This Patriots Player Stunningly Sits Atop PFF Positional Ranking

Who’s been the best tight end in football this season?

Travis Kelce? George Kittle? Mark Andrews? T.J. Hockenson? Sam LaPorta?

It’s actually none of those players, according to Pro Football Focus. No, the answer is… New England Patriots tight end Pharaoh Brown.

Last week, Brown topped PFF’s season tight end rankings only if you turned off the snap-count qualifier. But the veteran now holds the top spot outright, with Kelce, Kittle and Andrews ranking second, third and fourth, respectively.

No, this chart isn’t Photoshopped:

Now, it’s important to note that all PFF rankings should be taken with a grain of salt.

The site’s graders focus on whether a player won their matchup on a given snap, then tally it all up to produce a final grade. Players aren’t docked points based on playing time; they just don’t appear in rankings without meeting the snap-count qualifier.

So, it’s not uncommon for random players to appear near the tops of positional rankings. If a player makes the most of their limited snaps, they’ll receive a high grade. And the reality is that Brown hasn’t played enough — just 135 offensive snaps compared to 447 for Kittle — for the law of averages to come into play.

However, none of that should detract from how well Brown has played this season. You could make a strong case he was the Patriots’ best tight end over the first eight weeks.

Signed to zero fanfare at the end of the preseason, Brown has seven catches for 170 yards (one yard shy of his career high) and one touchdown. The seventh-year pro has 10 more receiving yards than Mike Gesicki and just 68 fewer than Hunter Henry.

Brown’s 71.0 PFF pass-blocking grade ranks 24th among all tight ends (Henry is first) but his 65.3 run-blocking grade ranks 11th. Across the board, Brown has been everything the Patriots could’ve hoped for and more from a third tight end.

He’s also been outrageously efficient. Brown’s caught all seven of his targets, with nearly all resulting in big gains. He also had one 22-yard catch wiped out by an ineligible man downfield penalty.

— 58-yard touchdown
— 13 yards
— 15 yards
— 25 yards
— 26 yards
— 9 yards
— 24 yards

Brown continued his strong play in last Sunday’s road loss to the Miami Dolphins, catching two balls for 33 yards. He also was mostly solid when asked to block.

So, no, Brown hasn’t been the best tight end in the NFL this season. But he’s legitimately good, and the Patriots should give him more playing time moving forward.