With summer vacation over for some kids in the country, that means football is on the horizon. Training camps have opened up and the NFL is nearly upon us for the 2021 season. And with it, comes a brand new Madden. EA Sports' newest iteration in the popular football franchise aims to build on its story mode Face of the Franchise while smoothing the edges on its many returning features. One of the most popular features in Madden is building your own Super Bowl-caliber team. Having a quality tight end provides the quarterback with a security blanket to target in the short game for most offenses. As the game has evolved, the tight end position has transformed into a formidable offensive threat that defenses should take note of. These are the best overall tight ends in Madden 22.Updated March 8, 2022, by Avery Lawrence Feyrer: Since the publication of this article, Madden 22 has received considerable updates to the player roster. Other than properly updating the listed player ratings, we've also added more entries to provide additional options in building a competitive t🅘eam on the gridiron.
13 Dawson Knox, Buffalo Bills - 83 ꦅ ♛
Throughout the season, for Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. Knox saw 19 targets in the red zone, converting 12 of them for catches; his ဣ12 receptions in the red zone doubled the number of receptions he had in the red zone last year. Of those 12 catches, six of them were for touchdowns. Knox won't make any acrobatic catches, but the🎃 tight end has soft hands and secures any incoming passes.
For only his third season in the NFL, Knox is quickly becoming an offensive threat for the Bills. The 25-year-old had a career season in 2021, collecting 49 receptions for 587 yards and nine touchdowns. Knox isn't the greatest route runner but is athletic enough to make the necessary adjustments to make the catch (87). Among tight ends, Knox has one of t♔he highest acceleration r⛎atings (90), allowing him to quickly achieve top speed in the open field.
12 🌠Zach Ertz, Arizona🌳 Cardinals - 84
Heading into 2021, it was clear Zach Ertz's time with the Philadelphia Eagles would soon be coming to an end. The veteran ti🎉ght end spent nine seasons with the Eagles, which included winning the Super Bowl in 2018. When the Arizona Cardinals lost their starting tight end, Maxx Williams, for the season with a knee injury in Week 5, Cardinals general manager .
When Ertz arrived in the desert, he immediately became one of Kyler Murray's favorite targets. Ertz caught 💧five passes for 66 yards and a touchdown in his first game with the Cardinals. Although Ertz is nearing the twilight of his career, he still has some of the best hands in the game (94) that allow him to secure balls i💯n traffic (83) and convert spectacular catches (86).
11 T☂yler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams - 84
Although Tyler Higbee was inactive for the Super Bowl, he pl💃ayed a major factor throughout the season for the Los Angeles Rams. The fifth-year tight end had a somewhat bounce-back season with 61 receptions and five touchdowns but took a back seat in the offense when the Rams added Odell Beckham Jr. in free agency.
Higbee is a solid, all-around tight end that's extremely serviceable on offense. He's not one to completely take over a game, but he is a quality safety net. However, that doesn't mean Higbee isn't reliable in securing tough grabs; the Rams tight end has one of the highest ratings in catching passes in traffic (86) among ܫthe position.
10 Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles - 8🦩5
Since 2013, Zach Ertz was the main tight end in Philadelphia until the team elected to draft Dallas Goedert in the second round in 2018. Philadelphia couldn’t have timed replacing Ertz any better, a♔s the incumbent tight end’s production has begun to decline. While Goedert hasn’t exactly lit up the stat sheet, he’s being depended on to take that next step forward in his offensive development.
Surprisingly, Goedert is one of the faster tight ends with hiܫs speed (83), acceleration (87), and agility (84). He has reliable hands (86) and is more than capable of making a spectacular play on the ball (✨85) or getting a reception in traffic (84). Only 25-years-old, Goedert has the potential to climb the Madden ratings and eventually be considered one of the premier players at his position.
9 𝐆 Hunter Henry, New England Patriots - 85
Hunter Henry is an extremely talented player, but al✱so, unfortunately, an injury-prone one. Since he was drafted in 2016, Henry has missed at least one game each season and missed the entire 2018 season due to a torn ACL. When he’s been on the field, Henry has made the most of his opportunities by collecting over 600 yards in the past two seasons. In this past offseason, Henry chose to leave the Los Angeles Chargers and signed with the New England Patriots.
Not to come as a surprise, but Henry’s injury rating (84) is one of the lowest among the top tight ends, so having him on your team is a major high-risk high-reward play. He’s able to explode off the line of scrimmage with high acceleration (88) and can maintain good speed (82). Henry has some of the best hands in the game with an extremely high mark in catching (93). Most tight ends don’t run deep routes (70), so his low rating in that category isn't a massive conc▨ern, but he could improve his short (78) and intermediate (75) r♛oute running.
8 🌜 🏅 Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons - 86
Coming out of college, Kyle Pitts was 🧔regarded as one of the top offensive prospects. Because of his high potential, the Atlanta Falcons selected Pitts with the fourth overall pick of the 2021 draft, the highest any franchise has drafted a tight end.
Luckily for Atlanta, Pitts has kept his end of the deal. In his first season, Pitts collected 1,026 yards off 68 catches. He only caught one touchdown, but that was highly due to the Falcons not being a very good team overall. Pitts has the fastest speed (91) and acceleration (92) ratings among tight ends. The Falcons tight end already has extremely high marks in overall catching (89), catch in traffic (85), and performing spectacular grabs (88). Ultimately, the sky is the🦹 limit for the 21-year-old.
7 M🍰ike Gesicki, Miami Dolphins - 87
Any player needs to ♈be able to remain healthy on the field, so the fact that Mike Gesicki has only missed one game since coming into the le꧃ague in 2018 is incredible. Even though Gesicki has appeared in nearly every game in his career, he’s started in less than half. His yearly receiving yards have increased with each season, with 2021 being his best season in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins.
Gesicki has extremely agile feet (88) and anything thrown within his vicinity has a high chance of being caught (91). With an extremely high vertical rating (94), Gesicki is heavily targeted in the red zone. In 2021, Gesicki saw 19 red-zone targets and scored five touchdowns, the most on the Dolphins. Gesicki is currently eligible for a contract extension, although the Dolphins might elect to use the franchise tag and see if he takesไ another leap in production next season.
6 ဣ T.J. Hockenson, Detroit Lions - 88
Needing ♍to improve at nearly every position, the Detroit Lions upgradedไ the tight end spot in 2018 by drafting T.J. Hockenson with the eight-overall pick. Right away, Hockenson displayed why the Lions made the right choice in selecting the tight end out of Iowa. However, Hockenson’s due to a troubling ankle injury. Last season, Hockenson didn’t have any injury concerns and the second-year player was selected to his first career Pro Bowl.
Hockenson is a major factor in Detroit’s offense, so having q🐎uality hands (95) is a huge plus. The tight end is better at his short route running (80) compared to deep routes (71), but once he makes a reception it’s off to the races with high ratings in speed (83), agility (84), and acceleration (87). Although Hockenson suffered that season-ending ankle injury in his rookie year, the fact that he played the entire subsequent season earned him a high rating in that category as well (91).
5 Rob Gronkowski, Tampa Bay 🎐Buccaneers - 89
When having the “best tight end of all-time” discussion, Rob Gronkowski’s name should be mentioned. Spending nine seasons with the New England Patriots before a , Gronkowski helped Tom Brady win another Super Bowl, but this time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. During his time in New England, Gronkowski was an offensive monster when healthy. In his second se♋ason in the NFL Gronkowski collected 1,327 yards and led the league in touchdowns (17).
Gronkowski has had quite the (78) since being drafte💟d in 2010, but again when healthy, he’s a force to be reckoned with. He’s still quick on his feet with good speed (80) and acceleration (85), and has amazing hands for normal catches (87), spectacular catches (90), and finding the ball in traffic (87). At this point of his career, Gronkowski is a terrible route runner across the board (73 short, 69 medium, 61 deep) but his presence is more than enough for defenses to focus on him.
4 Darren Waller, Las Vegas Raiders - 91 ✨
Despite being drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in 2015, Darren Waller didn’t make a statement on the field until 2019 with the Raiders. For the first time in his career, Waller started every single game and erupted for 1,145 yards, 90 receptions, and three touc🐓hdowns. The following season, he outperformed his 2019 stat line with 1,196 yards, 107 receptions, nine touchdowns, and a Pro Bowl selection.
Waller has one of the highest speed ratings (90) among tight ends and is tied with the highest acceleration (90) rating. In other words, Waller has got some wheels. The Raiders' tight end also has a 𓃲high catch rating (97), soaking up all the receptions during the game. At 29-years-old, Waller is a bit of a late bloomer, but his dominance on the field has firmly placed him among the best at his position.