TEMPE, Ariz. -- Three plays into Sunday's matinee against the San Francisco 49ers, before the foam on beers around State Farm Stadium had a chance to settle, Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride continued his tear of a season.
It started with an 11-yard catch along the Cardinals' sideline, followed by a 38-yard catch, after which the second-year tight end rolled his shoulders forward in a flex and pointed downfield. It was intended to signify the first down he'd gained, but McBride might as well have been pointing to his future.
And it looks promising with how McBride has played the past seven weeks, a stretch that has established the 24-year-old as one of the best tight ends in the NFL.
Since Week 9, McBride has led all tight ends in receptions, receiving yards and receiving yards per game.
"I feel like I'm in the zone," McBride said after his 102-yard outing in Sunday's loss to the Niners. "I feel like I can play well, I match up well."
McBride's performance since taking over for Zach Ertz as the starter in Week 8 after Ertz went down with a quad injury has put his statistical performance in the conversation with players such as Kansas City's Travis Kelce, Minnesota's T.J. Hockenson and San Francisco's George Kittle. In those seven games, McBride has four games of 89 yards or more and two 100-yard games, including 131 yards against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 10, which just so happened to be when quarterback Kyler Murray returned from his ACL injury.
For the season, McBride is sixth in receiving yards (712) among tight ends. He also set the Cardinals' single-season record for receptions by a tight end Sunday (he's now at 66), eclipsing the old mark of 56 set by Jackie Smith in 1967 and tied by Ertz in 2021.
"I feel like this is what I was drafted to do," said McBride, who in each of the past two years sat behind Ertz entering Week 1 but replaced him right around midseason because of Ertz's injuries.
"This is what they picked me to do. I feel like this is just how I play football. This is the way I go and just to finally get an opportunity to show these coaches this is really what I can do, it's been awesome."
McBride's breakout season hasn't gone unnoticed.
"He's got confidence in his ability and when you have confidence that helps out a lot," Kittle said. "But, what he does a good job of, he separates, he has a great forward lean, he runs a little bit, he's got great burst, and he's confident with his hands. He's doing all the right things. You just keep watching week after week, he's just getting more comfortable while playing there.
"Kyler is getting really used to him, and a quarterback's favorite player is a tight end who is consistent. So, I think he's doing a great job with that and taking advantage of that. Also, you look and he's doing a great job getting some extra YAC. He's stiff-arming. He's breaking tackles, he's not running out of bounds. He's doing all the right things and he's playing tight end the right way. So it's just kind of fun to see that."
McBride watched future Hall of Fame tight end Rob Gronkowski growing up and when he got to Colorado State, McBride focused in more on Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews.
Now McBride is on the verge of being mentioned among them.
Both coach Jonathan Gannon and Murray think McBride has what it takes to climb into that category, but each had different reasons for why he's not there yet.
"It depends on how you look at it," Murray said. "Production or ability -- a lot goes into it. But I think he can definitely be in there, for sure. No question."
For Gannon, most of the great tight ends of this era play on teams with good quarterbacks, good offensive lines, good running backs and good wide receivers. And the tight ends on those types of teams make the plays when their opportunities arise.
"We've all got to do our job," Gannon said. "It's not just Trey. We've got to all do our job around Trey. Our guys know, 'Do your job so your buddy can have success doing his.' That goes into that, but he definitely has the skillset.
"That's why I say the sky's the limit for him. He has that skillset."
To McBride, a top-tier tight end is someone who can't be taken off the field and is an "asset" in all facets of the offense -- the run game, the pass game, on third down -- and can put up numbers and catch the ball.
And McBride feels like he can do that as well as any tight end. He thinks it's "cool" and "special" to be on the verge of that upper echelon of tight ends.
"I don't think I'm far off," McBride said. "Obviously there's not a lot of time and film and data to kind of put me in that, but I feel like I could be up there with those guys.
"I feel like I'm a problem for defenses. I feel like I catch the ball as good as anybody. I feel like I can win one-on-ones. ... I don't think I'm there yet by any means, but I think if I keep doing the right things, keep preparing like I am, I think that's possible."
San Francisco 49ers reporter Nick Wagoner contributed to this story.