Tight end rankings for 2020 fantasy football

Before the 2019 NFL season is blown up by the draft and free agency, I’m going to set a baseline for my 2020 fantasy football rankings. This will give us a starting point to assess how this offseason impacts players across the board. There won’t be any shiny new rookies in these rankings until they have homes with offenses and competition.

Here are my pre-draft and -free agency tight end rankings:

Tier 1

There’s a pretty strong delineation between the top tier tight ends and the not-quite top tier, but the tier 2 tight ends have the ability to take a step into the first tier. But until then, Travis Kelce, George Kittle and Zach Ertz will continue to have sky high floors.

Kelce’s target share in an offense that is extremely efficient with Patrick Mahomes in the lead, keeps him at the top of the list. George Kittle has the ability to pass Kelce, but in the offense Kyle Shanahan wants, Kittle isn’t going to be a 25-30 percent target share kind of player. The Eagles aren’t likely to have a receiver that will take over Zach Ertz’ spot as the lead target.

Tier 2

This tier has plenty of upside, with Mark Andrews, Austin Hooper, and Evan Engram all likely to be big parts of their offense. Hooper is up in the air for his workload in 2020, but he will likely get a big contract, which means good usage. We know Andrews will be a top target in Baltimore, but it might be tough for him to repeat his touchdown numbers which made him an elite fantasy option last season while Engram’s trouble comes down to injuries. If he can stay healthy, he could move into the top slots.