Dallas Goedert has done a lot of impressive things in his seven-year career with the Eagles.
A lot.
• His 307 catches since his rookie year in 2018 are 9th-most among all NFL tight ends, and his 3,589 yards are 7th-most during that six-year span.
• His 72.4 catch percentage – receptions per target – is 7th-highest among tight ends with at least 100 catches since 2018, his 11.7 yards per catch is 10th-best, his 62.5 percent success rate is 4th-best and his 8.5 yards per target is 8th-best.
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• Over the last five years, he’s averaged 49 yards per game, 7th-most among tight ends. He’s one of only four tight ends with at least 500 yards in each of the last five seasons, along with George Kittle, Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews.
Any way you look at it, Goedert is one of the best tight ends in football.
Any way but one.
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There’s one thing missing.
Touchdowns.
Goedert has scored just 22 touchdowns in 83 career games.
Only two tight ends in NFL history have caught 300 passes in their first 83 career games with fewer touchdowns. Evan Engram had 20 and Owen Daniels 21.
Goedert is one of only two tight ends in NFL history with five straight seasons with 500 yards but five or fewer touchdowns in all five. The other is Frank Wycheck with the Titans from 1997 through 2001.
He had five TDs in 2019 but just 13 in four years since.
Goedert by every other measure is a top-5 tight end. He just hasn’t scored nearly as many touchdowns as you’d think.
“Yeah there's a lot of different reasons,” Goedert said after a recent practice. “Going back a couple years ago I think I had like six or seven of them called back. Obviously that takes a big hit when you have that many called back. And then last year it seemed like we weren't scoring as many points as we have in the past.
“We have really good, explosive playmakers that score from 40, 50 yards out when A.J. has those days. And then we have a quarterback that can run, an o-line that can block really well. So anytime we get inside the 5, if we can get double teams and ride the wave with the running back, it's a little bit safer to run the ball down there. Things get tighter.
“So it's kind of depending on how games go and how our o-line is moving people around and what we decide to do based on the strengths. A lot of times we have a really good red-zone package where I'm heavily involved and the o-line is just moving people out of the way and we're like, ‘Man, why not? Hand it off and ride the wave.’”
DeVonta Smith has 19 touchdowns in three years with the Eagles and A.J. Brown has 18 in two years. And now there’s also Saquon Barkley, whose 20 touchdowns over the last two years are 11th-most in the league.
Smith, Brown, Barkley and Hurts have a combined 80 touchdowns the last two years. And since 2018, Goedert’s rookie year, the Eagles have the most rushing touchdowns in the league with 123. When they get down near the goal-line – especially with Hurts at QB – they’re not throwing to the tight end.
During the last four years, the Eagles have run 355 plays inside the 10 and only 11 have been Goedert targets – eight for touchdowns.
But maybe this year will be a little different.
Goedert has been a big-time focus in the red zone at training camp and he has six touchdowns this summer during team periods, including three at the open practice at the Linc. He hasn’t played in either preseason game.
One thing we know about Kellen Moore is that he likes to spread the ball around to all eligible receivers to keep defenses off-balance and make the offense less predictable. That could result in Goedert’s touchdown count increasing.
With his size, speed, hands, route running ability and understanding of how defenders are trying to stop him, Goedert should be a huge red-zone threat.
“There's always that chance,” Goedert said. “We got a lot of special players down there. You know, if we get too close, obviously, Jalen with the tush push is tough to stop. But … Kellen’s done a good job of getting me involved down there, which is always fun and I enjoy that.”
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