- Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
- Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions
———— - Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals
- Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens
- George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers
———— - Evan Engram, Jacksonville Jaguars
- Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons
- Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills
- Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys
- David Njoku, Cleveland Browns
———— - Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles
- Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders
- Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans
- Hunter Henry, New England Patriots
- Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers
- TJ Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings
- Cole Kmet, Chicago Bears
———— - Luke Musgrave, Green Bay Packers
- Tyler Conklin, New York Jets
- Ben Sinnot, Washington Commanders
- Noah Fant, Seattle Seahawks
- Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Chigoziem Okonkwo, Tennessee Titans
- Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints
I will start my fantasy columns with the same two statements. Know your league rules! Rankings change based on scoring so all my rankings will be half point PPR, 6 points all touchdowns, 10 yards receiving / rushing a point and 25 yards throwing a point. Fantasy Football is not real football! Sometimes opportunities outweigh talent.
I had to keep Tier 1 just two tight ends in Travis Kelce and Sam LaPorta. I’m going Kelce over LaPorta because of the talent level around these guys. There is no Amon-Ra St. Brown on the Chiefs, and Isiah Pacheco is a DAWG but the Lions have Gibbs and Montgomery! The Lions just have more mouths to feed. Kelce is another year older but there should be more space for him to operate this year with the addition of the burners Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy.
In games Kyler Murray started for the Arizona Cardinals, Trey McBride averaged 8.25 targets and 67.25 yards a game. The 1143 yard pace might be hard to sustain but he is a former 2nd round draft pick and heading in to the prime of his career. Mark Andrews was on pace for 104 targets last year, so the 153 target year in 2022 is starting to look like an outlier. He’s still a trustworthy target but he should be drafted a few rounds after Kelce and LaPorta, not the same round. Many rankings I saw have George Kittle around 6/8. I feel low on him at Tight End #5 because his career finishes from most recent till his rookie year have been 2, 2, 4, 19, 3, 2, 21. There’s just so many mouths to feed in that offense, especially if Aiyuk stays, so Kittle’s spike weeks are week-winning but he drops to 5 for me due to week to week consistency.
Who led Tight Ends in targets, and catches, and was the only tight end over 100 catches last season? Evan Engram! His two years on the Jaguars he’s finished at TE #6 due to low touchdowns and he’s a check down target. He will rack you up catches but the yards aren’t exactly there so he goes in tier 3. We heard over and over how generational Kyle Pitts was going to be. What we didn’t realize is he’d be in quarterback hell to start his career. I’m willing to give Pitts one more shot now that he has a quarterback in Kirk Cousins who can actually push the ball vertically. Dalton Kincaid came on pretty strong last season. In his last four games, two of which in the playoffs, he averaged 6.5 targets, 69 (nice) yards and had 1 touchdown. The Bills might be more run heavy and truly spread it in the pass game, but with the departure of Diggs, Kinkaid should be a prime target. Jake Ferguson had 7.33 targets a game for Dak and the Cowboys. I think he’s a nice consistent target, but worry his ceiling is tapped due to CeeDee Lamb and all the attention he commands. Look for Ferguson to get you a lot of 5 catches for 50 yard games, which as a back half tight end I’ll be more than content with. It’s hard to rank David Njoku. We finally saw him unleashed for their playoff run, but it took Joe Flacco to make that work. Is Deshaun Watson’s mentals and shoulder cooked? Can Watson provide for Amari Cooper, Jerry Jeudy, and Njoku? I’ll leave him in tier2 because of the player talent, but I’m not banking on those 93.2 yards he averaged last five games of the season.
Tight End feels 10 deep this year. There will obviously be players who emerge from my tier 4, 5, and unranked, but I simply have no argument for how I could trust them to be a week 1 starter. If there’s a player who you could talk me in to I will gladly listen. Dallas Goedert, Dalton Schultz, and Cole Kmet all have some very good talent, but look at the receiver rooms for these teams. They are weapons for their teams but they are just a little too down the pecking order competing with some top end talent. Sam LaPorta went OFF last season, but rookie tight ends rarely pop. Brock Bowers for now is competing with Davante Adams for targets, the Raiders already have Michael Mayer, and Bowers doesn’t have Jared Goff / Ben Johnson, instead Bowers will have Minshew throwing him the rock. It stinks TJ Hockenson tore his ACL. He will be back this season, but I’m not sure when and I’m not sure who will be throwing him the rock. Can journeyman Sam Darnold, provide for Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and a recovering Hockenson? Hunter Henry intrigues me because the lack of receiver weapons for the Patriots. Last time Henry was with a rookie QB was Mac Jones in 2021 and he had 9 touchdowns. If Maye wins the job, I can see the rookie relying on him.
Tier 5 is more than likely bye week fillers. But why not take a shot on rookie Ben Sinnot. The Commanders have Terry McLaurin but don’t have too much outside of that and Jayden Daniels will have to throw to someone. Luke Musgrave has talent but the Green Bay Packers have so many (average not great) weapons. I could see him emerging, but I can see him finishing too many games with 1 or 2 catches as well. Tyler Conklin is a name to monitor as the Jets did sign Mike Williams but he hasn’t been the most consistent. There is a path for Conklin to be Aaron Rodgers #2 receiving target.
Tight Ends are such a wild card on the field and in drafts. If they pop off early I’ll look to target an Evan Engram. But if my league mates let a Travis Kelce slide to a 3rd, or a Trey McBride to a late 4 early 5 I’ll look to snatch that up. I’d prefer to wait, similar to quarterbacks, but there could be some good value this year on my tier 1 tight ends.
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