01-08-2016, 11:22 PM
(01-08-2016, 05:29 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Sure, Eifert leads TEs in TDs this year with 13, but he also has....
52 catches (15th among TE)
615 yards (12th among TE)
11.8 YPC (9th among TE)
38 First Downs (9th among TE)
8 plays of 20+ yards (11th among TE)
Eifert was really never a strong candidate for it, outside of Bengals fans maybe overhyping him a bit as "the second best TE in football". Good season? Absolutely, but not even a top-5 TE season this year. Heck, he arguably wasn't even the best TE in the division this year. Gary Barnidge put up 79/1,043/9 this year.
Well first off, TDs are a pretty big category, especially for TEs. Second, missing 3 games really hurt his overall numbers. He was on pace to go 64-757-16. The catches would've ranked 9th among TEs, the yardage would've been good for 8th and the TDs would've been 1st in the NFL regardless of position.
Gronk: 72-1176-11
Olsen: 77-1104-7
Walker: 94-1088-6
Barnidge: 79-1043-9
Reed: 87-952-11
Honestly, those are the only TEs I think had better seasons, and I think Eifert's projected statline (64-757-16) stacks up even with these. Sure, he didn't have the yardage and catches of these guys, but he also killed some of them in the TD department. I'm sure some will argue that Eifert missed the games and it's not fair to go off of projections. To that I would say that projections are based on averages. When Eifert plays, he plays at an elite level, and that's why many Bengals fans felt he was a top tier TE.
Now 2nd best overall? No, but he was up there no doubt, and it's not homerism to say so.
The training, nutrition, medicine, fitness, playbooks and rules evolve. The athlete does not.
