Tennessee football’s top five NFL TEs of all time
839. Pick Analysis. Years in NFL: 5. player. Scouting Report. 2010-2012. Mychal Rivera. 5
Teams played for:
- Oakland Raiders, 2013-2016
- Jacksonville Jaguars, 2017
The fifth person on this list was down to three people. We considered Ed Cifers, who played for Tennessee football during the Golden Age from 1938-1940 and became a Pro Bowl end. However, in his five years, 1942 was his only standout year. Austin Denney played for Doug Dickey in the T-formation in 1964 and 1965. But in five years, he only had 764 receiving yards.
As a result, we came down to another guy who spent five years in the pros, Mychal Rivera. Although blocking tight ends matter, Rivera’s play as a 6’3″ 242-pound receiving tight end should count for something. He played for the Vols during the Derek Dooley years, from 2010 to 2012, and he had 564 yards and five touchdowns as part of that historically great 2012 offense.
Rivera was then taken by the Oakland Raiders in the sixth round of the NFL Draft, and he actually had a surprisingly successful run there. In his first season, he had over 400 yards, and in his second season, he had over 500 yards. Over a four-year period there, Rivera had 146 catches for 1,413 yards and 10 touchdowns, showing high productivity.
After that, Rivera signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but he didn’t last the full season. Still, that four-year run was enough to put him on this list, as he made a huge impact in the system, and he helped Oakland make its only NFL Playoffs appearance since 2002. That level of production has to put him on here.