Greg OlsonVcize wrote: ↑Sat May 19, 2018 8:55 amCatch rate and yards per target, which are the ones PFF really focuses on as having relevance to the efficiency of a receiver.jtd1387 wrote: ↑Fri May 18, 2018 4:50 amJust curious, which efficiency numbers are you referring to? IIRC, Shepard had similar criticism, so maybe it's something to do with Eli? Also, I'd kinda expect less than great efficiency with him getting more volunteer then just about any rookie TE in memory.Vcize wrote: ↑Thu May 17, 2018 11:54 am While I agree Gesicki is underrated, I think there is a misnomer in thinking that Engram developed faster or was "ready to contribute" last year. He was forced to contribute last year because everyone else on the team got hurt. He certainly wasn't ready and the oft overlooked thing with him is that his efficiency numbers for a TE were dreadfully awful. Eric Ebron is about the only TE that had a worse rookie season from an efficiency standpoint in recent history.
Plus in Miami, it seems very possible Gesicki is the last guy standing at some point when Amendola and Parker are his main competition.
Engram
Catch Rate: 55.7%
YPT: 6.2
Gronk (rookie year)
Catch Rate: 71.2%
YPT: 9.25
Kelce (first year playing after sitting out rookie year with injury)
Catch Rate: 77.1%
YPT: 9.9
Ebron (rookie year)
Catch Rate: 53.2%
YPT: 5.3
As you can see, from an efficiency measure Engram was a lot more Eric Ebron than he was any of the guys that actually developed into top TEs.
You're not wrong that getting such high volume likely negatively impacted his efficiency relative to other TE prospects but the disparity is beyond large here. And even assuming that if we give him the benefit of the doubt, the narrative that he was really good as a rookie is still not really true. He was really highly targeted as a rookie is all we can say. In terms of ability we can't really say he's any better than NJoku or any of the guys ranked around him because he didn't actually perform any better than them.
In terms of guys in his tier, Hunter Henry is the real standout as having efficiency numbers similar to the other TEs that actually broke out and became top TEs, not Engram.
And just as an indicator of how poor that efficiency is, consider that in Gronk's second year when he put up probably the greatest TE season of all time with 90-1327-17, he had only 9 more targets than Engram had this year. Again I know there is a disparity in quality of target here, but holy cow it's hard to believe the difference in production there on the same number of targets.
Again, Engram could still develop into a top TE, but in terms of his actual quality of play he hasn't really shown any more signs of that than several other guys that are quite a bit cheaper to acquire.
Catch rate: 59.1%
YPT: 5.92
Jason Witten
Catch Rate: 64.8%
YPT: 6.42
That said, both of those guys were way more well rounded. Guys like Jimmy Graham & Jordan Reed (Receiving 1st TEs) put up comparable numbers to your initial comps. For a comparable receiving 1st TE...
Coby Fleener
Catch Rate: 54.2%
YPT: 5.85