Ian Allan
Tight end production is on the rise. Either more good athletes are playing that position, or coaches are just making more use of that position. Regardless, the production of those players has increased.
Look at the chart below. It shows the percentage of touchdown passes caught by tight ends in the last 20 years. It used to always be below 20 percent. Now, closer to 25 percent is the norm.
Based on the numbers we’ve seen in the last four years – 24, 24, 26 and 22 percent – you’d have to figure that teams likely will throw 23-24 percent of their touchdown passes to tight ends in the 2009 season. But look at what happened from 1988 to 2000; in none of those years did the league as a whole send 23 percent of its touchdown passes to tight ends.
YEAR BY YEAR SCORING BY TIGHT ENDS
(Percentage of total touchdown passes in the NFL that were caught by tight ends):
Pct Year
16% 1988
16% 1989
17% 1990
18% 1991
18% 1992
21% 1993
20% 1994
16% 1995
18% 1996
22% 1997
20% 1998
21% 1999
21% 2000
24% 2001
20% 2002
20% 2003
26% 2004
24% 2005
24% 2006
26% 2007
22% 2008
—Ian Allan
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