Chargers 90-in-90: TE Gerald Everett

Gerald Everett hails from Lithonia, Georgia where he played for Columbia High School. He was a three-year letter winner for the basketball and track & field teams during his freshman, sophomore, and junior years, but decided to focus solely on football as a senior. After earning all-conference honors, Everett committed to Bethune-Cookman but ultimately started his college career at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas.

After two seasons at the JUCO level, Everett transferred to UAB where he spent a lone season with the Blazers. He recorded 17 receptions for 292 yards and a touchdown while starting one game. Following the 2014 season, the UAB football program was shut down indefinitely which prompted Everett to transfer to South Alabama for his final two years of eligibility.

In Everett’s first year with the Jaguars, he was a touchdown machine. As a receiver, he caught 41 passes for 575 yards and eight touchdowns. He also added four touchdowns on eight carries (that totaled seven yards!) and even threw for a touchdown on his one and only pass attempt of his career. Unsurprisingly, he was named a First-Team All-Sun Belt selection.

Everett followed that with an increase in receptions (49) and receiving yards (717) but managed just four touchdowns through the air. Still, he repeated as a First-Team All-Sun Belt pick. Following his college career, Everett accepted an invitation to the Reese’s Senior Bowl where he helped the South defeat the North team 16-15.

At the NFL combine, Everett posted a notable 4.62 in the 40 and a 6.99 three-cone drill. His jumps were also impressive at 37.5” in the vertical and 10’6” in the broad jump.

Everett ended up being drafted by the Rams with the 44th-overall pick in the second round. He was the fourth tight end selected that year and the first player to ever be drafted from South Alabama.

As a rookie, Everett started a pair of games, recording 16 catches for 244 yards and two touchdowns. From then on, Everett has increased his receptions and receiving-yard totals in each season he’s played at the pro level. In year two, he had a stat line of 33-320-3. Year three saw bumps to 37-408-2 and year four ended with a line of 41-417-1.

Everett would sign as a free agent with the Seattle Seahawks (his favorite NFL team) prior to the 2021 season after the Rams chose not to re-sign him to a new contract. In his lone year with Seattle, he finished with 48 receptions for 478 yards and a career-high four touchdowns in 12 starts.

After becoming a free agent once more, the Chargers came knocking after deciding veteran Jared Cook was not their tight end of the future. Everett immediately became a massive part of the Chargers’ offense, especially given several injuries to a handful of pass-catchers, including Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. He ended up posting new high marks with 55 catches and 555 yards, his first season eclipsing 50 receptions and 500 yards. He also tied his career high with another four scores.

Basic Info

Height: 6’3
Weight: 240
College: South Alabama
Experience: 6
Years with team: 1

Contract Status

“Gerald Everett signed a 2 year, $12,000,000 contract with the Los Angeles Chargers, including a $5,000,000 signing bonus, $8,000,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $6,000,000. In 2023, Everett will earn a base salary of $5,500,000, while carrying a cap hit of $8,250,000 and a dead cap value of $4,000,000.” - Spotrac.com

The Good

Everett is as good as it gets as a YAC threat in the NFL. It’s actually a rare occurrence for him not to fight for as many yards as possible when he’s thrown the rock. In 2022, Everett set a new career-high with 326 yards after the catch. His body control is elite and his balance as a ball-carrier is evident when he’s taking on would-be tacklers. The offense ran by the Chargers in 2022 seemed to limit many of the team’s pass-catchers, but Everett still found a way to have a career year. Under new OC Kellen Moore, there’s a chance Everett continues his positive trend of improving on the previous year’s numbers.

The Bad

In two of the past three seasons, Everett has finished with a dropped pass percentage over 10 percent. With the increase in targets came a new career high in drops, as well, with nine. Everett’s style of play is a physically-taxing one that tends to take him off the field more often than most other starting tight ends. This unfortunately leads to more snaps for backup tight ends and that’s not ideal for the Chargers who lack ideal depth for the position.

Odds of making the roster/What to expect in 2023?

Everett will be the Chargers’ starting tight end during the 2023 season. The Chargers chose not to draft a tight end this year and that likely shows the level of confidence the team has in Everett to be their guy in 2023 and beyond. During Kellen Moore’s tenure with the Cowboys, now-Texans tight end Dalton Schultz was an efficient playmaker and expectations are that Moore will be able to put Everett in the right spots to maximize his potential this season.