A Recent History of First-Round Tight Ends

Not recent, but I’m still not over it. Martz!!!Previously, I explored the recent history of running backs who were drafted in the first round in defiance of conventional wisdom. What I found was that both major camps had a basis in reality for their viewpoints. Those who believed that the once-in-a-generation running backs (who actually seem to come by every other year or so) are worth the risk can point to backs who are individually accomplished. However, those accomplishments do not seem to help their teams very much. Conventional wisdom held up.

With tight ends, at least anecdotally it becomes even harder to justify investing a first-round pick somehow. For the first decade of the rookie…