Commanders TE Zach Ertz Enjoying His Time Back in the NFC East Division

Ertz spent most of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles before a couple of stops along the way eventually led him to the Washington Commanders.

Sep 29, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Washington Commanders tight end Zach Ertz (86) with quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Washington Commanders tight end Zach Ertz has one touchdown catch through seven weeks as a member of the franchise, but that doesn't even begin to describe the impact he's had on the team.

Regardless of the fact he and Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels have yet to connect on a touchdown pass - they did complete a two-point conversion in Week 4 against the Arizona Cardinals and Ertz's touchdown catch came from quarterback Marcus Mariota - Ertz's leadership has helped to bring the team of nearly all new faces together quicker than anyone expected.

In his return to the NFC East Division after spending all or part of the last three outside of it has been a good one, and he's having a lot of fun being on the Washington side of things this time around.

Sep 29, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Washington Commanders tight end Zach Ertz (86) with quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

"It's hard to win in this league and to be able to have the start that we have, obviously not extremely, I would say a hundred percent satisfied with where we're at, but we're extremely thrilled with where we're going," Ertz said in a recent appearance on NFL Network's The Insiders program. "It is just really fun to be back in this division. Obviously, I was here for a long time and so I've really, really enjoyed my time so far in the DMV."

Ertz spent his first eight seasons and part of his ninth with the Philadelphia Eagles who drafted him in the 2nd Round of the 2013 NFL Draft out of Stanford.

The tight end's time with the Eagles didn't come to a close without some emotion involved, and the breakup was a long one relatively speaking. But from there, he was traded to the Arizona Cardinals where he spent the next 28 active games of his career before reuniting with coach Kliff Kingsbury with the Commanders.

"I think at this stage in his career he's had such an incredible career, and we got some bright young prospects in that room. And so, watching him help coach them, he knows he's a great player, he knows what he can do so he is very secure in his role and who he is at this point in his career," Kingsbury said of Ertz ahead of the team's offseason program this year. "So that's been awesome to see him kind of leave his legacy with those guys, with how he treats them, how he works with them, how he coaches them up.”

Ertz has done much more than coach this season, and is currently second on the team with 34 targets, 25 receptions, and 268 yards receiving.

As much fun as he's had so far, Washington fans have also embraced him as one of the members of a new day in area football. One that hopefully brings back some familiar but long ago lost feelings of consistent winning.

In his career, Ertz has three touchdown catches against the franchise he now suits up for, so there'd be a little bit of poetic justice seeing him surpass that total for it, now that he's enjoying being part of the DMV.

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