A Hater’s Guide to the 2024 Rookie Tight End Class
Last year, following the NFL Draft, everyone was all happy and excited about each and every single landing spot. As a pessimist, I was disgusted. I wanted to write a series destroying the optimistic, happy-go-lucky narratives that were permeating the fantasy and real-life football spaces. I attacked the 2023 quarterback class, the running backs, the wide receivers, and the tight ends, and the series was well-received by many, so here I am again this year with all my reasons why this entire 2024 draft class stinks.
1.13, Brock Bowers, TE LV
A year ago, the unanimous top tight end in the draft class was Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer, and the Raiders selected him with the 35th overall pick. So, of course, this year, the Raiders once again selected the unanimous top tight end in the draft class, drafting Georgia’s Bowers with the 13th overall pick. Death, taxes, and the Raiders making head-scratching draft picks – some things are just certainties in life.
2.21, Ben Sinnott, TE WAS
Every year in this series, there is at least one situation where I have a really hard time finding fault with the player combined with the situation. Sinnott is the toughest one for me this year, but I shall lean into my pessimism and push through. Fellow rookie Luke McCaffrey and the shell of Austin Ekeler are both likely to be the safety valves for Jayden Daniels for the entire season. At the same time, veteran starter Zach Ertz will also be heavily leaned on in the offense, leaving little opportunity for Sinnott to crack the lineup regularly.
3.18, Tip Reiman, TE ARI
In the overwhelming majority of the NFL mock drafts I searched through this off-season, Reiman was rarely selected by any team. Even with dynasty TE2 Tre McBride already rostered, the Cardinals went with a blocking tight end in the early third round. Looking at Lance Zierlein’s breakdown of Reiman, “He’s a huge Y tight end capable of becoming a quality run blocker in the NFL. He’s the type of garden-variety pass catcher that you would expect a run-blocking specialist to be. Reiman’s career will be defined by how he blocks, which should be good enough to make it in the league.”
That’s what we love to see from our early third-round picks.
4.01, Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE CAR
Sanders had a decent enough 40-yard dash time but is average or below average in every other measurable. Imagine working your entire life up to this point to make it in the NFL and then having to play for David Tepper. Tepper is already doing his best to make Daniel Snyder look like he was a great owner. Not only does Sanders get to play for Tepper, but he gets to play alongside the first-overall pick from a year ago and apparent bust, Bryce Young, and his league-worst-among-starters 59.8% completion percentage.
4.07, Theo Johnson, TE NYG
I sure hope Darren Waller can keep stretching out this whole “will he, won’t he retire?” thing. It’s not impacting the Giants or the fantasy community at all. Johnson was selected almost a full round later than Tip Reiman; make of that what you will. And will you look at that, according to Mockdraftable, there is a familiar name that Johnson’s measurables make him comparable to…
4.15, Erick All, TE CIN
In 2022, All suffered a significant back injury after playing only three games, missing the rest of the season. Then, in October of last year, All blew out his ACL and missed the remainder of the season. Fortunately, NFL tight ends rarely – if ever – get hurt, so I’m sure a player with two significant injuries under his belt already should have a long, injury-free career.
4.21, AJ Barner, TE SEA
Enjoy his 27-catch, 357-yard, three-touchdown ceiling. And his 19-catch, 237-yard, two-touchdown floor.
4.23, Cade Stover, TE HOU
Stover is a defensive end convert who was brought to Houston at the request of his college buddy CJ Stroud. It often takes experienced rookie tight ends three years to get their legs underneath them in the NFL, so I would suspect a former defensive end will probably be ready for the NFL in 2029. Hold a spot on your taxi squad, folks!
4.31, Jared Wiley, TE KC
Unless he starts dating Beyoncé, he’ll never take any of Travis Kelce‘s thunder in Kansas City.
6.18, Tanner McLachlan, TE CIN
McLachlan was selected exactly three full rounds after Tip Reiman. He is the second, less heralded, tight end drafted by the Bengals after they brought in Mike Gesicki via free agency. A Canadian who was a wide receiver at Southern Utah University prior to walking on at Arizona – a profile that screams NFL star tight end. The Hall of Fame is overflowing with Canadian Southern Utah wide receivers.
7.11, Jaheim Bell, TE NE
The average NFL tight end is a hair over 6’4″ tall and tips the scales at 254 pounds. With Bell measuring in at 6’2″ and 241 pounds, he is a fourth- and eighth-percentile tight end, size-wise, respectively. Of course, the undersized Florida State product should demand targets as he competes with Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper in the tight end room. That’s not even mentioning Demario Douglas, Kendrick Bourne, KJ Osborn, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and fellow rookies Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker in the receiver room. I can’t find a way for Bell to average a catch a game from rookie Drake Maye.
7.26, Devin Culp, TE TB
Culp was selected more than four rounds after Reiman. Another undersized tight end (first percentile in weight at 231 pounds), at least Culp has some speed to fall back on with a 97th percentile 4.47 40-yard dash time. With Cade Otton apparently locked in as the starter and Culp currently No 4 on the depth chart, maybe he can get some playing time in 2027 with Kyle Trask at quarterback. Maybe not.
And there you have it, the conclusion of this year’s Hater’s Guide series. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it, and be sure to go back through this year’s other positions as well as last season’s Hater’s Guide. Clear, irrefutable evidence that not a single tight end from the 2024 class will succeed this year or ever in their career. It’s already over for them all, and they haven’t even taken a professional snap yet. Never forget – the glass is always half empty.
- Final Rookie Report Card: Tight Ends - February 8, 2025
- Off-Season Mock Drafts: Mocking the Mocks - February 1, 2025
- Final Rookie Report Card: Wide Receivers, Part Two - February 1, 2025
