Week 1 of the NFL season has officially arrived! The fantasy tight end landscape is in a state of constant flux. While you may have a good idea of which guys are making your lineups to open the year, there are always tough decisions and tricky matchups. Let’s break down my Week 1 start ’em, sit ’em fantasy football TE picks.
Check out my full Week 1 start/sit article with picks at each position here!
Start ‘Em: Tucker Kraft (Packers) vs. Lions
Two things can be true: The Lions were a very food football team last year. They were also absolutely atrocious against the pass. Detroit surrendered the second-most passing yards per contest last season. They also lost their defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and star corner Carlton Davis in the offseason.
All of that adds up to what will likely be another underwhelming campaign for the Lions’ secondary. While I expect Matthew Golden to be the main big-play beneficiary in Week 1, Kraft should excel in short to intermediate range situations. The young playmaker quietly finished as PPR TE10 last season and is primed to handle an even larger workload this year.
Sit ‘Em: Jake Ferguson (Cowboys) at Eagles — TNF
If you check out my start/sit quarterback picks, you’ll notice Dak Prescott earning a “sit” nod, despite my positive fantasy outlook for him in 2025. That’s pretty much how I feel about Ferguson, just to a lesser degree.
The veteran profiles as a weekly plug-and-play option with low-end TE1 upside if the Cowboys offense returns to form after a down year. That said, there’s just no justification for starting Ferguson against the Eagles. No team held opposing tight ends to fewer fantasy points than Philly last year, and there’s no reason to expect that to change until further notice.
Ferguson will have fantasy value down the line, but there are almost certainly other better alternatives on the waiver wire this week.
Check out my full Week 1 start/sit article with picks at each position here!
Start ‘Em: David Njoku (Browns) vs. Bengals
One of my two favorite mid-round draft targets at tight end (Evan Engram being the other), there’s a strong chance that nobody will benefit more from Joe Flacco manning the Browns offense under center than Njoku.
Flacco took over as the Browns’ starter for the last five weeks of the 2023 season. Njoku only played the first four of those contests, but he recorded the most fantasy points over that four-game span of any tight end by a massive margin. The veteran doesn’t appear to have lost a step since then, heading into his ninth NFL season. Flacco should look to his old friend early and often in the season-opener against Cincinnati.
Sit ‘Em: Jonnu Smith (Steelers) at Jets
Arthur Smith and Jonnu Smith. The inevitable pairing.
Unfortunately for the latter Smith, that’s not necessarily a good thing. Jonnu is fresh off a monstrous career year in which he finished as PPR TE4, finally showcasing the elite playmaking abilities many foresaw in him during his early years with the Titans.
Sadly, following that elite campaign, the Dolphins turned around and traded him to Pittsburgh. The Steelers offense doesn’t project to be terrible, but it’s hard to see anything more than four to six targets coming Smith’s way in this new offense. He’s a sit until proven otherwise.
Those are my start ’em, sit ’em Week 1 fantasy football tight end picks! Stay tuned for more fantasy advice throughout the week.
All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
