Is tight end offense or defense? Beginner's guide to NFL's underrated position

It's been somewhat of a mixed bag of a year for tight ends in the National Football League. Between Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce's slow start to the season to Buffalo Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid's underwhelming utilization in the offense and and the Baltimore Ravens deciding to use Mark Andrews on a whim, it has been difficult to find any consistency in the numbers at the TE position in 2024.

That said, most teams covet a star tight end, even more so than running backs, it would appear. Here's everything you need to know about the tight end position in the NFL and the variety of options team utilize to get them involved.

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Is tight end offense or defense?

The tight end is an important member of the offensive unit for any team in the National Football league. Like quarterbacks, teams don't tend to hesitate all that much when it comes to drafting a tight end high up the order.

Just look at the Las Vegas Raiders, who picked Brock Bowers out of Georgia in the first round with the 13th overall pick one year after drafting Michael Mayer with the 35th overall pick in the second round.

Tight ends are usually handed one of two (or at times even both) roles on offense:

1] Running routes and catching passes from the quarterback

2] Serving as a serviceable blocker against defensive linemen and linebackers for the offense.

In order to serve these roles effectively, tight ends usually line up right next to the offensive lineman.

As opposed to the tight ends of old, the new generation of TEs are usually more dynamic pass-catchers. However, their roles in the offense vary based on the state of the offensive line and the plays drawn up.

In general, tight ends are bigger in size due to the requirement of winning their 1-on-1 matchups in the end zone and to ably block defensive lineman and linebackers.

The Chiefs' three-time Super Bowl tight end Travis Kelce is the most popular example of the pass-catching variation whereas the Patriots' serial Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski was primarily seen as the blocking kind.

Gronkowski alluded to as much on his Dudes on Dudes podcast with Julian Edelman.

“It’s really not a comparison. We’re two fully different players," Gronk said of Kelce.

"We have two totally different skill sets. He’s savvy at the top of the route. I was running and going to the corner. I’m going to outrun the guy and use my body, I’m going to be physical. Tom [Brady] would just throw the ball up. If the guy’s on me and I’m bigger than him, I’m going to use my body, box him out and go catch the ball.

"This guy has eight moves, he’s like a wide receiver out there,” Gronkowski added.

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