Zach Ertz continues to dominate targets for the Commanders and remains wildly underrated in Fantasy drafts

FOXBOROUGH, Ma. -- Zach Ertz isn't going away.

The Commanders tight end is entering his 13th NFL season, but it's only his second as a trusted target for Jayden Daniels in Washington. And just as he was for much of Daniels' rookie season, Ertz was targeted early and often in the team's joint practice at the New England Patriots on Wednesday.

One of those targets came just as Daniels was getting pressured by the Patriots pass rush, throwing at the last possible second to Ertz, who had won his route against a defender on a short dig route. Pitch and catch.

Another throw came late in practice when Ertz, from the slot, had perfect timing with Daniels on an out route on a play that would have been good for a first down.

Ertz got more looks from Daniels than new Washington receiver Deebo Samuel. And obviously more than stud wideout Terry McLaurin who is both away from the team over a contract dispute and on the Commanders' Physically Unable to Perform list.

"I like our tight ends versus linebackers and safeties, especially Ertz," Daniels told SiriusXM NFL Radio in the days before the joint practice. "Ertz is a wily veteran, he loves that type of thing, you get one-on-ones outside."

The expectation is that McLaurin will eventually rejoin the Commanders and get his role back as Daniels' go-to receiver. But that doesn't mean Ertz will wilt away. His re-emergence isn't a one-year deal. He's locked into the No. 1 tight end role, and the added bonus of left tackle Laremy Tunsil joining the team and allowing playcaller Kliff Kingsbury to ask Ertz to chip-block less and just run a route with a free release should mean modest improvement in the 34-year-old's efficiency. That's on top of him being a quality red-zone weapon.

What kind of improvement? Well, last year Ertz was sort of an afterthought to begin the year, not seeing 5.0 targets per game, not seeing red-zone targets, he was really not as big of a part of the offense until October. Once Kingsbury implemented him more and Daniels learned to trust him, Ertz averaged 5.6 targets per game and 12.0 PPR points per game in his final 11. Touchdowns boosted his numbers -- all seven of his scores came in that span, including one from Marcus Mariota against the Panthers after Daniels left the matchup early with an injury.

To his credit, Ertz isn't standing on past successes. You'll spot him doing something on the sidelines when he's not on the field. He says he likes to push himself to the point of overworking -- he's had coaches tell him he's done too much. He doesn't care.

"You see me doing all the release work each and every day if you watch during special teams," Ertz said in late July. "That's how I start every practice, is to work on my stance, my starts, work on my press releases because I feel like once I'm into my routes, no one can really cover me. It's just if they get a hand on me early, that messes up the timing. So, for me it's always about just trying to find little ways to get better."

And to the Commanders' credit, they're not relaxing either. Ertz, Daniels and Kingsbury have all spoken at different points this summer not only about changing up the offense to make it less predictable, but also communicate with each other, at all hours of the day, on how they want to fine-tune their routes, their throws, their play designs, and so on.

"[O]bviously going into last year everyone was learning the system, so it was very vanilla," Ertz explained. "Now you really want to take the next step in terms of improving the details. We're not starting on first base per se, we're starting maybe on second base in terms of the details and guys knowing the plays. So, really it's just fine tuning things, but also you can't be the same. We can't just roll out with the playbook Week 1 and expect things to happen. There's gotta be new plays, there's gotta be a little evolution in the playbook."

Maybe the expectation before training camp was that Samuel's arrival would mean the end of Ertz having a role, but Daniels seemingly can't quit throwing to, or talking about, Ertz. There have been times this summer where he brings him up unprompted when making a point about how he goes through his reads, or who he confers with late at night about being on the same page.

Like it or not, Ertz is going to be a component of the Commanders offense. Not like Brock Bowers or Sam LaPorta are with theirs, but he's probably not too far from where guys like Jake Ferguson or Dallas Goedert are with their offenses. And in Ertz's case, at least he has a shot to be second on the team in targets -- especially if the unfathomable holdout McLaurin's had continues into the year.

You can draft him with a late pick. I mean, late late. Could even be your last pick. And if he's anywhere near 12 PPR points per game, he'll be more than worth it.