15,127. That’s good enough to sit 6th all-time among all receivers, as Gonzalez is the only tight end in the top 25.

Sadly, one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history never had the postseason success his career deserved. However, the stats Gonzalez accumulated speak for themselves.

As well as the league records, he still holds several team records from his time with the Kansas City Chiefs.

While he was with the Atlanta Falcons for significantly less time, he became a crucial weapon for Matt Ryan in the passing game, and reached an NFC Championship game in 2012, falling on the doorstep of a Super Bowl appearance.

Gonzalez has since transitioned into media coverage of the NFL, as well as spending some time in the film industry. A former NFL tight end as a movie star would be unthinkable in the 80s.

1. Rob Gronkowski

New England Patriots 2010-18, Tampa Bay Bucs 2020-2022
Four-time first-team All-Pro, five-time Pro Bowler
Four-time Super Bowl Champion

Arguably the face of the tight end position in the 2010s, “Gronk” is the only player on this list who is still playing today.

In fact, he just scored two touchdowns in a Super Bowl and hoisted the Lombardi Trophy as recently as February 2021.

Gronkowski has no doubt benefited from playing with possibly the greatest NFL quarterback in history all his career. Regardless, Gronkowski’s connection with Tom Brady in the passing game has been historic.

They are the 2nd highest-scoring quarterback-receiver duo in terms of touchdowns in NFL history, connecting six points 106 times (and counting!)