Dallas Goedert sets high bar, but history isn't on his side

Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Eagles' Dallas Goedert sets high bar for 2023, but history isn't on his side

By Bruce Ewing | Last updated 8/5/23

Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert wants to stay healthy, win the Super Bowl and finish 2023 with 1,000 receiving yards. All three are certainly possible, but history says the last part won't be easy.

While appearing on 94.1 WIP Sports Radio, Goedert laid out his plans for the 2023 season:

"I want to get 1,000 yards this year. It's been a goal of mine for a long time.. Hopefully I can stay healthy, play the whole year and break that. Hopefully I have 100 catches, and this year me, Smitty, and A.J. can all surpass 1,000.”

DeVonta (Smitty) Smith and (A.J.) Brown each had more than 1,000 yards receiving in 2022 and should have no problem hitting that number again in 2023. But the Philadelphia Eagles haven’t had a tight end reach 1,000 yards since Zach Ertz did it in 2018.

Dallas Goedert wants 1,000 yards and 100 catches in 2023, and hopes him, DeVonta and A.J. can all go over 1,000 yards. pic.twitter.com/RNH9Fkpum0
— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) August 4, 2023

That year, Ertz had 1,163 yards to become the second tight end in franchise history with 1,000 yards or more in a single season. Pete Retzlaff did it first with 1,190 yards in 1965. Apparently, getting that many yards from the tight end position isn’t easy. Not even Keith Jackson could do it as a first-team All-Pro from 1988-1990 .

Goedert has yet to make a Pro Bowl in five years with the team, but he’s widely regarded as one of the best tight ends in football. Since 2019, he has the fifth-most yards of any tight end despite missing 13 games with injury.

If the 28-year-old can stay healthy this year, Ertz and Retzlaff might have company. But Goedert, Brown and Smith all having 1,000 yard seasons this year? That could be a problem.

According to WIP’s Tucker Bagley, only five teams in NFL history have had three 1000-yard receivers in the same season. The last to do it was the 2008 Cardinals with Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston.

For what it’s worth, Brown, Goedert and Smith are said to be having outstanding camps so far. After watching the first week of practice, Shamus Clancy of the Philly Voice says Smith has been unstoppable on out routes and Goedert is playing like a top-two tight end.

So who knows, maybe this is the year Goedert gets 1,000 yards, makes the Pro Bowl and shares the glory with Brown and Smith. If so, all three could be playing in Las Vegas next February.

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