Career Contextualization

Travis Kelce has been the gold standard for fantasy tight ends in recent years, and Rob Gronkowski has been right there with him when healthy. But for those unable to land Kelce or Gronk in their drafts, Zach Ertz has been a nice fallback option.

Ertz played with QB Andrew Luck for two years at Stanford, catching 16 passes for 190 yards and five touchdowns as a freshman, then putting up 27-346-4 as a sophomore. Luck went pro after the 2011 season, but Ertz had his breakout season in 2012 while catching passes from Josh Nunes and Kevin Hogan. Ertz led all college tight ends in receiving yardage as a junior, finishing with 69-898-6. He entered the draft early and was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round, 35th overall.

Ertz had a solid NFL debut in 2013, producing 36-469-4 while sharing TE snaps with Brent Celek. The following year, Ertz’s career took flight. From 2014 to 2019, he posted six consecutive seasons as a top-10 fantasy scorer at tight end, averaging 81.5 receptions, 879.0 yards and 5.2 touchdowns a season over that span. Ertz hit his zenith in 2018, setting the NFL record for most receptions in a season by a tight end with 116. He finished with 1,163 yards and eight TD catches that season (but was still the TE2 in fantasy scoring that year behind Travis Kelce).