Trey McBride was the most dominant tight end in college football in his final season at Colorado State. Now he’s the most dominant tight end in the NFL and has the certification to prove it.
After a historic year in which he broke the NFL single-season record for receptions by a tight end (126), as well as the Arizona Cardinals franchise record for receptions by any player, McBride was named a first-team All-Pro selection on Saturday. The former CSU superstar received 49 of 50 possible first-place votes.
Coming out of Fort Collins, despite winning the 2021 Mackey Award, skeptics wondered if McBride was big enough to make the type of impact at the next level that he made for a school in the Mountain West. They saw his 90 receptions for 1,121 yards, but clearly didn’t pay close enough attention. Because if those folks who didn’t believe in No. 85 back then were really watching, they would have noticed his relentless motor. They would have seen the way he competes every snap and the passion that he plays with. And aside from some of the sappier stuff, they would also have picked up on how it didn’t matter who McBride lined up against in his college career, the kid from Fort Morgan gave them fits.
McBride is the rare kind of player who can not only make the highlight catches, the types of plays that show off his unique athleticism and coordination, but can also just line up and run straight through someone. He has the grace of a ballerina and the psychotic competitiveness of a UFC fighter. Combined with silky smooth hands, and an ability to get open, that’s a pretty unique skillset and an extremely valuable asset. How in the hell did he fall out of the first round?
Even with a tumultuous quarterback situation and an organization that isn’t exactly known for stability — hence the fact that McBride will be playing for his third head coach in five years — it’s really been impressive to see how quickly he has established himself as ‘that guy’ in the league. McBride has now had three straight seasons with 80+ receptions, including 100+ in each of the last two years. He has 347 receptions for 3,475 yards and 17 touchdown receptions over his first four NFL seasons.
For comparison, George Kittle, who is widely regarded as one of the best at the position over the last decade, has never had a season with 90 catches. If anything, it feels like McBride is on a Kelce-level trajectory, where the numbers on a year-to-year basis would put most wide receivers to shame. Now just imagine if McBride got to spend a decade with a QB even remotely on par with Patrick Mahomes, or a coach that could scheme as well as Andy Reid. At this point I’d even settle to see him play with someone as good as an aging Alex Smith was in the early stages of Kelce’s career.
McBride’s success is no surprise at all to those of us that were fortunate enough to have a close-up view of his college career. But it’s been really something to see how high he’s flying in the NFL. I think we can say confidently that this ascension could not have happened to a better guy.
Congratulations, Trey. Ram Nation is damn proud of you.
