Why Don’t We Appreciate Zach Ertz?
Recently there has been a trend going around the Sports Twitter Universe.
A post signifying the most underrated and under-appreciated athletes and teams.
Photo: ESPN
During this time you’ve heard answers like the 2005 Chicago White Sox who became one of five teams to complete a season start to finish in first place of their division en route to a dominant 11-1 playoff record and a World Series title. Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas who has arguably been the most consistent player at the position since entering the league in 2016, posting four consecutive 1,000+ yard seasons and 32 career touchdown receptions over four seasons. You even saw the WNBA as a whole (deservingly so), which has recently seen blossom in the ratings. With the likes of LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and the late, great Kobe Bryant endorsing the product; we’ve seen a renaissance of sorts, leading to the women of the association receiving their proper due diligence. Yet despite each of the athletes that received a mention, initially, the first athlete to come to mind was Philadelphia Eagles’ tight end, Zach Ertz.
Despite finishing the season tied with Darren Walker for third in the league for the most first downs/touchdowns produced by a tight end. For some odd reason, it is rare to see Ertz mentioned doesn’t along with the league’s elite tight ends. While Ertz isn’t as well rounded as George Kittle despite his improvements as a blocker up to this point in his career. He doesn’t see as many big-play opportunities as a Travis Kelce would in the high octane Kansas City offense.
And Ertz certainly doesn’t have the star power of Rob Gronkowski; who according to the guys over at EA Sports, even after missing an entire year of football is still the same ole’ Gronk.
http://twitter.com/swami_ea/status/1284184247369117698?s=21
Yet, despite not matching up with his counterparts in these departments, Pro Football Focus still ranked Zach Ertz the second most valuable tight end in the league over the last three seasons.
Which makes sense because, well if Zach Ertz has been anything, it’s a model of consistency. Take this for some context, Ertz has been viewed as the primary playmaker on Philadelphia’s offense for about the last half-decade. During this time Ertz has produced 431 receptions, 4,572 receiving yards, and 28 touchdowns [2015-2019] even as defensive coordinators aimed to remove him from any Philadelphia Eagles game plan.
For those keeping track that’s Ertz averaging 70+ receptions (on 100+ targets) and 800+ receiving yards over this stretch. Ertz also set the record for the most receptions by an Eagles player in a single game with 15 against Washington on December 20, 2014. Not to mention being on the receiving end of what proved to be the eventual game-winning touchdown of the franchises first Super Bowl.
Oh, did we forget that Ertz broke Jason Witten’s NFL record for most receptions in a single season by a tight end with 116 in 2018? Gosh darn it; we did, didn’t we?
Well to make up for it, here are all 116 Ertz receptions from the 2018 season.
To say that the development of the Stanford product has gone according to plan would be an understatement. Though Ertz was widely regarded as one of the top two prospects at the tight end position, no one expected that he would go on to become one of the best tight ends in the game.
Coming into the league, as the first skilled position player selected in the Chip Kelly era, Ertz was viewed as one dimensional coming out of college and rightfully so, as a lack of abilities as a blocker kept Ertz off the field for the first three years of his career. However, even in a limited role, it didn’t take long for Ertz to establish himself as a force in the passing game, shades of his abilities as a mismatch nightmare. Ertz saw a rapid increase in production over the course of the first three years leading to what was a career-high in receptions (75) and receiving yards (853) at the time by 2015.
Since entering the league not only has Ertz broken the record for most receptions in a single season by a tight end as we mentioned, but he has been Philadelphia’s leading receiver for four consecutive season. Ertz also produced the most receptions by any tight end in league history through their first seven seasons (525). In terms of Eagles history well Ertz has certainly created an argument as the best tight end in franchise history as he currently ranks second in receptions in franchise history behind only NFL Hall of Famer Harold Carmichael (589) with 525 career receptions. Yet the disrespect for the three-time pro bowler has seemed to linger, to the point where even the Philly Faithful to an extent, had fanned out creating out of this world trade offers during the off-season such as Ertz for Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones.
Photo: Yong Kim/The Inquirer
Which begs the question, how dare anyone (especially in the city of Philadelphia) make light of the prominence Zach Ertz has had as an Eagles throughout the course of his career?
I’ll take your “No YAC Zach” jokes and I’ll raise you the fact that Ertz is currently tied with Michael Thomas for the second-most red zone touchdowns since 2017 (20). Who cares about the acquired yardage when you can put points of the board right? Then there is the fact that Ertz legitimately risked it all for the organization as he returned from a significant rib/kidney injury suffer during a contest against the rival Cowboys to finish the game.
The game is best known for Ertz’s passionate “burn the ships” speech. He may not be flashy, but for the last seven years, Ertz has easily been Philadelphia’s most reliable offensive skilled position player. It has become a tradition of sorts for the Eagles offense that when “all else fails, just look for Ertz.”
Despite what could be considered a down year by Ertz standards, the all-pro tight end racked up 916 yards and six touchdowns on 88 receptions. Which was more than enough production to fill the void left by not one option at wide receiver going over 500 yards.
http://twitter.com/ZERTZ_86/status/1284189244467159041
While Ertz certainly isn’t the perfect player, he has been everything a Philadelphia Eagles offense could ask for. Especially Carson Wentz, who has seen his most reliable target account for 356 of his career completions, 3,719 of his career passing yards, and 26 career touchdown passes. The multitude of accomplishments Zach Ertz has been able to put to his name, all while being one of (if not the most) consistent tight end in the game should be enough to garner the respect of the fans and his peers.
Obviously, that is not the case as the lack of appreciation for Ertz is as prominent as its ever been. The latest case being how Ertz was listed as the 85th best player in the league by the NFL’s Top 100 players list.
Are there truly 84 players in the league that are better than Zach Ertz?
Probably not, however, being underappreciated is nothing new to number 86.
Featured Image: Dhwani Saraiya/PHLSportsNation
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