NFL Rankings: 10 best tight ends in the league

3) Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys

Many pundits continue to sleep on Jason Witten, but for more than a decade, the Cowboys tight end has been an elite player, and there hasn’t been much in the way of slippage.

At 6-foot-6 and 260 pounds, Witten is one of the best blockers on this list, and he excels in getting down the field to extend long runs with flawless execution. At this point in his career (Witten is 32 years old), he isn’t the athlete that many of the top players are, but Witten more than makes up for that small loss with a gain in technique.

Jason Witten is an absolutely elite route-runner, and that is evidenced by the fact that he is always open as the “fall back” plan for Tony Romo. Witten tied with Greg Olsen for fifth in the NFL among tight ends in catches with 73, and that came with a banged-up quarterback in a system that highlights various other options in a significant way. He’ll never be a fantasy superstar to the level of even Julius Thomas or Vernon Davis, but Witten is a monster.