The 10 greatest NFL tight ends of all time, ranked

It's hard enough to do one job on a pro football field. Now imagine having to vacillate back and forth between brute force and elegant, shrewd pass-catching. That is the everyday life of your average NFL tight end, the true workhorse of every team and one of the main cogs of any successful, high-flying offense.

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Any contending NFL team likely has a powerhouse tight end. They are men who are often simultaneously larger than life and impossible-to-ignore focal points who do whatever they want as blockers and receivers with the ball in their hands. Star tight ends are like freewheeling mercenaries, players entrusted with the world on their shoulders who also sometimes have free reign to approach their job however they want.

Below, you will find a list of the cream of the tight-end crop. These men were revolutionaries at their position who also acted as impeccably productive machines. They are symbols of a modern game that has truly evolved and come full circle. Let's dive in and find out who was the very best.

10. Jimmy Graham

Teams: New Orleans Saints (2010-2014, 2023), Seattle Seahawks (2015-2017), Green Bay Packers (2018-2019), Chicago Bears (2020-2021)

Accolades: 5-time Pro Bowler, First-Team All-Pro (2013), receiving touchdowns leader (2013)

Graham's prominence coincided with an era of the NFL predicated on converting former basketball players into football stars. He was one of the best.

An unstoppable 6-foot-7 matchup threat in the middle of the field, Graham's quarterbacks could likely lob any errant pass in his vague direction, and he'd still come down with it. Fittingly, Graham holds the Saints' single-season record for receptions and touchdowns and is also the Seahawks' single-season record holder for receptions, yards, and touchdowns by a tight end. If not for a patellar tendon injury suffered about halfway through Graham's career, the man who is fourth all-time in tight end receiving touchdowns (89) would be much higher on that list.

9. Jackie Smith

Teams: Arizona Cardinals (1966-1969), Dallas Cowboys (1978)

Accolades: Five-time Pro Bowler

In his heyday, Smith was a trailblazing force. Even while mired in mediocre Cardinals teams, the veteran tight end managed to consistently victimize defenses with superb route savvy and some of the better hands in league history. That's what made the ending to his career so heartbreaking. As called by the legendary Verne Lundquist, an older Smith dropped a wide-open touchdown for the Cowboys in Super Bowl 13 that would've likely sent the game down to the wire. After such a productive and illustrious career, Smith really might have been the "sickest man in America" at that moment.

8. Mike Ditka

Teams: Chicago Bears (1961-1966), Philadelphia Eagles (1967-1968), Dallas Cowboys (1969-1972)

Accolades: Super Bowl 6 champion, NFL champion (1963), Offensive Rookie of the Year (1961), 5-time Pro Bowler, 2-time First-Team All-Pro

"Iron Mike" Ditka was a tight-end pioneer in every sense of the phrase. The Pennsylvania native brought a working-class bruising mentality to every block and every catch, never going on first contact and always ensuring his defender was buried in the ground. He was the first tight end ever to catch at least 1,000 yards in a season, the first tight end to ever catch double-digit touchdowns in a season, and the first tight end in the Hall of Fame. Ditka was so special at the position that he arguably was also the first person to really make playing tight end a wholeheartedly popular endeavor.

7. Shannon Sharpe

Teams: Denver Broncos (1990-1999, 2002-2003), Baltimore Ravens (2000-2001)

Accolades: 3-time Super Bowl champion, 8-time Pro Bowler, 4-time First-Team All-Pro

At his best, Sharpe represented an evolution of the tight-end position. He was an H-back, someone almost never tasked with blocking in-line, a player who almost exclusively ran routes as a larger receiver instead. That is a standard of the modern game ushered in by Sharpe's excellence. Throughout his career, Sharpe shined in this role, acting as the trusted, explosive security blanket for John Elway and Trent Dilfer on three separate Super Bowl championship teams. At the time of his retirement, Sharpe owned every major tight end receiving record. Because of course he did.

6. John Mackey

Teams: Indianapolis Colts (1963-1971), Los Angeles Chargers (1972)

Accolades: Super Bowl 5 champion, NFL champion (1968), 5-time Pro Bowler, 3-time First-Team All-Pro

The best endorsement of Mackey's playing career is that the John Mackey Award -- named after college football's best tight end every year -- is named after him. Perhaps even better, Mackey was Johnny Unitas' best friend on the field, a dynamic offensive weapon no one in his era had an answer for. Oh, and the Colts legend's durability was astonishing, as he missed a single game due to injury in a decade of play. We are not worthy.

5. Ozzie Newsome

Teams: Cleveland Browns (1978-1990)

Accolades: 3-time Pro Bowler, 2-time First-Team All-Pro

It says something about Newsome that after a Hall of Fame playing career with the Browns, he went on to a Hall of Fame-caliber executive career, guiding the Baltimore Ravens to two Super Bowl championships. But we're here for the magical "Wizard of Oz," the dazzling Browns tight end who was one of the faces of the position during the 1980s. He's one of the greatest Browns ever and rightfully remains a beloved Cleveland figure, even if he fortified a rival after his playing days.

4. Antonio Gates

Teams: Los Angeles Chargers (2003-2018)

Accolades: 8-time Pro Bowler, 4-time First-Team All-Pro

In many ways, Gates might be the most famous Charger ever. Renowned for his route running and exemplary abilities after the catch, the prolific tight end carved out a 16-year career where he was multiple quarterbacks' best friend in the middle of the field. Another former college basketball player, Gates would routinely "box out" helpless linebackers and safeties as one of the finer vertical threats of the 2000s era. Even in his late 30s, Gates was a dangerous red-zone safety valve who still shined with veteran savvy despite diminished athleticism.

To this day, Gates leads all tight ends in all-time receiving touchdowns and is also in the top 3 in all-time receptions and yards. That somehow feels like an understatement for one of the most dominant tight ends ever.

3. Tony Gonzalez

Teams: Kansas City Chiefs (1997-2008), Atlanta Falcons (2009-2013)

Accolades: 14-time Pro Bowler, 6-time First-Team All-Pro, receptions leader (2004)

From top to bottom, Gonzalez might have been the most consistently excellent tight end ever. He was a Pro Bowler in 14 of 17 seasons. He caught at least 900 yards in 10 of them and had at least 70 receptions in 14 campaigns. Gonzalez also had not but two terrific acts with the Chiefs and Falcons while never missing a single start due to injury. If the Hall of Famer enjoyed better quarterback play at the beginning of his career -- Matt Ryan started throwing to him during its late stages -- he would own every tight end record by miles.

As it stands, Gonzalez is over 2,000 yards and nearly 100 receptions clear of the next-best tight end in all-time receiving yards and catches. He was a unicorn.

2. Travis Kelce

Teams: Kansas City Chiefs (2013-Present)

Accolades: 3-time Super Bowl champion, 9-time Pro Bowler, 4-time First-Team All-Pro

The story of the already legendary Patrick Mahomes is thoroughly incomplete without his best pal, Kelce. Kelce is but one-half of perhaps the finest quarterback-receiver duo in league history, and he more than pulls his weight in that relationship. He recorded seven consecutive seasons with at least 1,000 yards from 2016 to 2022 -- an NFL record -- and he's the all-time leader in playoff receptions, surpassing ... Jerry Rice. Ho-hum.

Kelce's greatest ability is making himself available to his quarterback. No one in league history has ever quite found a way to sit down in the perfect spot in an open zone or put themselves in the ideal position when their passer is scrambling quite like Kelce. And if he gets the ball in his hands? Hoo boy, Kelce is a demon after the catch.

For now, Kelce remains No. 2 on this list. But the veteran is still writing his story and may well finish on top by the time he hangs up his shoulder pads in the future.

1. Rob Gronkowski

Teams: New England Patriots (2010-2018), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2020-2021)

Accolades: 4-time Super Bowl champion, 5-time Pro Bowler, 4-time First-Team All-Pro, receiving touchdowns leader (2011)

At his peak, no one was better than Gronkowski. His final form is among the best ever at any position, let alone just tight end. From 2010 to 2015, Gronkowski caught 65 touchdowns and amassed roughly 5,000 receiving yards. He was a machine, an unmitigated 6-foot-6, 265-pound wrecking ball that defenses knew would get a target, but they still couldn't do anything to stop him. It also helped that he was Tom Brady's partner in crime, a quarterback who understood defenders had no real answer for Gronkowski at any point in his career. If not for some unfortunate injuries, we might be talking about Gronkowski as one of the best football players ever. Period.

That's how utterly exceptional (and intimidating) he was.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: The 10 greatest NFL tight ends of all time, ranked