Final Points – Tight Ends

Here is my final installment – the best fantasy players at their positions, and I’m going to be breaking down the tight ends.

1: By probably the biggest margin between two players in this whole series, Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs is at one. The Chiefs lost their best receiver in the offseason, Tyreek Hill but even if they still had Hill, Kelce would still be the best. He’s the most reliable tight end and the most versatile. He can go get a high ball, he could catch and run with the ball and he could stay home as a blocker. Kelce is going to get a high volume of touches on the Chiefs’ offense. He’s going in the first or very early second round, so if he’s available, pick him up.

2: Mark Andrews of the Baltimore Ravens is at two. Andrews is also a very versatile tight end and similarly to Kelce, the most dangerous weapon on their offenses minus the QB. Andrews plays a very similar role to Kelce, meaning that he could go up and get the ball and run after the catch. He doesn’t block that much, but for fantasy, it doesn’t matter. The only reason Kelce is at one by such a huge margin is that the Ravens like the run game WAY more than the Chiefs do, so that may take away from Andrews’ touches.

3: Kyle Pitts of the Atlanta Falcons is at three. Unfortunately, he will be such a hit or miss this season. We saw this last season as he got a decent amount of catches and yards but only one touchdown the whole season. Pitts is on a very young Falcons offense so I believe that he’ll be one of the focal points of this offense. Pitts is one of the fastest tight ends in the league, and if the Falcons show that they can be an explosive force, then Pitts is a great option, but proceed with caution.

4: By a pretty big margin once again, George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers is at four. Kittle is not a fantasy tight end. Probably the third-best tight end based on actual in-game value, but for fantasy, he’s very average. He’s injury prone, he has a lot of blocking assignments and he’s not very fast, so you’ll just be relying on catches and touchdowns. But, Kittle is one of the best tight ends for his value in the early fourth round, so he’s not terrible.

5: Darren Waller of the Las Vegas Raiders is at six. Waller used to be the second-best fantasy tight end, as early as two years ago, but injury concerns and more offensive weapons in Vegas sent him to lower down the rankings. Waller now has to contend with Hunter Renfrow and Davante Adams, both elite wide receivers. Sure, Waller can use his speed to get open but his injuries frighten me. But, when Waller’s on, he’s ON. He will be getting catches, yards, and touchdowns like no tomorrow. Similarly to Kittle, great value pick.

6: Dalton Schultz of the Dallas Cowboys is at six. This is where the tight end well starts to run dry. Schultz is a very decent pick. But, if you’re in the position to draft him, I expect that you have a pretty well-rounded team in every other department. Schultz is going to be a very intriguing player this year because the Cowboys have weapons in the receiving core and at running back, but Prescott might decide to target Schultz quite a bit. He won’t be a blocking tight end, so that’s just more potential targets for him.

7: TJ Hockenson of the Detroit Lions is at seven. Hockenson has the potential to be one of the best tight ends for fantasy this year at the end of the year. There are a lot of really young weapons on this team, like D’Andre Swift and Amon Ra St. Brown, so Hockenson might be fighting for touches this year but I’m not worried. The Lions don’t have that big imposing receiver on their roster, so I think Hockenson will be getting red zone targets this year. He’s also a tight end that can run with the ball after the catch. The Lions improved their offensive line over the offseason so that will give their subpar QB, Jared Goff more time to find his tight end.

8: Dallas Goedert of the Philadelphia Eagles is at eight. Goedert is not appealing to me in any way fantasy-wise. He’s playing on a really clogged Eagles offense where he never found success and was playing second fiddle to Zach Ertz all the time. The only thing going for Goedert here is that he has a young QB that will want to find his most reliable receivers. One of them being Goedert. He might get an occasional touchdown or two but I doubt he’ll find any success outside the red zone.

9: Zach Ertz of the Arizona Cardinals is at nine. Physically, nothing is really working for Ertz. He’s not fast, he’s not tall and he’s not big for a tight end. Unfortunately, he’s a player that’s going to catch the ball and then get past one guy by bulldozing him and then get brought down. Weirdly so, he’s not a tight end that’s going to get the ball primarily in the red zone, but I see Ertz getting the ball earlier in the drive, and just as a means to move the ball. Ertz is playing on a clogged offense, though, so I’m scared he’s not going to get a lot of targets.

10: Hunter Henry of the New England Patriots is at ten. Henry is a very good tight end for his value. Full disclosure, though: In my main 12-team league, Henry is my backup tight end. Henry has a young QB in Mac Jones, who will want to target the reliable receivers for guaranteed yardage. I don’t think you knew that Hunter Henry had nine touchdowns last year, tied for the league lead among tight ends. Henry is a big guy that also has some speed, a deadly combo as we saw earlier in the list. I don’t see another nine or so touchdown season from him, but he can still have a great one while flying under everyone’s radar.

11: Pat Freiermuth of the Pittsburgh Steelers is at eleven. Freiermuth was a rookie last season and he had moments where he shocked everyone and provided some quality offense for the Steelers. He might take that step forward this year or he might stay put or take a step back. Obviously, he’s a second-year player, so he can’t regress in his performance, but I meant he could take a step back in the Steelers offense. This guy’s a pretty big gamble, but it could pay off. Like I’ve been saying, if you’re taking Patrick John Freiermuth as your starting tight end, you should probably have an elite rest of your team, or else you’re doing something wrong.

12: Cole Kmet of the Chicago Bears is at 12. We are REALLY scraping the bottom of the barrel here. Kmet is a third-year player that had some good moments last year but Justin Fields was pretty bad last year. I believe that if Fields takes a step in his development this year, so will Kmet. This also goes for the rest of the Chicago Bears receivers. Kmet has the potential to be a really solid tight end at some point in his career, but definitely not this year (this also depends on if the Bears will develop him properly). I think Kmet will be used all over the field this year, and after the Bears lost Allen Robinson to the Rams this offseason, Kmet will be a pretty big red zone threat.

Here is my fantasy football team. I’m in a 12-team league with full PPR.

QB: Lamar Jackson

RB1: Austin Ekeler

RB2: Breece Hall

WR1: Deebo Samuel

WR2: Gabe Davis

TE: Mark Andrews

FLEX: Elijah Mitchell

FLEX: Dameon Pierce

Kicker: Matt Gay

Defense: Dallas Cowboys

 

Bench

Ryan Tannehill, QB

Raheem Mostert, RB

James Cook, RB

Garrett Wilson, WR

Joshua Palmer, WR

Hunter Henry, TE

Deshaun Watson, QB

 

Definitely not the best team in the league, although the upside for this team is huge. I’ll be attempting to make trades over the course of the season to fill the obvious holes in the team such as both FLEX positions or WR2.