Low touchdown number plagues Arizona Cardinals' Trey McBride in ESPN top 10 tight end list
Despite being second only to the Las Vegas Raiders' Brock Bowers in receiving yards and receptions among NFL tight ends in 2024, Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride continues to be snubbed.
He was not first-team or second-team All-Pro for his 2024 efforts, and now ESPN does not even have him in the top three for their top 10 tight ends list for 2025. McBride is behind Bowers and the San Francisco 49ers' Kittle, who won the All-Pro nods instead of him, but he is also behind the Detroit Lions' Sam LaPorta.
Kittle caught 78 passes last year, and McBride caught 111. Kittle has never caught more than 88 passes in a season. McBride's 1,146 receiving yards were also 40 more yards than Kittle's 1,106.
Jeremy Fowler wrote the article where the top 10 list was ranked.
"The objective was to identify the best players for 2025," Fowler wrote. "This was not a five-year projection or a career achievement award."
The last time Kittle had as many receiving yards as McBride had in 2024, was back in 2018.
Ranked third was LaPorta, who was not a Pro Bowler in 2024. McBride was.
LaPorta caught 60 passes in 2024, and has never had more than 86 in a season. He posted 726 receiving yards in 2024, and has never had more than 889 receiving yards in a season.
In summary, "ESPN surveyed league executives, coaches and scouts to help rank the top 10 players at" the tight end position for this ranking. McBride was the only tight end other than Bowers and Kittle to receive a first-place vote. Still, he ranks behind LaPorta overall and was ranked just 10th by at least one voter.
Fowler notes that McBride "is a capable blocker."
The issue must be that McBride posted just three receiving + rushing touchdowns last season (two receiving). An unidentified NFL personnel director who did not rank him in the top five admitted as much.
"Lack of touchdowns hurts him a bit for me if we're talking about top-five guys."
By that logic, Zach Ertz should be ranked in the top seven. He was tied for fourth among NFL tight ends with three others who posted seven receiving touchdowns. Counting touchdowns is not how tight end evaluation works, however, as Ertz is not ranked on this list and is not even listed as an honorable mention.
McBride is within the top five in not just receiving yards and receptions, where he ranks second in each, but he is also first in receiving first downs with 63 and third in yards after catch with 513.
LaPorta is tied for seventh in receiving first downs with 39. He ranks sixth with 343 yards after catch.