Eagles: This Is The Year Zach Ertz Needs to Break Out

There’s little question over the talent of Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz. As for when he’s finally going to break out, that’s a different story.

It seemed like he was finally poised for that next step in the 2015 season, but a core muscle injury derailed that and left him injured for the entirety of the preseason. While the preseason obviously means very little in terms of a team’s actual talent and expected success, it still put Ertz a few steps behind everyone else once Week 1 rolled around and left him spending the first few weeks of the regular season getting back into his true form.

I was surprised to see him even play in Week 1 against the Falcons, as it seemed like they would hold him out for one more week to make sure he was fully healthy and wouldn’t suffer a setback. However, he played and received eight targets, bringing in three catches for 46 yards. Not bad considering the injury, but that excuse became overused as the season reached its midway point.

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For a tight end that was taken in the second round and was finally given the nod as the team’s No. 1 guy at the position over Brent Celek, it was expected that he would see a jump in production. Whether it was the injury or the Eagles’ blatant predictability on offense that hindered Ertz, we’ll never fully know. Either way, the beginning of the season was disappointing. He surpassed 50 receiving yards just twice in his first eight games and failed to reach the end zone.

The NFL has a few dominant tight ends, and then the drop off is severe. Ertz had the chance to still finish the season on a high note and eclipse that top 10, something he was hovering around in the 2014 season. He hit the bottom of his performance in Weeks 10-12, missing one due to injury and combining for just 21 receiving yards in the other two games. He did finally hit paydirt in the Eagles’ stunning win over the Patriots, but his nine yards that game were his lowest since exactly one year before when he was held without a catch against Dallas.

After that one touchdown though, it seemed he had finally hit his stride, averaging 113 yards per game over the final four contests of the season. This was the real Zach Ertz that people expected. Even though he finished the year with just two touchdowns, even lower than his three scores in 2014, it seemed like he had made that break through.

Now, he needs to extend that breakthrough month into a breakout year.

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He’s steadily increased in receptions, targets and receiving yards over his three years in the league, but he’s also seen a slight decline in touchdowns each year, combining for just nine in 47 games. If he wants to have a breakout year in 2016, which he should considering he just earned a new contract and is in a new offense that’s going to (hopefully) favor the tight end position a little more than Chip Kelly’s offense did, he needs to find ways to get into the end zone.

Every player is going to have bad games once in a while, but being held to under 50 yards in as many games as he was last year, especially with how poor many of the wide receivers were playing, was unacceptable. He needs to prove to people he deserves the $42.5 million contract he signed in January. And trust me, I think he’s going to prove it.

As long as Ertz stays healthy throughout the season, which he’s generally been able to do, he could be in line to have a big year. But if he fails to make more strides forward, there could be questions over whether he deserves his rising salary. This is the year for Ertz to make a statement.

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