No one knew what the Commanders would get out of Zach Ertz in 2024, and many wondered if he’d even be a factor at all – but he ended up second in catches and yards on the team, and was huge as both a veteran in the locker room and a security blanket for Jayden Daniels on the field.
Former NFL tight end Kyle Rudolph, who played for a long time in the league with Ertz, was at Super Bowl media sessions earlier this week, so GP had to ask him about what went right with Ertz this year, and how viable he can be for the Commanders if he returns in 2025.
“Zach’s a guy that's just really has been consistent throughout his whole career. Obviously numbers were significantly higher early in his career in Philly, bounced around in Arizona then Detroit briefly last year, but he’s the type of guy who just shows up at work every day, does what he’s supposed to, is in the right place at the right time, and when the opportunities come, he takes advantage,” Rudolph said. “That's exactly what he did this year. He got with a phenomenal young quarterback that knew his tight end was going to be in the right place at the right time, and he could count on him, and then ultimately that's when you see the production. I don't think there's anything that changed in Zach as a player, still the same guy that he was the last handful of years, it’s so much of this is about opportunities, and Zach made the most of his opportunities this year.”
In an NFL where tight ends are becoming bigger weapons than ever – young guns in addition to names like Kelce, Kittle, and 3 – what does Rudolph see as the state of the position?
“They always say the tight end is the quarterback's best friend, and you think about the position of the tight end, the routes they're running, the ability as a quarterback – if you just kind of throw it anywhere, you don't have to make a perfect throw, tight ends are usually bigger body guys, so you can kind of throw the ball away from defenders, so they're safer throws,” Rudolph said. “But the tight end position is one that's a ton of fun to follow.
There's so many guys playing at a high level. I think Travis (Kelce) has made a strong case to being the best ever, and when you look at young tight ends, what Brock Bowers did in Las Vegas this year, those numbers are good for receivers, whose only job is to catch the ball.”