Cardinals’ tight end Trey McBride might not be your usual first round pick every year, but he should be.
TREY MCBRIDE ISN’T TRAVIS KELCE. He isn’t Rob Gronkowski or George Kittle or anyone else we’ve seen in the past. Instead he’s not a household name, rarely talked about, and probably won’t even be the team leader in receptions. But he is an underrated aspect of a Cardinals team in what has seemed like eternal purgatory.
The Cardinals are on the top of no one’s list. A team that has relied on Murray’s success for so long and has received little but metaphorical retribution back seems poised for yet another year of rock-bottom. However, the third-year starting tight end has become somewhat of a shining beacon amongst the dark backdrop of desert.
You might deem more established, legacy tight ends to the likes of Kittle and Kelce as better situated to take the first tight end slot in your fantasy football league, McBride has quietly taken the lead in many aspects. He’s quickly taken pole position over Zach Ertz for the tight end role in Glendale, caught over 800 yards last season, and has some of the most broken tackles in terms of yards after the catch.
McBride pairs well with quarterback Kyler Murray. Since the passer’s return from injury, McBride proved himself to be one of the top targets at his position. Since Week 10, McBride posted 14.9 PPR points per game, third among the position. This supposed connection is the driving factor behind McBride’s quick ascension to the fantasy football throne. While not yet putting up the numbers of Kittle or Kelce, maybe he doesn’t have to.
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McBride’s elite prowess in the passing game– what really matters in fantasy, is an ode to his long frame and lightning-quick 4.56 40-yard-dash time. What has become clear is that McBride doesn’t do much of the dirty work. Most of his time has been spent running routes or doing something productive in the pass game. Expect backup Elijah Higgins to do the bulk of the blocking and run set-up. PFF’s ranking of McBride should play some role in the analysis of his future position on our teams.
PFF ranked McBride with an 80.5 receiving grade— good for sixth in his position and fifth with filters and requisites. However, his blocking grade has been more poor. The analytics put him at a dismal 50.5, 81st amongst active players. With the addition of new talent on the outside– Marvin Harrison Jr., Trey Benson, and Zay Jones, teams are forced to respect the influx of firepower on the outside. This will lead to the inevitable neglect of McBride from defenses, opening up his skillset and his stats even more.
There are more productive tight ends than McBride at this very moment. However, there’s not too many you can pickup if you’re the last pick in a snake draft. Instead, this is a value pickup that is bound to make your TE1. McBride has been the hot new ol’ reliable and with the return of Kyler Murray, it’s hard to see him not progressing even more going into his third year in the league.
The only drawback is that McBride hasn’t been much of a touchdown machine. The Colorado State-alum only scored three touchdowns in 2023 and one in 2022. He will have to amp those numbers up if he wants to make a Pro Bowl or really knock a team out of the park. With four touchdowns over 33 games played, an average of .12 touchdowns/game is abysmal.
So take into account the relative lack of touchdown boosts when it comes time to draft this August.
