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Options for the Redskins at tight end for 2020 and beyond

By Ken Johannesen

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 13: Tight end Austin Hooper #81 of the Atlanta Falcons scores on a six yard touchdown reception against the Arizona Cardinals during the NFL game at State Farm Stadium on October 13, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. The Cardinals defeated the Falcons 34-33. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 13: Tight end Austin Hooper #81 of the Atlanta Falcons scores on a six yard touchdown reception against the Arizona Cardinals during the NFL game at State Farm Stadium on October 13, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. The Cardinals defeated the Falcons 34-33. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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LANDOVER, MD – OCTOBER 21: Jordan Reed #86 of the Washington Redskins celebrates with fans after the Washington Redskins defeated the Dallas Cowboys at FedExField on October 21, 2018 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD – OCTOBER 21: Jordan Reed #86 of the Washington Redskins celebrates with fans after the Washington Redskins defeated the Dallas Cowboys at FedExField on October 21, 2018 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images) /

The Washington Redskins will need at least two new tight ends in 2020 and the team must add catching talent and blocking skillsets.

It’s painfully obvious that the Redskins need a lot of talent upgrades in the upcoming offseason and one of the direst of needs is at tight end.

Jordan Reed will miss this entire season and his football career is probably over after suffering the seventh known concussion in his playing career.

Reed, when healthy, has been one of the best pass-catching tight ends in the NFL this decade. He has been plagued by other injuries as well and at the conclusion of the current 2019 season, Reed will miss his 45th game overall since coming into the league. That’s almost three complete seasons and yet, it is still impressive that the former Florida Gator has been able to haul in 329 career receptions.

If fully healthy for most of his seasons as a Redskin, how many more receptions would Reed have at this juncture? 100? 150? 250?

Vernon Davis has been one of the finest pass catching tight ends in pro football for nearly a decade and a half.  He was signed to back up Reed in 2016, but has been pressed into service often when Reed was nursing various injuries.

Davis continued to defy father time and has been productive for the Burgundy and Gold, but it appears that aging and injuries have caught up to the former Maryland Terrapin.  Davis will turn 36 next month and his time in Washington is likely coming to an end.  He suffered a season-ending concussion and was placed on injured reserve less than two weeks ago, even though he suffered the injury in week four.

Davis has been a warrior, but the one knock on him and Reed over the years has been the lack of blocking skills.  That task has often fallen to Jeremy Sprinkle.  Sprinkle, a fine blocking tight end, lacks the polished receiving skills Reed and Davis bring to the game.

For many years now, the Redskins have desired a talented tight end or two that can be productive as a receiver and blocker.  Adding not one, but two tight ends in the offseason is all but a certainty and it will be a difficult task to find the type of talent that the front office is seeking.

The efforts should obviously be focused on free agency and the draft.  Sprinkle fills the need for a blocking tight end, but the goal should be to find two tight ends that specialize in receptions and blocking.  Let’s take a look at the players that the Redskins could target in the coming months.

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