Top 10 Tight Ends in Atlanta Falcons History

The tight end position is considered the most advanced position in football. In the beginning, they were considered offensive linemen who were not tall enough to play on the line. They were hybrid blockers who could be moved around to help keep quarterbacks and running backs clean.

Nowadays, the tight end position has become very popular. This has led to young, tall, athletic players wanting to play as tight ends rather than positions like edge rusher or linebacker. They can present impossible matchups for opposing defenses, especially in the end zone.

The Falcons are home to the most influential tight end in NFL history, who is arguably the best player at his position. However, Atlanta’s list of great tight ends is not exhaustive. They don’t have much history in terms of receiving yards and touchdowns at the position, two factors that weigh heavily in these rankings.

Yards and touchdowns are the two most important stats on this list, as they were for the top 20 receivers in Falcons history. Having a threat that can get you down the field and into the end zone is very valuable.

Another factor was the impact on winning teams. Those who made an impact for the Falcons during a playoff season got a leg up. That’s something you’ll see toward the end of the standings.

10. Hayden Hurst

As you might expect, this list is dominated by recent players like Hayden Hurst. The evolution of the position limits the players who have stood out in the past for each NFL team.

Originally selected in the first round by the Baltimore Ravens, Hurst was traded to the Falcons, who were looking to replace a Pro Bowl player who would later make this list. His promising receiving skills allowed him to finish the 2020 season with 571 yards and six touchdowns. Injuries and the addition of an even more talented receiver at the position led to a mediocre final season in Atlanta.

He finished his two seasons with 82 receptions for 792 yards and nine touchdowns.

9. Brian Kozlowski

Brian Kozlowski is one of the few players to have two separate eras with the Atlanta Falcons. He arrived in the city in 1997 and had a limited impact on the 1998 Super Bowl team. He remained with the team until the turn of the century and was around for part of the Michael Vick era.

In seven of his 14 seasons with the Falcons, Kozlowski caught 74 passes for 891 yards and seven touchdowns. That’s impressive in itself that he stuck around through so many changes for the Dirty Birds.

8. OJ Santiago

One player Kozlowski looked at on the depth chart, O.J. Santiago, had an impact on the 1998 team, especially in the playoffs.

As a 6-foot-7 target, the Canadian caught 27 balls for 19 first downs, 428 yards and five touchdowns during the 1998 regular season. His biggest impact came in what may be the greatest win in franchise history: the NFC Championship Game upset over the Vikings. He gained 54 yards on three receptions, despite fumbled the ball early in the game.

During his three years with the team that drafted him, he caught 59 passes for 819 yards and nine touchdowns.

7. Arthur Cox

If you followed the Falcons in the early ’80s, you saw a lot of Arthur Cox. The tight end spent the better part of five years as the team’s starting tight end.

Sure, considering the era he played in, his stats weren’t impressive, but he did manage to have three 300-yard seasons. He played in 76 games and caught 111 passes for 1,268 yards and seven touchdowns. He also managed to have a 62-yard reception, which is impressive for a 260-pound receiver.

6. Junior Miller

Junior Miller’s career got off to a flying start with the Atlanta Falcons. The seventh overall pick in the 1980 NFL Draft, he had a Pro Bowl season as a rookie, throwing for 584 yards and nine touchdowns on 46 receptions.

His numbers never reached that level again, but he did manage to get another Pro Bowl season in his second year with 32 receptions for 398 yards and three touchdowns (proof that the position has changed). Over his four seasons, he racked up 114 receptions for 1,328 yards and 13 touchdowns.

5. Kyle Pitts

The current Atlanta Falcons tight end is already, by far, one of the five best players at his position in franchise history.

His career started promisingly. After becoming the highest-drafted tight end in NFL history when he was selected fourth overall in the 2021 draft, Kyle Pitts had the second-most receiving yards by a rookie tight end with 1,026 and came close to breaking the record.

Pitts is still in his early stages after two disappointing seasons. He’ll be able to climb back up this ranking after surpassing 2,000 career receiving yards at the end of the 2023 season. The sky’s the limit for the most talented tight end in NFL history.

4. Austin Hooper

After starting his career on a winning team, Austin Hooper made little impact as a rookie in the Falcons’ all-time leading offense in 2016. However, his first season ended with an impressive Super Bowl touchdown.

As a sophomore in 2017, Hoop started to make a name for himself. He opened the season with a 128-yard, two-reception performance against the Bears. Most of his yards came on an 88-yard touchdown run that included a nasty stiff arm.

His second season marked the beginning of a three-year streak of 500-plus yards and three or more touchdowns, which helped him land what was then the largest contract for a tight end in NFL history with the Browns.

During his four-year career with the Falcons, he recorded 214 receptions for 2,244 yards and 16 touchdowns. He made two Pro Bowls in his final two seasons with the team that selected him.

3. Jim Mitchell

Despite being the player with the most receiving yards at the position in Falcons history, Jim Mitchell comes in at number 3.

Mitchell produced 11 seasons and 155 games with the franchise. He was consistently healthy throughout the 1970s and never played fewer than 12 games in a season. He had six seasons with over 400 yards and five with four or more touchdowns.

Although he averaged 28.1 yards per game, he managed to make some big plays throughout his career. His longest receptions were for 40 yards or more in six seasons, which is impressive for a tight end.

Overall, the fourth-round pick out of Prairie View A&M has become an 11-year player who has caught 305 passes for 4,358 yards and 28 touchdowns. He currently ranks third in receptions and touchdowns and first in receiving yards at the position in Falcons history.

2. Alge Crumpler

Michael Vick and Alge Crumpler, both of whom entered the league in 2001, formed one of the best quarterback-tight end combinations in the game. Remarkably, Crumpler improved his stats significantly in each of his first five seasons.

Known as one of the league’s most explosive tight ends, he averaged over 10 yards per reception in his seven seasons with the Falcons, with an overall average of 13.3. He even returned 12 kicks in his career.

The North Carolina product had his best season in 2005 when he caught 65 passes for 877 yards and five touchdowns.

After finishing his career in Atlanta as the best tight end in franchise history, Crumpler caught 316 passes for 4,212 yards and 35 touchdowns.

1. Tony Gonzalez

Any tight end list that doesn’t have Tony Gonzalez at the top of the list immediately becomes problematic. Tony G. is the best tight end in NFL history; there’s no debate about that.

Where to start with the Pro Football Hall of Famer? While other teams’ stats aren’t typically mentioned in these franchise rankings, to overlook them would be to do him a disservice. At any position, the all-time great ranks third in receptions (1,325), sixth in receiving yards (15,127) and eighth in receiving touchdowns (111). All of those marks lead the all-time tight end rankings.

Additionally, he played 17 seasons, was a 14-time Pro Bowl selection and 10 All-Pro selections, and missed just two games. Also, let’s not forget that he only fumbled the ball once in his last 14 seasons.

After being traded to the Falcons, Gonzalez finally won his first playoff game against the Seahawks in 2013. He made the big catch that game, which set up the game-winning field goal for his team. He also made a big impact in the NFC Championship, catching eight passes on eight targets for 78 yards and a touchdown.

With the Dirty Birds, the NFL’s all-time leading tight end caught 409 passes for 4,187 yards and 35 touchdowns in 80 games and was a four-time Pro Bowl and All-Pro selection. He also never fumbled or missed a game in Atlanta. No one will ever match him or his consistency.