Three Tight Ends, One Tight End Slot

Jonathan Taylor first, Trevor Lawrence second, Rashee Rice third. Solid. Emeka Egbuka, Rome Odunze and Courtland Sutton give the receiver room three legitimate contributors, and Josh Jacobs is a genuine workhorse in the backfield. This roster has real weeks in it.

And then there are the tight ends. Brock Bowers in the fourth is defensible, because he is the best at the position. Sam LaPorta in the ninth is a fine player. Mark Andrews in the eleventh is a fine player. There is one tight end slot. Andrews is also on the wrong side of thirty at a position that ages badly and coming off a season where he split work with a younger teammate. That is the roster maximum of three tight ends, two of whom sit every Sunday, on a bench that holds five. Two bench spots gone to a position that pays out once a week.

The defenses compound it. Texans in the twelfth, Browns in the thirteenth, both occupying space on the same bench. That is four of five bench slots committed to players who cannot all play. Deshaun Watson closes the draft as the third quarterback, a passer who hasn't looked like himself since the trade and whose last two seasons ended with a torn Achilles. The starting lineup here is competitive. The bench is a museum of players who are excellent at jobs this team already filled.