The Los Angeles Chargers whiffed on the Hunter Henry sweepstakes and now we have a 1 year stop gap tight end in Jared Cook. The 2021 draft is a cheap and interesting place to find replacements at all positions and we are fishing for a tight end today. In today’s article we will be going over three tight end replacements for Hunter Henry in the draft. Keep in mind that its very possible they view Donald Parham as a long term solution as well. Either way its always better to have 2 solid tight ends.
Kyle Pitts, Florida.
A towering mismatch at Florida Kyle Pitts was what his measurements state, a monster amongst men. A 4 star recruit coming out of high school and standing at an insane 6’6 240 pounds Kyle Pitts at 13th overall gives Justin Herbert the keys to an ultimate offense. In 2020 Kyle Pitts caught 43 passes for 700 yards and 12 TDs very solid statistics for his 2020 campaign but the gold is in his physical traits and how deadly he is. When watching Kyle Pitts at Florida he is a matchup menace being lined up as a WR or TE given his height he is a nightmare for defenders. An insane catch radius and great deep ball skills as well as versatility not only in the passing game but blocking game is why he stood out this year. However with positives there are also negatives and a void in his game is route running he needs to unlock a full grasp of route running. His weakness needs to increase more for him to block a lot more efficiently as well. My take on Kyle Pitts is insane athlete for his size but needs a bit more finetuning to fully unlock his potential.
Hunter Long, Boston.
The production that this tight end had in 2020 was off the charts. Leading all tight ends in the nation, Hunter Long caught 57 passes for 685 yards and 5 TDs in 2020. The great aspect of Hunter Long is how similar he is to Hunter Henry which adds the benefit of familiarity into the offense to patch the ripples that may have been caused by Henry’s departure. Standing at 6’5 253 very similar to Henry he is a sound blocker and very good route runner for his size along with consistent hands. He is a very balanced tight end who has a hand in almost everything an offense needs. This is apparent by his 70.6 run blocking grade. Of course there are some problems like his route running needs to be sharpened up a bit more but that is really it. He has the tools to become a great tight end but is best fit maybe as a tight end 2 or a tight end 1 even after a year or two of grooming.
Tommy Tremble, Notre Dame.
We all know about Kyle Pitts but what about Tommy Tremble? Standing at 6’4 248 pounds Tommy Tremble is a dynamic freak with athleticism through the roof. Strong blocking and dominance with the ball in his hands there is a reason why people talk highly about Tommy Tremble. His stats show another story though with barely 200 yards and 19 catches. He’s does have weaknesses like his production rate needs to be shored up. You can even go as far as to say he is a developmental tight end who is raw. In total Tommy Tremble is most definitely talented enough to be up with the big dogs but there are some gaps in his game that kind of scare people. Great athletes need more production. There has also been talk of him becoming a hybrid fullback/ tight end type of player such as Kyle Juszczyk. I actually really like the idea of this considering the team still has Donald Parham and the recently signed Jared Cook. Someone who can consistently block at a high level ( 83.7 run blocking grade) and can make things happen when the ball is in his hand despite not being a great route runner.
Overall there are a group of tight ends in this class who can replace Hunter Henry we are barely scratching the service here. However these are three tight ends we have highlighted as most realistic for the Los Angeles Chargers to target in the 2021 draft.
Leave a Reply