Cardinals TE Disrespected in Top Ten List

NFL GM's, coaches and execs don't believe Arizona Cardinals TE Trey McBride is a top-ten player.

Dec 31, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride (85) reacts after a touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles during the fourth quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

ARIZONA -- Arizona Cardinals TE Trey McBride burst on the scene last season, and is in strong position to assert himself as one of the best tight ends in the league with 2024 knocking on the door.

He's still got some work to do.

ESPN's positional rankings - taken from the votes and opinions of NFL executives, coaches and scouts - continued today with the tight end position.

McBride was missing from the top ten.

NFL Top Ten TE Rankings

1. Travis Kelce
2. George Kittle
3. Mark Andrews
4. Sam LaPorta
5. T.J. Hockenson
6. David Njoku
7. Dallas Goedert
8. Dalton Kincaid
9. Evan Engram
10. Dalton Schultz

McBride was part of the honorable mention crew with the following said of him:

"McBride had one drop on 108 targets, which is impressive for a second-year player. Of his 81 catches, 42 went for a first down, fifth among tight ends. 'We were really high on him coming up,' a team executive said. 'He does a lot of things really well. Run after catch, good in the red zone, has a higher upside than many of the guys ahead of him. [He's] more of a pass-game tight end but a competitive blocker.'

Other honorable mention tight ends include Pat Freiermuth, Jake Furguson, Cole Kmet and Kyle Pitts.

Absolutely no disrespect to any of the tight ends in the bottom half of the top ten, but you could make a good argument McBride is interchangable with any of them.

McBride was top-ten for tight ends last season in yards + receptions despite sitting behind Zach Ertz in the first half of the season.

Perhaps playing a 4-13 squad held McBride back in the eyes of the league. He also doesn't have a large sample size of consistent output compared to some of the top names in the list.

2024 can be a different story, though.

"This is the first time I've came into a room and kind of had that respect that I can play, and it just makes me want to work harder," McBride told reporters earlier this offseason.

"Really brings fuel to me. It's something that I really love to do and I'm super excited for. And now it's just fine tuning and making sure that that the other guys in the room can do the exact same."

Now, McBride has more fuel entering his first season as a full-time starter.