Dallas Goedert Named Pro Football Focus’ Most Underrated Eagle

After being selected in the second round of the 2018 NFL draft, Dallas Goedert, is emerging as one of the best tight ends in the the league.

Goedert is constantly over-shadowed by Zach Ertz, but played so well in 2019 that Pro Football Focus listed him as the Eagles "most underrated player" heading into the 2020 season.

When you enter the NFL in the shadow of one of the league’s best tight ends, it’s easy to be somewhat overlooked. That is the case with Goedert, who was immediately thrust into a role as TE2 despite being taken in the second round out of South Dakota State. The Eagles have run a heavy dose of two tight end sets to get both him and Zach Ertz on the field, and it’s pretty clear from those snaps that Goedert is a top-end TE in the NFL.

In 2019, Goedert registered a career-high in catches (58), receiving yards (607), and touchdowns (5) in 15 games.

Pro Football Focus also graded Goedert as one of the best blocking tight ends in the all of football, ranking second in the NFL with a run-blocking grade of 81.4.

Since 2018, Goedert actually ranks fifth among qualifying tight ends in overall grade, ahead of Ertz. A big reason — outside of the obvious mismatch threats he poses as a receiver — is his elite play as a blocker for the position. Goedert’s 81.4 run-blocking grade sits sandwiched between Maxx Williams and George Kittle for second at the position over that same span. He is a complete tight end who would be a high-level primary option on most rosters in the NFL.

It will be interesting to see how the Eagles use Goedert moving forward with more speed and weapons at their disposal.  The hopeful return of DeSean Jackson, adding Jalen Reagor and Marquise Goodwin in the offseason and the hopeful improvement from J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, a full season from Greg Ward, and the 87 targets Goedert received in 2019 might be tough to achieve.