Can Mark Andrews Return to Form in 2026?

Mark Andrews wrapped up the 2025 season with 48 catches for 422 yards and five touchdowns while appearing in all 17 of the Ravens’ games. For any other tight end on any other roster, you might nod your head and say, “Not bad.” But this is Mark Andrews we’re talking about. And 48-422-5 isn’t Mark Andrews. That’s a disappointing facsimile of him.

He finished with career-low marks for yards per catch at 8.8 and yards per target at 6.0. In 8 games he had 2 catches or less. The guy who once torched defenses like a flamethrower through a rice paper wall is suddenly leaving chunks of the stat sheet on the floor. That’s a problem.

Now let’s put some context around it, because context matters in the NFL.

The Peer Group: Where Does Andrews Fit?

When you talk about elite tight ends in the modern era — the ones with similar pedigree and accomplishment to Andrews — the conversation runs through a short, exclusive list: Travis Kelce, George Kittle, Dallas Goedert, and to a lesser extent, Darren Waller. These are the guys Andrews belongs in the same sentence with, and here’s why that comparison is both flattering and a little sobering.

Andrews was tremendous in 2021 with 107 catches for 1,361 yards and nine touchdowns, but he’s been unable to replicate that success. In the three campaigns besides his rookie year and his stellar 2021, Andrews averaged 65 catches for 800 yards and 7.3 TDs. That’s the floor of the Andrews experience — and it’s a good floor. But his ceiling has been tantalizingly out of reach since that magical 2021 campaign.

Compare that to Kittle, who heading into 2025 remained the gold standard at the position. Kittle led the NFL with a 90.7 Pro Football Focus (“PFF”) grade in 2025, the fourth grade over 90.0 of his career. That’s a guy in his 30s still operating at a generational level. Kelce, on the other hand, offered a cautionary tale at 36. Kelce caught 76 passes for 851 yards and five touchdowns in 2025, placing sixth in receptions and yards among tight ends. Respectable? Sure. Elite? The days of that are behind him.

Goedert, meanwhile, remains a player whose talent has always outpaced his production, hamstrung by an Eagles offense that funnels targets to its wide receivers like water finding the lowest path. The Eagles’ offense doesn’t gravitate towards the tight end the same way, and Goedert has managed just 12 touchdowns over the last four seasons. Andrews, by contrast, has always had a quarterback who looked for him as a first option, not an afterthought.

The truth be told, Andrews has been a notch below Kittle in his prime and a solid step above Goedert. But 2025 raised questions about which direction that gap is closing.

The Age Curve: When Do Tight Ends Fall Off the Cliff?

This is the part Ravens fans need to understand before they either panic or drink the bounce-back Kool-Aid in excess.

The data is fairly clear on tight end aging. Age 31 to 32 signals the decline for most tight ends, as we see the average PPR (per game production) drop off significantly. The tight end position seems to have the longest peak among all skill position players, with running backs and wide receivers declining after age 28 and 29, respectively.

There’s a gradual decline after age 30, but the cliff comes after the age-32 season. 86.9% of peak seasons occur before age 33, and only 6.6% of qualifying seasons happen at age 34 or older, per Apexfantasyleagues

Andrews turns 31 in September. He’s right at the precipice. Not over it. Not done. But standing on the edge looking down.

There’s a clear drop-off after the age-30 season — just 5 of 94 tight ends who were 31 or older finished as top-three tight ends. That’s a brutal number, and it demands honest accounting. The exceptions are the true all-timers: Gronkowski, Kelce, Gonzalez. Men carved from different stone. Is Andrews in that tier? He’s not Kelce. He might not be Gronk. But he’s genuinely special — and special players find ways.

Players in this sample didn’t begin to show any signs of regression until age 31, but even then were producing at a level close to their peak production. That’s the hopeful data point. The door isn’t slammed shut. It’s just narrowing.

The 2026 Outlook: Reasons for Optimism — and Honest Doubt

Here’s where it gets interesting, and where the Ravens’ front office deserves credit for at least trying to set Andrews up for success.

New offensive coordinator Declan Doyle prefers to use a tight end in an H-Back role over the traditional fullback. That’s a scheme tailor-made for a player of Andrews’ skillset — a move tight end who can line up all over the formation, stress linebackers in coverage, and create mismatches against safeties.

The Ravens saw fellow tight end Isaiah Likely leave in free agency to sign with the Giants. That leaves 36 targets from 2025 up for grabs, and the Ravens didn’t bring in much competition to immediately take over Likely’s role. Durham Smythe is a blocking specialist with minimal pass-catching history. The target volume that went elsewhere last season is sitting right there on the table for Andrews to reclaim.

The Ravens did draft TE Matthew Hibner out of SMU in the 4th round of the 2026 NFL Draft and then they doubled down at tight end with their 5th round choice of Jose Cuevas from USC. The last time the Ravens doubled down at the position during the middle rounds of a draft like they did this year, was back in 2011 when they choose Ed Dickson in the 3rd round and Dennis Pitta in the 4th. During their rookie seasons, Dickson had 11 catches for 152 yards and 1 TD while Pitta had 1 catch and 1 yard more than me. The point being, despite the rookie selections, there’s still some ball distribution that can go Andrews’ way.

New offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said he’s “been really impressed” by what he’s seen from Andrews this offseason, and that “If he’s not our hardest worker on offense, he’s one of the hardest workers on offense.” That may be a revelation to Doyle, but Andrews has always been a grinder. He embraces it and consequently, he earns the trust of any coaching staff.

The Ravens had the NFL’s No. 1 offense in 2024, but in 2025 they dropped to 16th in total offense and missed the playoffs. With a talented attack led by Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, Zay Flowers, and Mark Andrews, the Ravens believe they can have an elite offense again.

That’s the hope. Now here’s the cold water.

When the Ravens step on the field in Indianapolis on September 13, Andrews will have turned 31 one week before. He’s coming off back-to-back seasons with less than 4.5 targets and 40 yards per game. You can chalk up 2023 to the ankle injury that wiped out most of his season. But 2025 was a full 17-game slate, and the results were still thin. That’s two years of declining efficiency, not one. Is that a sign of things to come the Doyle-led offense breathe new life into Andrews’ career?

The Statistical Projection

Reasonable expectations for Andrews in 2026 look something like this: 55–65 receptions, 580–650 receiving yards, 6–8 touchdowns. A meaningful bounce-back from 2025’s 48-422-5 line — driven by the influx of vacated targets, a tight-end-friendly scheme under Doyle, and a Lamar Jackson who still trusts his veteran security blanket above almost everyone else.

Is a return to 2021 form (107-1,361-9) coming? No. That ship has sailed, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling something. But Andrews at his 2019–2022 average floor — productive, efficient, dangerous in the red zone — is absolutely achievable if the body holds up and Doyle deploys him creatively.

The three-year extension the Ravens signed him to says everything about how the organization views him. Andrews agreed to a three-year, $39.3 million contract extension that includes $26 million guaranteed. You don’t hand out that kind of guaranteed money to a player you’ve mentally written off. You do it when you believe there are good miles left on the odometer. And the way the extension is written, the Ravens need two more good years from Mark.

The Bottom Line

Mark Andrews is at the crossroads every great tight end eventually faces — that fork in the road between “still elite” and “fading gracefully.” The smart money says 2026 will be a legitimate step forward from 2025. A new offensive coordinator who spent time coaching tight ends in Denver and Chicago, a depleted TE room, and a healthy Andrews with something to prove are all ingredients for a resurgent season.

But the history books are unambiguous: the window is closing. Not slammed shut — but closing. By 32 or 33, if production hasn’t rebounded, the conversation changes tone entirely. For now, though, at 1101 Russell Street, the optimism is justified. Mark Andrews isn’t finished. Not yet.

He’s just got something to prove.

My money says that No. 89 will do exactly that!

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Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2026/06/19/lombardis-way/mark-andrews-2026/