Mark Andrews leads tight ends in receiving yards into week 3 of the 2019 season. He is going to have a monster season and show that he is the best tight end in the game:
It’s amazing that Mark Andrews is this good at this point of his career. Heading into a week 3 battle with the Kansas City Chiefs, it is actually a debatable point that Andrews is that match up’s top tight end. Travis Kelce has been doing it longer however that’s about the only real difference between the two tight ends.
Pro-Football-Reference has Kelce listed at 6’5″ 260 pounds. Andrews is listed at 6’5″ 260 pounds. To be fair George Kittle belongs in the top tight end conversation as well; he is 6’4″ 250 pounds. Andrews has the measurables that you see with the top tight ends in the league. If you’re looking for the picture perfect tight end, these three players are just that.
With Rob Gronkowski enjoying his retirement, Kelce and Kittle set the bar for what elite tight end production should look like. Kelce has been a player good for 80-100 catches per year, 1,000 yards and five to 10 touchdowns. Kittle stepped into the ranks of the elite tight ends last season with 1,377 yards on 88 receptions.
Andrews is on pace to have that kind of a season. Through two games, Andrews has 16 receptions for 220 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He’s on pace for 128 receptions. That number may come back down to earth a little bit, however a 100 reception season seems likely. Andrews is one of the biggest keys to what the Ravens do offensively.
Ravens fans have been waiting for elite weaponry for the offense since Baltimore got the team in 1996. The Ravens now have three legitimate superstars on the offense. Lamar Jackson looks like the real deal and then some. Marquise Brown is off to an impressive start and Mark Andrews looks unstoppable. That trio is what makes Andrews so dangerous.
Defensive coordinators need an answer for Lamar Jackson. They need to stop the run game and they don’t want to give up big plays to Marquise Brown. Andrews is a match up nightmare who has put back to back weeks of elite production on his resume. The key to stopping the Baltimore offense may be stopping Andrews, however Jackson and Brown get the most attention.
Andrews looks the part, is putting up the requisite numbers and is a huge reason why the offense is the number one unit going into the third week of the season. There is no reason to wait. Experience is the only thing holding people back from calling Andrews an elite tight end. He’s not playing like a top 10 tight end; he is performing at a best in the business level.
Andrews is at the very least in the same category as Kelce and Kittle. Everyone is going to be saying that by the end of the season so I may as well get a jump on it. There is no reason to think that Andrews won’t continue to play at this level. He’s on his way to being the best tight end in football. He’s going to have an elite season of production.