The problem is that TE can mean a LOT of different things, as TE is a sort of hybrid position that is a lineman required to block, but also an eligible receiver to catch passes.
A lot of the great receiver TEs are just bigger/slower WRs, and are rarely asked to block, and often aren't all that effective at it. They put up gaudy stats because they're too fast for a linebacker to cover and too big/strong for a safety to cover. I recall Dustin Keller at Purdue in roughly the 2005-2008 (don't recall exactly, but he overlapped heavily with Curtis Painter who was the QB for those years) being this type.
Whereas a lot of blocking TEs are excellent at blocking, and are kind of uber-athletic tackles. Those TEs are often only used as safety valve pass-catchers in an offense when the QB gets pressured. So you don't see a lot of them on the stat sheet, but they're on the field because they're still useful to the offense.
To me, the ideal would be a TE that actually fills both roles. I can't necessarily think of someone at the collegiate level that sticks out to me in this sense, but at the pro level you're looking at a George Kittle type. Truly loves and excels at flatting a defender in the blocking scheme, but also a massive weapon in the passing game. Edit: And the advantage of these guys is that they stay on the field and aren't a "tell" for the offense whether you're running or passing.
