Position Group Breakdown: Tight End

July 2, 2024

by Alex Zeese

Overview

Logan Thomas was the go-to tight end for the Ron Rivera era, and while at times he proved to be a solid 2nd or 3rd target in the passing game, his history of injuries hampered both him and the offense. At 32 years old, last season he had a decent season of 55 catches for 496 yards, but the team failed to develop a solid second option at the position. Washington comes into the 2024 season with a new 1-2 punch at tight end. As Thomas is replaced by a seasoned veteran in Zach Ertz and rookie Ben Sinnott out of Kansas State, they are joined by a few holdovers fighting for the 3rd roster spot this year.

Returning from 2023

John Bates
He was the team’s number two tight end last year. His production in the passing game was minimal, just 19 catches for 151 yards and 0 touchdowns, in his 3 seasons in D.C. he has had 54 catches for 508 yards and two touchdowns. Bates is considered by most to be the team’s best blocker. In my opinion, he won that by default, as their other ends simply weren’t blockers at all. When I watch Bates I think he’s best as a vertical route running tight end, and he wasn’t used right, but who was under Rivera?

Cole Turner
There were hopes last year that Turner, a fifth round pick in 2022, would end up supplanting Bates for the number two job. But things simply didn’t work out for him – in 12 games he was targeted just 15 times and had 11 catches, 120 yards, and no touchdowns.

Armani Rogers
Every offseason fans seem to latch onto one random guy, with the hope that he can become the next Alfred Morris. Armani Rogers was one of those guys in the last few seasons, in 2022, he had just 5 catches for 64 yards, and 2 runs for 26 yards that had him looking like he could become an interesting gadget player; however, an Achilles injury in May, 2023 landed him on injured reserve, and he never got healthy and back on the field.

New additions

Zach Ertz
The 33 year old former Eagle has familiarity with Kingsbury’s offense due to their time together in Arizona, and no doubt he was brought in by the team to be a safety blanket for both the Kingsbury and the rookie quarterback. Ertz is no longer the pain in the butt that we remember from his time with the Eagles from 2013-2020, where he was one of the top tight ends in the league. His numbers dropped off greatly since going to Arizona. Due to health, he has played just 17 games the last 2 seasons. However, his numbers would be “on par” if he had been healthy, in those 17 games he put up solid numbers 74 catches 593 yards and 5 touchdowns. So when he plays he’s still productive, I just do not know if you can expect him to last more than 1/2 a season.

Ben Sinnott
Drafted with the 53 pick I am quietly excited for what this kid could bring to the table as an eventual starter at tight end. He has more of the classic tight end build at 6’4″, 250 lbs, rather than the wide receiver/tight end hybrid type. Sinnott had been very productive in the last two of his three college seasons: had 31 catches for 447 yards and 4 touchdowns in his sophomore year and 49 catches for 676 yards and 6 touchdowns his junior year. When you watch him play you will see that he’s a physical tight end. He has a good ability to shake off contact especially if it’s one-on-one and go for extra yards. Guys like this get important ugly yards and that’s something every team needs.

Colson Yankoff
A rookie out of UCLA who’s listed as a tight end on the Commanders depth chart; however, he’s listed as having played just about every other position but tight end at UCLA. Yankoff started as a quarterback prospect, then moved to wide receiver, then running back his final two seasons. His career numbers were 47 runs for 247 yards, 9 catches for 46 yards, and 4 total touchdowns. He was most productive on teams as a kick returner in college, where he returned 16 kicks for 334 yards in his final year and also had 15 tackles over the course of 4 seasons. Fun random fact: if you’re looking for highlights on Yankoff, there’s a YouTube video out there titled “What happened to the greatest quarterback to come out of the state of Idaho (who is: Colson Yankoff)”. It’s sad.

Roles

It seems like it’s a lock that Sinnott and Ertz will be the one and two guys in some order. Kingsbury uses a lot of 2 tight end formations, so I suspect that both will be out on the field often together. It would make sense for Ertz to be the primary starter early on this season while Sinnott gets used to being in the NFL. I won’t be surprised if by midseason we see Sinnott getting the majority of the snaps.

The real question comes down to who ends up in the 3rd spot. I would think the edge right now goes to Bates, but it wouldn’t be a shock if Turner steps up this year and overtakes him. I don’t have high hopes for Rogers after his injury and Yankoff seems like a perfect practice squad guy given that he can play several different roles, such as running back, wide receiver, tight end, and even quarterback in an emergency, week to week, depending on need.