The Tennessee Titans won’t be getting the Zach Ertz everyone remembers.
Ertz and Julio Jones are bother also alike in the fact that they spent a lot of the most recent season on the sideline in athletic gear. Jones missed all but nine games with a hamstring issue in 2020. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Eagles actually placed Ertz on the team’s IR from Week 7 to Week 12 with a high ankle sprain.
Ertz turns 31 years of age on November 10th. Julio just turned 32 in February. Maybe you’ve heard (or witnessed this for yourself). People don’t get faster and stronger when they get older, and when injuries start occurring, sometimes, they keep occurring.
Zach Ertz has never been a guy that runs over guys, sheds tackles, and fights for extra yardage. He’s always been gifted, but he often goes down on first contact as well.
Sure, he’d be a great compliment to Julio, A.J. Brown. and Derrick Henry, but think about something for a few seconds. In 2018, he set the NFL’s record for most receptions by a tight end in a season with 116. He hasn’t been that guy since.
Now, with Father Time hanging around Ertz’s locker quite often these days, one has to ask if he’s still one of the game’s top five tight ends or if he’s capable of being one of the NFL’s most feared at the position. He’d be an upgrade over what the two-tone blue currently has, but Tennessee should only make sense if a deal can be struck that doesn’t strap this team financially or cost them draft capital. Right now, that isn’t the case.