The remarkable emergence of Eagles tight end Grant Calcaterra originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The first four weeks of the season, Dallas Goedert led all NFL tight ends with five catches of at least 20 yards, and his 12.4 yards per catch was 2nd-highest among all tight ends with at least 10 catches.
Then he gets hurt, Grant Calcaterra replaces him, and over the last three weeks he’s picked up right where Goedert left off.
Calcaterra has four catches of 19 yards the last three weeks – only George Kittle has more – and he’s averaging 15.5 yards per catch during Goedert’s absence – highest in the NFL among tight ends with at least 10 catches.
In all, Calcaterra has 12 receptions this year – including catches of 15, 19, 20, 26, 28 and 34 yards.
This is a guy who a month ago was averaging 4 1/2 yards per game.
“A lot of those plays they’re because A.J. and Smitty and Jahan are taking the top off and it’s leaving me open underneath with a lot of space to run,” Calcaterra said after practice Wednesday.
“Some of it is because our play-action game is so good and I get open that way. But it’s great to have some explosive plays.”
Goedert, Calcaterra and Jack Stoll have a combined 36 catches for 497 yards. That puts the Eagles on pace to get 87 catches and 1,207 yards from their tight ends.
Only the Ravens, Chiefs, Raiders and 49ers have gotten more production this year out of the tight end position.
“Grant has got a great feel for space,” Kellen Moore said. “He’s got a great understanding of the passing game. Hats off to him, hopping in here since Dallas went down.
“For him to take the workload, the volume that he’s taken in the run game, he’s done a tremendous job, and then still being viable in the pass game. He seems to make big plays in critical moments, and he’s very reliable, and we feel very fortunate to have these tight ends that we do.”
Through the Saints game in Week 3, Calcaterra had played in 33 games in three seasons with 12 catches for 150 yards. The last four games, he’s got nine catches for 156 yards.
Goedert, who had 24-for-301 the first four games of the season, has been out since suffering a hamstring injury in the early minutes of the Browns game. The Eagles are one of only five teams with two tight ends that have at least 180 yards. The others are the Ravens (Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely) and Chiefs (Travis Kelce, Noah Gray).
“Grant has a great feel of how to run routes and how to get open at the top of the route,” Nick Sirianni said. “I think he’s really got good quickness to get in and out of breaks and create separation. Then I think he has really good hands to finish the catch. I think he’s sneaky.
“He’s been around Dallas so long and sees how Dallas finishes with the ball in his hands. I think what we’ve seen from Grant is that ability, too, to get the ball in his hands and finish the run.”
Calcaterra is a remarkable story.
He suffered so many concussions at Oklahoma he actually retired from football and returned home to Southern California to move on with his life.
But he eventually got cleared to return and spent the 2021 season at SMU, playing well enough to get drafted in the sixth round in 2022.
“He’s a special player and I think we don’t talk about enough the things that he’s had to overcome,” Jalen Hurts said Wednesday. “I was at practice when I saw a terrible concussion and it was over for him.
“For him to be able to come back and play the game, I always pray for his health and hope for the best in terms of safety on the field. But this was a game that he was ready to walk away from and he came back and I’m fortunate to be able to have him here.”
Jack Stoll is still the blocking specialist when the Eagles are in 12 personnel, but Calcaterra has played well enough to have a role on offense when Goedert returns.
“My confidence has always been there in Grant,” Hurts said. “He’s always been that guy, we’ve always had a rapport, We’ve put a lot of work in over the years.
“Just all those things add up. The chemistry and having a feel for how he moves, how we connect. All those things add up over time. I think he’s just going to continue to show up.”
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