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The tight end position is one of the toughest to predict in fantasy football. While there are yearly staples at the top of rankings, it gets really murky really fast. The tight end landscape can change rapidly between injuries and surprise usage in the early part of the season. It may be tempting to overdraft a tight end as you get into your drafts, but be cautious. Regarding tight ends in fantasy football, here are some tips, tricks and notes to keep in mind as you go through your drafts.
Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs should be the first tight end drafted in your leagues. It almost doesn’t matter the scoring unless points are specifically only taken away from him for some reason. He is in a high-octane passing offense and will be fine even without Tyreek Hill to scare defenses. When Patrick Mahomes is making passes with his eyes closed and with his non-dominant hand, you scoop his tight end. Even in standards, you could make a case for Kelce at the tail end of the first round in a 12-team league. The 1.12-2.02 is a solid range for his usage.
Mark Andrews and Kyle Pitts should be the next tier of tight ends off the boards. Both of their teams are starved for a dominant wide receiver, so they are elevated to the best pass-catchers in their offense. They should see elevated targets weekly and have a higher floor than other subsequent tight ends. In my opinion, these should be the only tight ends drafted in your draft's first three to four rounds.
The next tier has George Kittle, Dalton Schultz, Dallas Goedert and Darren Waller in it. Kittle has a new quarterback throwing to him in Trey Lance, but expectations are still high for him to have a relevant season. Schultz had an amazing season last year and should still see a large target share from quarterback Dak Prescott. Goedert will have to compete for targets with AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith this season but should still be a solid mid-range target for Jalen Hurts this year. Waller has fallen this year because he has been banged up. Plus, with star wide receiver Davante Adams in town, he will be battling for targets.
I am higher than most on Robert Tonyan and lower on Mike Gesicki. For Tonyan, he is on the Green Bay Packers that are needing someone to step up for back-to-back MVP Aaron Rodgers. With Adams in Las Vegas, I think that Rodgers turns to the reliable Tonyan to be a popular target this year, especially in the redzone. For Gesicki, he fell off last year and turned in multiple goose egg performances. The Miami Dolphins are rumored to be looking into trading Gesicki which fails to inspire confidence for the upcoming season. For all other questions about which tight ends to look at in your drafts, take a look at our tight end rankings below!