I’ve been kicking around the prospects for Coby Fleener. The Saints gave him the big contract, and they’ve tended to use their tight ends. Even without Jimmy Graham, their tight ends last year caught 101 passes and 11 TDs. Benjamin Watson put up top-10 numbers.
On the downside, they’ll also use Josh Hill and Michael Hoomanawanui, and those guys pilfered away 5 TDs last year – they’ll sneak them free on play-action looks around the goal line.
So will Fleener get a healthy number of looks around the goal line. He’s a slender, speedy tight end, but he’s not a matchup catch-in-traffic monster like Jimmy Graham was for them a few years back. He’s not a guy where you just send him down there and throw it to him even if he’s covered.
Anyway, I started poking around with some of the numbers. Over the last three years, Fleener was the intended target on 19 passes in Indianapolis when the Colts were inside the 10. He caught 13 of those passes, including 9 TDs and 3 successful 2-point conversions.
So for scoring effectiveness, Fleener actually has been the most effective tight end in the league over the last three years (inside the 10).
I’m not saying he’s as good as Graham or Rob Gronkowski. I don’t think he has the same ability to come down with contested balls. But he was at least effective in Indianapolis, and I think they’ll give him a healthy number of looks inside the 10.
Fleener will be a top-10 tight end on my board.
Here are the numbers. The one number here that isn’t obvious is “EZ” – that’s end zone, as in touchdowns and 2-point conversions. If there’s just one number, it’s touchdowns. If there are any 2-point catches, they’re also included.
| TIGHT ENDS INSIDE THE 10 (2013-15) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Com | Att | EZ | Pct |
| Coby Fleener | 13 | 19 | 9+3 | 63% |
| Julius Thomas | 17 | 25 | 15 | 60% |
| Tyler Eifert | 10 | 15 | 9 | 60% |
| Rob Gronkowski | 15 | 22 | 13 | 59% |
| Richard Rodgers | 9 | 15 | 7+1 | 53% |
| Jimmy Graham | 19 | 32 | 16 | 50% |
| Jason Witten | 13 | 23 | 10 | 43% |
| Martellus Bennett | 12 | 23 | 8+2 | 43% |
| Jordan Reed | 13 | 21 | 9 | 43% |
| Joseph Fauria | 9 | 20 | 6+2 | 40% |
| Antonio Gates | 13 | 30 | 12 | 40% |
| Delanie Walker | 16 | 28 | 10+1 | 39% |
| Jared Cook | 7 | 16 | 5+1 | 38% |
| Larry Donnell | 9 | 17 | 6 | 35% |
| Vernon Davis | 9 | 17 | 6 | 35% |
| Greg Olsen | 12 | 23 | 8 | 35% |
| Jordan Cameron | 7 | 18 | 6 | 33% |
| Gary Barnidge | 6 | 18 | 6 | 33% |
| Heath Miller | 14 | 22 | 5+2 | 32% |
| Charles Clay | 11 | 24 | 6 | 25% |
—Ian Allan