Tight ends in fantasy football are often thrown to the wayside and are an afterthought once the first two or three are off the board. Many fantasy football managers will punt on kickers and defense/special teams, usually only addressing those positions with the final two picks. Tight ends are often lumped in there because many assume that after the first three or four big-name players, it’s a wash between the rest. Let’s take a look at how tight ends were drafted in 2023 and how the final rankings ended up.
For the purpose of this article, we are defaulting to half-PPR scoring in a 12-team league that is not tight-end premium and has a standard 16-man roster. As such, we will be looking at the top 25 tight ends for ADP (average draft position) and final rankings, accounting for an average of two tight ends per team with one extra.
2023 ADP
TE1: Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs — No. 6 overall, Round 1
TE2: Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens — No. 28. Round 3
TE3: T.J. Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings — No. 41, Round 4
TE4: George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers — No. 53, Round 5
TE5: Darren Waller, New York Giants — No. 54, Round 5
TE6: Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles — No. 64, Round 6
TE7: Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons — No. 65, Round 6
TE8: Evan Engram, Jacksonville Jaguars — No. 83, Round 7
TE9: Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers — No. 91, Round 8
TE10: David Njoku, Cleveland Browns — No. 101, Round 9
TE11: Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills — No. 115, Round 10
TE12: Cole Kmet, Chicago Bears — No. 143, Round 12
TE13: Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams — No. 144, Round 12
TE14: Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans — No. 148, Round 13
TE15: Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions — No. 152, Round 13
TE16: Luke Musgrave, Green Bay Packers — No. 168, Round 14
TE17: Zach Ertz, Arizona Cardinals — No. 169, Round 15
TE18: Chigoziem Okonkwo, Tennessee Titans — No. 175, Round 15
TE19: Greg Dulcich, Denver Broncos — No. 177, Round 15
TE20: Hunter Henry, New England Patriots — No. 178, Round 15
TE21: Dawson Knox, Buffalo Bills — No. 187, Round 16
TE22: Taysom Hill, New Orleans Saints — No. 188, Round 16
TE23: Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints — No. 190, Round 16
TE24: Hayden Hurst, Carolina Panthers — No. 199, Undrafted
TE25: Tyler Conklin, New York Jets — No. 211, Undrafted
Even though Kelce was dealing with an injury, he was still the consensus top tight end option. Andrews was second with the role he had developed on the Ravens as the top target for quarterback Lamar Jackson. Hockenson had moved up boards after being traded mid-season in 2022 to the Vikings.
Waller was expected to play a big role in the New York offense, which didn’t make many moves to upgrade its wide receiving corps. There was hope that Pitts was finally going to step up in the Atlanta Falcons offense, but his ADP had a notable drop from finishing below expectations the year before.
Dalton Kincaid was the first rookie tight end selected, with many hoping that he would overtake Bills teammate Dawson Knox and benefit from having Josh Allen under center. Dalton Schultz was selected as the TE14 on a new team with a rookie quarterback. The second rookie tight end drafted was Sam LaPorta as managers hoped he could carve out a role for himself with the Lions.
Most fantasy managers drafted just one tight end. The strategy there is to hope that your tight end sees a consistent target share, and then you can see how the targets fare for undrafted players in the early part of the season. Fantasy football managers can either go ahead and add one to their bench and wait until your starting tight end is on bye or track a handful of tight end options over the start of the season and can see which teams provide the best matchups to just do a bye week fill-in and then go back to your regular starter.
2023 Results
TE1: Sam La Porta — 196.3 fantasy points (Drafted as TE15)
TE2: Evan Engram — 173.3 (Drafted as TE8)
TE3: Travis Kelce — 172.9 (Drafted as TE1)
TE4: T.J. Hockenson — 171.5 (Drafted as TE3)
TE5: George Kittle — 170.7 (Drafted as TE4)
TE6: David Njoku — 160.7 (Drafted as TE10)
TE7: Cole Kmet — 144.6 (Drafted as TE12)
TE8: Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys — 141.6 (Undrafted)
TE9: Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals — 141 (Undrafted)
TE10: Taysom Hill — 127 (Drafted as TE22)
TE11: Dalton Schultz — 121 (Drafted as TE14)
TE12: Dalton Kincaid — 113.8 (Drafted as TE11)
TE13: Mark Andrews — 112.9 (Drafted as TE2, only played in 10 games)
TE14: Kyle Pitts — 110.8 (Drafted as TE7)
TE15: Dallas Goedert — 106.8 (Drafted as TE6)
TE16: Logan Thomas, Washington Commanders — 99.3 (Undrafted)
TE17: Jonnu Smith, Atlanta Falcons — 99.2 (Undrafted)
TE18: Hunter Henry — 98.9 (Drafted as TE20)
TE19: Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers — 93 (Undrafted)
TE20: Tyler Conklin — 92.6 (Drafted as TE25)
TE21: Darren Waller — 87.2 (Drafted as TE5, played in 12 games)
TE22: Chigoziem Okonkwo — 86.4 (Drafted as TE18)
TE23: Isaiah Likely, Baltimore Ravens — 86.1 (Undrafted)
TE24: Gerald Everett, Los Angeles Chargers — 85.6 (Undrafted)
TE25: Tyler Higbee — 85 (Drafted as TE13)
If you either drafted LaPorta late or picked him up off of waivers, you didn’t have to worry about your tight end spot in your lineup. He didn’t find the endzone until Week 3, but brought in all five of his targets in Week 1 and five of his six targets in Week 2. Of course, it is a small sample size, but coming out of Week 2, he was likely worth an add then before his first breakout game in Week 3. LaPorta built an early rapport with quarterback Jared Goff and led all tight ends with 10 touchdowns, four more than the next highest.
Engram followed a similar trajectory, not scoring many points early but maintaining a high target share. He had at least seven targets per game in each of his first five games of the season but didn’t find the endzone until early December. Engram only scored four touchdowns the entire season but led all tight ends in targets (143) and receptions (114). Hockenson was second in targets (127) and receptions (95), only had one more touchdown and finished right on Engram’s heels.
We can’t speak in certainties in fantasy football, but it feels like someone who was undrafted or at least a late round pick typically finds themselves as an overall TE1 by the end of the season. McBride and Ferguson pulled it off last year, as neither was a top-25 tight end based on ADP. The former didn’t have more than three targets in a game until Week 6 and then didn’t have fewer than five in a game the rest of the season. The latter started lava hot and either had seven targets or a touchdown in each of his first four games and was pretty consistent the whole year.
How to use this for 2024 fantasy football leagues
Fantasy managers often want the tight end that is going to get red-zone targets, thinking that touchdowns are all that matter. The six points added for a score can help a tight end’s fantasy output, but a high target share seems most important. No tight end has tallied double-digit touchdowns in back-to-back seasons since Rob Gronkowski did it in 2014-2015. Don’t get wooed by LaPorta being the only tight end last year with more than six touchdowns, as he isn’t likely to repeat his double-digit TD performance.
Three of the top five tight ends based on ADP finished as top five tight ends when the season ended, but look at the rest of the top 10. Two players finished in the top 10 that were drafted outside of the top-25, and the top-scoring tight end was drafted as a backup with upside.
ADP will fluctuate as we get closer and closer to the season. As of early June, LaPorta is being selected as the top tight end with the 23rd overall pick. It appears fantasy managers are course-correcting from a season ago and selecting Kelce with a top-six pick. LaPorta is being taken at the end of the second round, with Kelce next off the board at No. 32 overall in the third round. Trey McBride (No. 43), Mark Andrews (No. 48) and Dalton Kincaid (No. 51) round out the top five. Five tight ends selected in the first 51 picks is two more in that span than last year. The top 12 tight ends — which theoretically would be a starter for each team in a 12-team league — are being selected in the first 111 picks. The 12th tight end in 2023 wasn’t taken until pick No. 143.
Top tight ends aren’t being valued as high at their peak, but they are being selected earlier. This could lessen as training camp reports and videos come out this fall, but this is an interesting trend for now. In years past, you could decide to either spend high draft capital on a tight end or draft one late. This year it is looking like you can pass on a tight end in the second or third round to address another position, but be ready for a run on tight ends in the middle rounds.
This year, it seems very important to go into each draft with a range that you’re willing to draft each tight end. Even if you don’t take a tight end early there is value to be had in the middle and later rounds. No matter who you select, keep an eye on the waiver wire as the season begins, track who is available, and prioritize a tight end who sees an early high target share.
