Statistically speaking, the most successful formations in football have at least one tight end on the field. Modern football has only put this together in the last few decades, as tight end numbers have exploded. In hindsight, it should have been obvious that somebody who acts as a receiver and blocker at the same time is a tool that can’t be ignored.
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The concept translates from actual football intoMadden NFL 22perfectly. Opposing players will see tight ends and have no idea if they need to be covered or not. They confuse the blitz. They blow past coverage. The beef up the run game. They get wide receivers open. And, of course, the best of the bunch pull down touchdowns like it’s nobody’s business.
10Dallas Goedert - 84
Dallas Goedert is the prototypical tight end, making big blocks for most of the game, then getting open for huge passes when his defenders least expect it. Fantasy football players hate that he’ll have two one-hundred-yard games and then get stuck blocking for the next three weeks.
But this is how life works in the NFL; tight ends have to pick their moments to play offense. Goedert picks his moments perfectly, capable of catching long balls and finding the endzone when his team needs a score.
9T.J. Hockenson - 85
T.J. Hockenson is a beloved name in Detroit for very good reasons. It’s not just the blocking, catching, and incredible numbers he has posted in both of his seasons. It’s not just that he’s proving to be a valuable first-round draft pick.
The key to the love is how Hockenson shines in clutch moments. He’s caught game-winning touchdown passes with time winding down. And he can shake coverage from first-string linebackers and cornerbacks as though he was a slot receiver.
8Mike Gesicki - 85
Mike Gesicki is something of an enigma. For whatever explicable reason, he’s played in every game but one for the past three years and yet the Dolphins have started him less than half of the time.
This is a guy who caught six touchdowns and over 700 yards in only nine starts last year, unreal numbers for the position. Miami might not have him figured out, but at leastMadden NFL 22has rated him appropriately.
7Rob Gronkowski - 86
The Buccaneers were able to talk Rob Gronkowski out of retirement to play for them in Tampa Bay. “Gronk” is an animal on and off of the gridiron, but many were concerned that his weight loss would be an issue.
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How wrong the critics were indeed! Gronkowski not only stayed healthy and started all sixteen games, but was a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs. His touchdown in the Super Bowl helped his team to victory and made it known that retirement took nothing away from the future Hall of Famer.
6Austin Hooper - 86
After splitting tight end duties in Atlanta with some moderate success, the Browns brought Austin Hooper on in the hopes of turning him into a one-man wrecking crew. Offensively, things didn’t work out, but that was true for much of Cleveland’s season last year.
The folks rating players have opted not to punish Hooper for an off-year. As with many tight ends, his contribution toward the run game is undervalued and that still means something when a guy like Nick Chubb is in the backfield.
5Hunter Henry - 87
Hunter Henry is moving to New England next year after his success in San Diego. The Patriots are hoping he’ll do for their team what he’s done forbeginners looking to improve in Madden Ultimate Team.
Henry has yet to play a sixteen game season in the NFL thanks to injuries. But whenever he’s on the field, he makes life difficult for opposing defenses with his speed and catching ability that closely resemble a wide receiver’s talents.
4Mark Andrews - 88
Mark Andrews doesn’t have the most impressive yardage totals, but his nose for the enzone is undeniable. He’s a red zone threat to score every time the Ravens are within the twenty yard line.
Despite the touchdown totals, perhaps Andrews' biggest contribution is not one that shows up on the stat sheet. He makes some ofthe best offensive linemen in footballeven better with his blocking ability. He is partly responsible for why Baltimore is such a juggernaut in the ground game.
3Darren Waller - 93
Waller began last year ranked as an 85. After he led the league in receptions, got nearly 1200 yards, and caught nine touchdowns, he became one ofthe most upgraded tight ends during the course of the seasonin terms of rating.
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The ratings folks apparently thought that the season before, in which he also played all sixteen games and got over 1100 yards receiving, was a fluke. Nope. Darren Waller is a baller and now he’s finally got the high ranking to show for his efforts.
2George Kittle - 96
A few years ago, George Kittle broke the record for receiving yards in a season as a tight end. Last year was cut short thanks to injuries, but Kittle was on pace to break 1200 yards before being sidelined.
TheMaddenseries is going through some big changes, as is the tight end position. Kittle is the poster boy for these changes, playing at an unreal level even as the 49ers are questioning their quarterback position.
1Travis Kelce - 99
Kelce was already rated at a 99 doing into last season. Then he made a trip to the Super Bowl, caught a league-leading eleven touchdowns, and, oh yeah, broke the all-time record for receiving yards in a season for a tight end.
Maddenhas a great lineup of X-Factor abilities, and they may want to consider giving Travis Kelce more than one this year. Or maybe just give him all of the abilities. He’s certainly playing at a level the world has never witnessed before.
