I see that the Colts are talking up Eric Ebron. They signed him to a two-year deal worth $13 million, and they like what they’ve seen so far.
An article in the Indianapolis Star suggests Ebron has been lining up all over the place in workouts. When Frank Reich was coaching in Philadelphia, the Eagles made extensive use of their tight ends (since 2016, no team has completed more passes to the position). He could be thinking Ebron can do some of the same things as Zach Ertz.
“He’s really smart,” Reich said. “I knew that because we did our homework before he got here. We knew he was a smart player. But he’s like really a highly intelligent football player. And that’s really good because you want to use a guy with the versatility that he has and move him around and call all kinds of things with him. That helps. And he’s an explosive athlete.”
The Colts also have Jack Doyle, who had a pretty terrific season last year, catching 80 passes. But most were of the dumpoff variety. Ebron is more athletic, with more speed to get downfield. They might be thinking of using Doyle more as an in-line blocker, with Ebron tending to show up outside and in the slot – think Jordan Reed or Evan Engram.
I’m not promising this will happen, but it seems possible.
But Ebron’s got to catch the ball. He was plagued by drops with the Lions (who decided to release him rather than pick up his fifth-year option).
In the last four years, 33 tight ends have been targeted at least 100 times. Only two of those guys have dropped a higher percentage of passes than Ebron.
| TIGHT END DROPS (2014-17) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Rec | Drop | Tot | Pct |
| Zach Miller | 101 | 0 | 101 | .0% |
| Jordan Reed | 230 | 3 | 233 | 1.3% |
| Jason Witten | 273 | 4 | 277 | 1.4% |
| Greg Olsen | 258 | 6 | 264 | 2.3% |
| Cameron Brate | 128 | 3 | 131 | 2.3% |
| Dennis Pitta | 102 | 3 | 105 | 2.9% |
| Zach Ertz | 285 | 9 | 294 | 3.1% |
| Richard Rodgers | 120 | 4 | 124 | 3.2% |
| Antonio Gates | 208 | 8 | 216 | 3.7% |
| Heath Miller | 126 | 5 | 131 | 3.8% |
| Jack Doyle | 169 | 7 | 176 | 4.0% |
| Delanie Walker | 296 | 13 | 309 | 4.2% |
| Rob Gronkowski | 248 | 11 | 259 | 4.2% |
| Larry Donnell | 107 | 5 | 112 | 4.5% |
| Kyle Rudolph | 213 | 10 | 223 | 4.5% |
| Gary Barnidge | 147 | 8 | 155 | 5.2% |
| Benjamin Watson | 155 | 9 | 164 | 5.5% |
| Jermaine Gresham | 150 | 9 | 159 | 5.7% |
| Martellus Bennett | 228 | 14 | 242 | 5.8% |
| Travis Kelce | 307 | 20 | 327 | 6.1% |
| Charles Clay | 215 | 15 | 230 | 6.5% |
| Coby Fleener | 177 | 13 | 190 | 6.8% |
| Mychal Rivera | 108 | 8 | 116 | 6.9% |
| Will Tye | 94 | 7 | 101 | 6.9% |
| Jimmy Graham | 255 | 20 | 275 | 7.3% |
| Julius Thomas | 160 | 13 | 173 | 7.5% |
| Owen Daniels | 94 | 8 | 102 | 7.8% |
| Vernon Davis | 151 | 13 | 164 | 7.9% |
| Jared Cook | 175 | 16 | 191 | 8.4% |
| Austin Seferian-Jenkins | 105 | 10 | 115 | 8.7% |
| Eric Ebron | 186 | 19 | 205 | 9.3% |
| Lance Kendricks | 120 | 13 | 133 | 9.8% |
| Dwayne Allen | 90 | 10 | 100 | 10.0% |
—Ian Allan