Dallas Goedert caught a touchdown pass Thursday night in his first NFL game.
Get used to it.
Goedert is just one preseason game into his extremely young career, but the early returns are good. Really good.
The rookie second-round tight end from South Dakota State started against the Steelers. He caught four passes for 66 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown. He did it all in the first half.
“I thought I did pretty well,” Goedert said, playing it off.
Goedert’s touchdown came on an off-script play in the second quarter. Nate Sudfeld was able to buy some extra time and Goedert, after running his route, settled into some open space, came back to the ball, caught it and got tackled into the end zone.
“Anytime I have the chance to get the ball, I like to,” Goedert said. “Definitely in cases like that when the defense breaks down, it’s hard to cover guys for so long. It’s an opportunity where you can make a big play.”
It wasn’t a perfect debut for Goedert. He had a wide-open drop and missed a blocking assignment. But that’s sort of splitting hairs. No one expected him to be perfect in his first NFL game. What’s more important is that he showed signs of being a dynamic weapon at this level.
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We’ve seen those signs all training camp.
The red zone seems to be an area where Goedert will thrive this year. He’s a big target, with good hands and great body control. He has everything he needs to be dynamic around the goal line, including plenty of other good offensive weapons around him to draw away focus from him.
“He's going to be a great addition to our offense and offensive package,” head coach Doug Pederson said. “Excited for his future and what he can provide offensively.”
Pederson said he made it a point to feature Goedert some in the early going of Thursday's game. He wanted the young tight end to get in a rhythm with Sudfeld. It certainly worked.
This season, it’s hard to figure out what Goedert’s stat line might look like. After all, he’ll be sharing a field with some extremely talented players like Zach Ertz, Alshon Jeffery, Mike Wallace, Nelson Agholor, Jay Ajayi, Darren Sproles, Corey Clement, you get the idea.
But it’s fair to think Goedert can definitely help the Eagles this year. He already showed signs of that Thursday, when he caught his first NFL touchdown pass.
“It was really cool,” Goedert said. “The whole team was there really quick. The guy tackled me into the end zone and just celebrating with my teammates. Nate was pretty happy. And just celebrating with all the O-linemen, the receivers, Ertz and Rodgers and the other tight ends came and supported me. So that was kind of fun.”
He should get used to it too.