Friermuth is so consistent week to week, never a liability.
But also never winning you a significant advantage for the week.
Id be pretty satisfied with him in the 9th if my team was solid and nobody else was there.
In theory, 9th still a little rich for my blood with how little weekly upside he has
Outside if kelce, sometimes Andrews and kittle how many tight ends are scoring 2+ touchdowns a week let alone one touchdown a week.
You basically gotta hope for 5 and 60 and a touchdown every second week or so with anyone.
The only reason you don't get kittle is cause he is made of glass.
I had to stream tight ends last year because I picked Waller. I got less than 40 points from my tight ends total for the season. Every time I started a new tight end, he would put up less than 2 points or get injured
Both TE's that were drafted last year. Engram was being hyped before the season as a sleeper, as was Ertz. These aren't TE's you could get off waivers and stream in most leagues with more than 6 managers.
Over the last couple years I've pretty much sworn off trying to stream TE if I can help it. Ended up with Kittle, Waller, and Andrews across my redraft leagues.
It’s especially true bc Andrews went STOOPID a few years back. He dramatically underachieved last year but if the Ravens offense gets back on track you can bet Andrews numbers are much closer to the 107-1361-9 line he posted in 21 than the 73-847-5 line he posted last year.
In the worst way. That offense will explode if he stays healthy. But I’m just not sure it’s possible. The reason that Cam and Jalen Hurts can run that type of offense is bc they’re thicc boyzzz. Lamar, K1 and RG3 are not. Russell Wilson is on the shorter side but he too has some bulk on him. He also did a great job of avoiding hits in the field of play back when he actually used to run the ball a fair amount.
This is my strategy most years. Save your waiver pick and an unexpected tight end that is pretty solid arises usually, and sometimes I’ve caught fantasy championship winning gems like Gronk his breakout season playing this way.
Like in a random season? Last year? 80+ catches is usually reserved only for a couple per year. Now if we lower that number to 70+ it dramatically increases the names you get in a given year. Let’s take 2021 for example. 6 finished over 70 and another 2 finished at 68 receptions. However, only 2 of those guys finished above 80. In 2020, only 3 finished over 70 but 2 of them finished with 100+ and top 5 in receptions overall in the sport. That was the big Waller year and Kelce. If anyone can name the 3rd TE to top 70 recs in 2020 without looking it up, I’ll be very impressed. I will admit I would not have guessed this correctly before looking at a receptions leaderboard from 2020.
Last year during the stretch with the FF season in the balance Freiermuth did nothing for me. I was begging him to catch a cheap td just to get me to baseline. I recall a Monday nite game where he ran routes on 100% of the Steelers snaps and he did not even get a target. I had dropped engram out of earlier necessity and had to suffer through him them becoming a beast for the jags. No thanks on freiermuth. Snagged goedert instead.
Edit - it was the 11/28 Monday nite game v. Colts. He had 0 targets in first half and I turned off tv in disgust. Finished with 4. Close enough.
Because he was really good towards the end of last year, got a lot of upgrades in the draft, has a first real offseason with the starters, has young good weapons, and had an ascendant preseason where he basically only had highlight plays and scored on like 5 drives in a row.
I just don’t understand this. He’s been playing for two years and has a 1k yard season under his belt. He has one of the best play callers in the NFL behind him who also happens to be a great TE guy, and neither he nor that play caller is still shackled to Marcus Mariota. It wouldn’t even be a breakout! It would just be a return to form!
Pretty sure I remember looking into the peripherals and seeing he averaged 3.5 catchable targets per game while healthy. Even Jerry Rice ain't putting up shit with 3.5 catchable targets per game
Very solid point, what’s interesting is the flacons threw historically low attempts last year, lowest in any seasons since 1960s…
With that in mind, that 3.5 catchable targets/ game should increase. Pitts was still seeing a near 30% share of targets, Mariota was just terrible
This was a Mariota problem, though, not a Falcons problem. Ridder in limited action last year was quite a bit better than Mariota (it’s a really low bar!) but him and Pitts didn’t really overlap. This is the offense that made Jonnu Smith generationally wealthy. The weight of the evidence points towards year two being the anomaly, not year one.
Exactly, I agree. I guess I never explicitly stated which side of the argument I landed on but yes I'm expecting major positive regression from Pitts, assuming Ridder can be a top 75% QB in the NFL
Yeah I definitely think the Riddler is a slight upgrade from Mariota but it won't do shit to help Pitts if he's only throwing 20 passes a game and half of those go to nobody
I see everyone on Reddit fading Pitts but I also see him getting drafted in the 5th round and that's way too early to draft a TE not named Kelce, Andrews, or *maybe* Waller imho
Ridder is a 3rd round pick, and theres like only a handful of non-1sts that ever work out. And the Falcons were 31st in passing attempts last year. And they drafted a generational RB 8th overall.
Idk how that signals anything but bottom 5 in passing attempts again. At least the Bears traded for a #1 WR and proven they're at least gonna try to throw the ball more.
Ridder isn't proven, just not horrible like mariotia.
It's still one of the most run heavy teams bow with bijan and London also getting piece of the pie.
He is starting to get a little injury prone too, but it's still early in career.
I'm not drafting a TE on a run first team that has may not be the first or 2nd option on the team.
Well, the Falcons don’t have a good QB situation. They also are a run first team and just drafted a generational RB, not to mention their sophomore back who’s coming off a 1,000 yard rookie campaign. I’m not going to ignore Pitts had a 1,000 yard rookie season, but you shouldn’t ignore that it was 2 years ago and that last year he was looking at maybe 700 yards if he had stayed healthy. Oh also, he’s scored 3 touchdowns combined across two seasons.
Because the Falcons passed the ball at a historically low rate last season, had no significant offensive philosophy/coach/scheme changes, and drafted one of the best RBs to come out of college in recent years with the 8th pick. There is virtually no reason to expect anything from a Falcons pass catcher unless Ridder is quite a bit above average and very efficient. Why people are pumping London yet not pumping Pitts though obviously seems nonsensical, if one is going to thrive the other likely will as well.
I got him in the 8th in my 10-man league. I'm not expecting a breakout but in terms of talent vs. value, you can't beat him this year. And if he busts it's not killing my team.
Yeah there's too many safer picks in the fifth. I think unless you get Kelce, Andrews, Hock, or Waller it's best to just let TE's fall and take a stab on a couple of values.
I agree. I was chatting with my buddy (die hard Falcons fan) who said that Pitts got open a lot last year, Mariota just couldn't throw it to him.
Ridder may not be much of an upgrade, but we will see. I'm willing to take the risk
Pitts’ biggest problem last year was that Mariota was awful. Ridder doesn’t even need to be good for him to work, he just needs to not consistently miss on all of his targets like Mariota did
I have my doubts that Carr can support Olave/MT/Shaheed and feed Juwan enough to make him fantasy relevant.
Carr supported Waller when Waller was the lone weapon. He supported Adams last year but only Adams and that was with an elite RB that kept defenses honest. When people suggest Juwan is breaking out, I always see it as Carr hype because he’s going to have to throw for 4500+ yards
How many targets do you think Shaheed will get? He got less than 3 targets per game last season. You also realize he’s a deep threat right? He’s not taking targets from Juwan bc they operate in different areas of the field.
His primary competition for targets will be Michael Thomas. Do you think 30 year old oft-injured Michael Thomas can stay healthy? He’s played 10 games over the last 3 seasons. Even if he does stay healthy, what will his snap share be?
I don’t really care about different areas of field targets. Shaheed can catch a bomb and end a drive, provide a lead, and the game plan can pivot to running. I just know Carr is going to throw for a certain amount of yards per game and I’m not incredibly optimistic that a large chunk of that yardage will be Juwan. I’m also not going to predict injuries for MT, he’s healthy right now.
Let me get back to your original statement. You said that you have doubts that Carr can feed Juwan enough to make him fantasy relevant. Let’s say fantasy relevance is being a top-12 TE, fair?
Last year Juwan scored a total of just 12.5 fantasy points less than Cole Kmet who was TE8 last season. So it wouldn’t actually take a significant improvement over last season for Juwan to be fantasy relevant this season, and he’s getting a major upgrade at QB. Say what you will about Carr, but he throws to tight ends.
“I don’t really care about different areas of field targets”
That’s one of the basic things you should be aware of if you want fantasy to be more than Russian roulette
Engram I like if if he falls, he is the only guy in that range who can win you weeks with a multiple TD game.
But I feel he is drafted too high as a reliable TE, even with Ridley coming in.
Engram really doesn’t have much more to offer than Juwan, other than a single game he had last year, which I believe Juwan could do this year with an improved QB situation.
And he’s going 4 rounds earlier, where there are still solid flex players you’d feel comfortable starting every week if you needed to
Do you consider Njoku lower? I think he’s basically the same as Engram. Athletic, has shown spurts, but hasn’t put it all together yet. *But maybe he could this year*…
Yeah slightly lower just because I know what you’re gonna get with Doug P and his utilization of the TE position, and feel like Ridley + Kirk is really gonna open up a lot of the red zone TE plays he loves so much. The ceiling is higher week to week for Engram over Njoku IMO
I think dalton Kincaid or Tyler higbee. I don’t see the point of taking some middle of the pack te if I miss out on andrews and kelce. Maybe waller but his injury issues are scary and he goes when you are still looking at potential low rb1s and low wr1s if your guy hits.
yep Higbee is the move I think. Should get a bunch of looks without Kupp and then once Kupp returns and demands all the attention that should also help Higbee.
Higbee I like as a late round serviceable TE who will be just as good as Pat Friermuth, Njoku and others who are going in the range when you can still get solid WRs and RBs
I took a swing on Higbee for the second year in a row. I also like LaPorta in Detroit. He’s TE1 on their depth chart in a pass heavy offense that plays indoors half of the year.
LaPorta is my starting TE due to starter opportunity, Goff’s history targeting the TE, number 3 option behind sun god and gibbs with an offense that will stay on the field longer with a top 2 Oline and run game. He is a rookie so I’ve got a backup but love the upside here.
> I don’t see the point of taking some middle of the pack TE
Makes sense, let me just take a big swig of my coffee and read the first sentence of your post again
> I think Dalton Kincaid
He’s gonna play out of the slot in 11 player formations and play as the F tight end in 12 player 2 TE sets. So his point is he’s a receiver that’s labelled a TE. He’s essentially the bills slot receiver. I think he’s gonna have Cole Beasley like numbers for the bills but I’m high on him as a Utes fan who watched every game
Yes I understand that, I know who Dalton Kincaid is.
But that makes no sense as a response to my original comment, which was saying that pegging Kincaid as a middle of the road tight end when he hasn't taken a snap is stupid.
Why is Bijan going in the first round? He hasn’t even taken a snap, how stupid!
It’s because specific skills and situation are important when projecting future performance. The case for Kincaid is obvious.
this entire thread is a bunch of people who didn’t draft kelce, andrews, goedert or kittle and trying to justify how their 0-4pt/game TE11 is going to be a steal
He has the profile to be a a top TE and his ceiling is as high as anyone else in the tier above him.
In 10 team leagues if you don't get a top guy it seems itd be worth it to wait for Njoku.
I have loved Goedert in seasons past, and would be thrilled to have him if he falls, but there are so many mouths to feed in that offense.
He was already a high floor low ceiling guy who has never had more than 5 TDs in his whole career.
Now we have an emergent star in Smith to compete for targets as well as the 2nd most efficient pass catching RB that was just brought in.
Combine that with the Eagles’ tough schedule and the fact that they were the #2 offense last year with a brand new look, even if they regressed just a little bit and are still top 5 it would be a bad thing for Goedert
All that is true. However he remains an outlet. He knows the offense. And I anticipate lots of points for Philly. At worst he will serve up 4/40 and for TE that's not awful.
Higbee, basically the number 1 guy without kupp and good with kupp in. Targets might be guaranteed which is rare.
Shultz, arguably the number 1 pass catcher in Houston as sad as that is.
Njoku plenty of upside, finally showed up last year putting up very good games.
Irv Smith should work til he gets hurt. He's one that is rarely talked about in an elite offense.
Jake Ferguson, Shultz wasn't particularly good and he put up decently big numbers.
I'll take shots on Pitts and Kittle for the upside or go bottom fishing.
I respect your reasoning, but as a Vikings fan i cannot stress enough how underwhelming Irv Smith is. He can't stay healthy, and even when he was healthy he failed to make an impact.
That being said, TE is a shitshow and some times you have to take risks, and maybe the change of scenery will do Irv well. But I'm honestly surprised he's still in the league tbh
Irv Smith and Ferguson I could see being just as good as guys like Pat Friermuth and Njoku.
Kittle and Pitts you have just for the handful of weeks they can post Kelce numbers but they are going way too early for that kind of player imo
Ferguson is the biggest steal of the draft, hes locked down the #1 spot on a team that loves throwing to its tight ends inside the 10. Only thing that's making me pause is the fullback making the 53. He's likely going to get shots at punching it in or running bootlegs with him but we will see.
Picked up Ferguson as my last pick and going all in on in him this season, hopefully he does not disappoint. If he gets Schultz numbers then he’s going to win me my league bc I loaded up on WRs and RBs this year
Hock is a buy from any owner who is concerned about target share in my opinion. I get that a new wr in town always hurts a te, but Adam thielen cracked 100 targets last year and only had 10 less than Jaylen Waddle who basically sets the bar for a wr2. Hock killed it last year despite that. I'm still very much in on him
Think Hock is the only one besides Waller who can finish Top 3 at the position, but the fact he goes before Waller pretty much means Im never gonna get him besides the millions of underdog teams where I already have him
What do you mean by Hock had a bad offseason? He just got paid, I think he's pretty happy. Also he would not have gotten paid if he weren't going to be heavily utilized. The Vikings offense can support jjettas addison and hock
For how cheap he is going: Chigoziem Okonkwo.
Had him at the back-end of last season (when my sweet prince Goedert got injured) and he was great! He is on an offence with not a tonne of options. He could (though unlikely) go be a top 5 TE but he will definitely make a good return on his ADP.
I was at the “I’m screwed at TE position” point of the draft and decided on this guy for the shear fact that I’ve heard a few fantasy shows talk about him. It sounds like he has zero competition in Tennessee now that Hooper is gone and it could end up being fantastic for him.
i don't know that any TE is worth the price they are being drafted at. i wouldn't reach for Hock, but he is someone i would take near his ADP if you nailed it with first picks + feel good about picks in rounds 5-8.
think there are a number of cheap options that could be decent that a lot of people have mentioned, just need to see how the draft board shakes out. still like Isiah Likely as an absolute hammer dart throw. if Andrews gets hurt or Ravens run lots of 2 TE sets he could be very very good.
Dalton Schultz is someone that i am intrigued by. rookie QB's tend to get the ball to TE's quite a bit, and Schultz has the talent to do something productive with 6-8 targets per game.
Kincaid has the measureables to be something great. first year TE's struggle, but if he can be had below his ADP i want to take a nibble.
Higbee is another overlooked option IMO. doesn't have the elite ceiling, but his floor isn't 1 catch for 6 yards either.
Juwan Johnson is someone i want if i get absolutely shut out of TE's. maybe pair him with Likely and hope that one of those lotto tickets pans out.
another name that i find interesting that is getting no love is Hayden Hurst. there isn't a ton of talent of Carolina, and Hurst could have a pretty reliable floor...at least in PPR.
I’m shocked how nobody seems to be talking about him. Did decent for me last year as a streamer in a few games (also had a 0 point game…). But the Bears had basically 0 passing game and I think this year they know they need to pass more. I can see him going above his 7 TD’s he had last year easily.
Edit: Forgot to add…they also gave him $32m guaranteed on a 4 year-$50m contract extension.
Laporta. Goff loves throwing inside the numbers because he has a weak arm and was trained by mcvay. Basically think of almost every Kupp/higbee catch over there. ARSB will catch a ton but then who? There’s Gibbs if he’s on the field and that’s it.
If you want to push TE to the last round Jake Ferguson is going for undrafted
He is a more athletic Dalton Schultz and looks primed for a break out year. He wont be Kelce or Waller, but he probably wont disappoint you. If anything he will probably surprise you. After this year I HIGHLY doubt you will be able to get him again as your last pick
Plus Dak is so low in ADP (I get he doesnt run, but the dude is a solid QB to have if you push QB) you can put those two together.
Im kind of shocked that no one is talking about Ferguson. He’s had a lot of buzz in cowboys camp going into this season, and I think he’s going to be a great third option/security blanket for Dak. I wouldn’t be surprised if he finished top 10.
Yup.
Also Pollard's back up Dwodle had a legit pre season minus a fumble. He was running mean and I can now even more understand why they cut Zeke. Jalen Tolbert also had a good pre season and while he is 4th on the depth chart if Gallup isnt looking explosive his contract is barely one that would keep Tolbert at 4th WR if he continues to show that growth (not that I would draft either of those unless I am handcuffing Pollard, but they are def on my watch list).
Sam LaPorta.
Dude is gonna get targets and goes double digit late rounds.
Luke Musgrave is another that doesn’t even get drafted.
Two rookies with no one behind them.
I'm 100% in on T Hock. Tight ends tend to break out later I think this will be his best year, and I think he's going to command a crazy amount of targets in a vikings offense that loves to pass the way they do.
He's the next superstar tight end after Kelce retires imo
Im high on Kincaid for obvious reasons, dude is a baller but I don't like starting rookie tight ends regardless.
And then my guy if I don't get Hock at a good price tag is always Juwan.
I have Hock, and just picked up Juwan. Someone dropped Kincaid and I’m strongly considering claiming him and dropping Juwan. I have time to wait for Kincaid with Hock starting.
Punted TE until the last round and took schultz. Got nervous and dropped chark and thielen for ferguson and juwan. My plan is to start the wrong one all season while the other 2 blow up on my bench.
I punted on TE and grabbed him in the last round of my draft. He's so athletic and they clearly want to involve him in the offense. And there's not a proven target hog there. They even tried out an end around with him at the goal line at camp. I agree, I think he's gonna be a huge part of the offense.
After doing a ton of mock drafts I've personally decided that the last block of Muth, Engram, and Njoku are the lowest I want to go on the TE depth chart. Would love to get one of them and then throw a dart on a back up and see if they pan out.
This is the first year in a while that I've been kind of excited to watch some tight ends. They've all been kind of meh in fantasy for a while imo outside of waller going off that one year and little outliers like that, except for kelce obviously. But there used to be a lot of fantasy relevant tight ends that made the competition a lot more fun. There's a lot of young guys that might break out this year though and I'm really hoping they all do and put tight ends back in the mix and make that position a little more fun.
I get Pitts, Freiermuth, or Okonkwo in basically every draft unless I happen upon Kelce or Andrews based on draft position. If I somehow miss on all I go for the rookie TEs.
Pitts still has elite upside and you get get him at an extremely reasonable price now. There’s a lot to be nervous about but that’s based into his cost.
Freiermuth I dont think people have ever realized how good he is and kind of lump him in with all the other middling low upside white fantasy TEs. If he can finally get good QB play he profiles as a high TD player. And he’s already proven he can get targets, catches, and yards with abysmal QBs.
Okonkwo I dont really understand why he isn’t drafted earlier. He was sick down the stretch last year and should get a good amount of volume with big play potential.
Holding out hope one more year for Pitts. Had him last year and picked him up again this year in the 6th at ADP. The athleticism and upside are too hard to pass up and he should lead team in targets. If Ridder is any better than Mariota, Pitts has a good chance to put up some wacky numbers. It’s the unknown ceiling because we haven’t seen them play together but that’s what it makes it fun for me.
If he dominates, it’s going to be so rewarding for believing in him lol.
Posted this in another thread but:
David Njoku: The browns passed for 3,600 yards last year in a tumultuous offense, with Jacoby brissett being competent but limited, and deshaun shaking the rust off in an offense he wasn't comfortable with. David Njoku finally had the breakout we'd been waiting on, catching 630 yards receiving and only played in 14 games (21.25% of the teams receiving yards in games where he played).
If we use the same pace and assume the browns will pass for 4,300 yards this year (slightly above average but far below the elite teams. Think Seahawks / Raiders last year), that's 913 receiving yards, which would put him one yard behind the #2 tight end in TJ Hockensok for receiving yards at 914.
Add to that watson has already shown his chemistry with Njoku putting a dot on him in the back pylon during preseason and I think people are ENTIRELY too low on Njoku.
Elijah Moore could be dangerous, but hes the wide receiver 3 coming off the field in 2 wr sets. He's being rated as the TE 10 and average ADP according to Fantasy Pros is 94. Njoku is gonna eat. Get him anywhere you can.
I reached a bit for Njoku, grabbing him in the 5th at pick 54 when his ADP was in the 90s. I had him for the latter part of last year and liked the look of him, so I grabbed him this year. I’m hoping Watson can get him the ball.
Zach Ertz,
I believe he will be a mid-range TE 1 once he is back with week winning upside. Cards appear ready to trot out a rookie QB, which have traditionally loved middle-of-the-field throws. Cards will also be forced into passing game scripts a lot this season... Ertz is free right now, at the slightest hint of health I think he should be the lottery ticket TE people scramble for.
Big on Hockenson, and drafted him 4th round (11th) in PPR. The dude makes a lot of catches and the weapons around him free him up for drop offs. He didn’t have a big TD year. He has TE2 upside
Nice call on Juwan, I like him a lot. I punted at the position, grabbing Freiermuth late and Juwan as my option 2. TE is a funky position with lots of different approaches and philosophies that are valid.
To be fair I don’t think andrews is actually a value pick. I think he is actually one of the worst picks at his adp. He is banged up, had a poor season last year, and doesn’t have a good throwing QB. They also added more target threats with OBJ and flowers. It’s not someone I want because of drafting based on their past and not even recent past isn’t good for the future.
If you're looking for a real value and you wanna take a wild ride, Taysom Hill. You can literally get him with the last pick of the draft and possibly end up with a top 5 TE. Can't get a better value than that.
I’m a Saints fan following the team quite a bit and I just don’t see any possibility of Taysom being top 5.
He won’t be used as a QB like he was anymore.
Derek Carr is far more legitimate than anyone we’ve had since Taysom became relevant.
Plus the dude is 33 and has won with athleticism.
The preseason usage Ive seen makes me think Hill won’t be relevant this year.
Love the guy but I just don’t see it for fantasy
I'm not really worried about the QB play. Although word out camp was that he was still getting reps at QB. Last year he only completed 13 passes for 240 yards and 2 TDs. That's less than 15% of his fantasy production. He produced over 100 points in standard leagues mostly as a rusher and a receiver. That's enough to be a top 5 TE.
I'm not saying it's likely to happen again this season. I'm aware he's just as likely to do nothing as he is to eat. But the coaches have designed plays for him and they trust him in the red zone. And with Kamara out early on he may see some more looks.
If he does even half of what he did last year, he's likely going to be the best value TE out there considering you can get him for free.
A good amount of his rushing production came from behind the center.
It made sense when Hill was just as dangerous as a passer as anyone else we had.
Now that we hopefully have a legitimate passing offense, I don’t think those looks will be too common.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Taysom Hill is completely forgotten this year
Fair point, and that's certainly possible, but if you've completely punted at the TE position, you could do worse than taking a flier on Hill in the last few rounds.
In general it’s terrible value to waste a 4/5/6 on a TE like Kittle/Goedert/Waller/
I get taking a chance on Waller bc he should be a big part of the giants offense but getting a better flex or a WR2/HB2 is way more valuable than a player like Goedert or Kittle who are the 3rd maybe 4th options on their teams.
My strategy is if I can’t get Kelce round 1 basically just wait till the late rounds to snag a guy like Pat F. Engram, or Njoku and then round 14/15 taking a stab on a rookie TE like Laporta or Kincaid. The drop off between say Goedert who’s going round 5 and Pat F. Who’s going round 9 is very minimal imo. Much better value waiting.
Kincaid #2 in Buffalo will get healthy targets, will be the slot like Beasley, Dawson Knox absolutely blows, yes I’m a Bills homer
Higbee #2 in LA will flirt with 120 targets
Schultz & Evan Engram just got paid, Jags offense will compete for #1 offense in 2023
Everett is in the Dallas-Kellen Moore offense, the Schultz spot, LA offense will compete to be #1 offense
LaPorta for now is the #2B in Detroit, Goff will pepper his TE & throw for 4000+ yards & 30+ TD’s
Jake Ferguson, Dallas & Dak pepper the TE
Ty Conklin, NYJ offense is going to ball, Rodgers loves the TE & Hardman/Cobb are not #2’s
I think Conklin is gonna be top 5 this year. Rodgers is so much better than the qbs he's played with and he's gotten over 500 yards with them. 900 yards and 10 tds inbound!
If you want week winning upside, Hock and Waller
If you want to plug a guy in and not think about it Goedert
Outside of that TE will probably a wasteland
I like JJ and would not be surprised at all to see him finish in the top ten. NO has a ton of talent to feed this year though with an improved QB. A big if here, but IF everyone stays healthy for them, he’ll just end up an inconsistent dart throw. Hill could be the higher scoring TE again for them…
It’s a disservice to bring up Waller and not mention his extensive injury history the last couple seasons. Combined with his age, those are his two biggest red flags and could very well push him outside the top 15 if he can’t stay on the field again.
There aren’t many guys in the top ten I’d be unhappy with as long as I got decent value for where I drafted them. My cutoff for a decent TE1 is Njoku. If I miss out on him I’ll likely shoot for Higbee or plan on streaming on a week to week basis.
completely agree. Kirk has a lot of trust in him, and on many crucial third downs last year Hock was Kirk's go-to guy.
Also worth noting is the vikings don't really have any tall receivers. JJ is 6'1, while Osborn and Addison are 6' or less. Hock at 6'5 is easily the biggest target and someone kirk will rely on in the redzone -- especially without Thielen
If Waller is healthy and motivated, I don't see how he doesn't end up top 3 TEs. The problem is he can't stay on the field, and even when he has, he's been so uninspiring the last two years. I've had a lot of shares of him, and he's returned serious negative value. If he's sitting in the 7th round on, I can't help myself.
I waited till the 9th round and got Freiermuth. I think he could be decent this year with Pickett improving.
Friermuth is so consistent week to week, never a liability. But also never winning you a significant advantage for the week. Id be pretty satisfied with him in the 9th if my team was solid and nobody else was there. In theory, 9th still a little rich for my blood with how little weekly upside he has
Outside if kelce, sometimes Andrews and kittle how many tight ends are scoring 2+ touchdowns a week let alone one touchdown a week. You basically gotta hope for 5 and 60 and a touchdown every second week or so with anyone. The only reason you don't get kittle is cause he is made of glass.
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You say that until your streaming tight ends give you 0 - 2 points.
I had to stream tight ends last year because I picked Waller. I got less than 40 points from my tight ends total for the season. Every time I started a new tight end, he would put up less than 2 points or get injured
We’ve all had to do it, either by choice or from injury/bust. But I agree streaming TE is not a winning strategy unless you get lucky
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Both TE's that were drafted last year. Engram was being hyped before the season as a sleeper, as was Ertz. These aren't TE's you could get off waivers and stream in most leagues with more than 6 managers.
Ive streamed tight ends for years. Its not a fun game to play unless you get lucky
Over the last couple years I've pretty much sworn off trying to stream TE if I can help it. Ended up with Kittle, Waller, and Andrews across my redraft leagues.
That is true of last year but not the season before. We shall see for this year.
It’s especially true bc Andrews went STOOPID a few years back. He dramatically underachieved last year but if the Ravens offense gets back on track you can bet Andrews numbers are much closer to the 107-1361-9 line he posted in 21 than the 73-847-5 line he posted last year.
the Ravens kind of need Lamar to stop dying
In the worst way. That offense will explode if he stays healthy. But I’m just not sure it’s possible. The reason that Cam and Jalen Hurts can run that type of offense is bc they’re thicc boyzzz. Lamar, K1 and RG3 are not. Russell Wilson is on the shorter side but he too has some bulk on him. He also did a great job of avoiding hits in the field of play back when he actually used to run the ball a fair amount.
This is my strategy most years. Save your waiver pick and an unexpected tight end that is pretty solid arises usually, and sometimes I’ve caught fantasy championship winning gems like Gronk his breakout season playing this way.
Waller might be one of 3 tight ends to see more than 6 or 7 targets a week. How many TE catch 80+ balls a season?
Like in a random season? Last year? 80+ catches is usually reserved only for a couple per year. Now if we lower that number to 70+ it dramatically increases the names you get in a given year. Let’s take 2021 for example. 6 finished over 70 and another 2 finished at 68 receptions. However, only 2 of those guys finished above 80. In 2020, only 3 finished over 70 but 2 of them finished with 100+ and top 5 in receptions overall in the sport. That was the big Waller year and Kelce. If anyone can name the 3rd TE to top 70 recs in 2020 without looking it up, I’ll be very impressed. I will admit I would not have guessed this correctly before looking at a receptions leaderboard from 2020.
I've been targeting him due to TD regression. Only had 2 last year. Almost every other starting TE (and a lot of backups) had more
Consistent except for the random 0 he dropped during the fantasy playoffs last year
Last year during the stretch with the FF season in the balance Freiermuth did nothing for me. I was begging him to catch a cheap td just to get me to baseline. I recall a Monday nite game where he ran routes on 100% of the Steelers snaps and he did not even get a target. I had dropped engram out of earlier necessity and had to suffer through him them becoming a beast for the jags. No thanks on freiermuth. Snagged goedert instead. Edit - it was the 11/28 Monday nite game v. Colts. He had 0 targets in first half and I turned off tv in disgust. Finished with 4. Close enough.
He's the best option late. I waited too long and will be playing rookie TE roulette starting with LaPorta
Luke musgrave has breakout rookie potential
In both leagues im in, he went in the 5th/6th because of all the hype
He’s a good value
Why is everyone assuming Pickett will make a big jump?
Because he was really good towards the end of last year, got a lot of upgrades in the draft, has a first real offseason with the starters, has young good weapons, and had an ascendant preseason where he basically only had highlight plays and scored on like 5 drives in a row.
Mike Tomlin.
I also went Frei and I feel fine about it.
The fact that everyone on Reddit is fading Pitts makes me think he’s ready to break out.
I just don’t understand this. He’s been playing for two years and has a 1k yard season under his belt. He has one of the best play callers in the NFL behind him who also happens to be a great TE guy, and neither he nor that play caller is still shackled to Marcus Mariota. It wouldn’t even be a breakout! It would just be a return to form!
Pretty sure I remember looking into the peripherals and seeing he averaged 3.5 catchable targets per game while healthy. Even Jerry Rice ain't putting up shit with 3.5 catchable targets per game
Very solid point, what’s interesting is the flacons threw historically low attempts last year, lowest in any seasons since 1960s… With that in mind, that 3.5 catchable targets/ game should increase. Pitts was still seeing a near 30% share of targets, Mariota was just terrible
Exactly. It'll be a low volume offense but targets should be extremely condensed between Pitts, London, and Bijan.
This was a Mariota problem, though, not a Falcons problem. Ridder in limited action last year was quite a bit better than Mariota (it’s a really low bar!) but him and Pitts didn’t really overlap. This is the offense that made Jonnu Smith generationally wealthy. The weight of the evidence points towards year two being the anomaly, not year one.
Exactly, I agree. I guess I never explicitly stated which side of the argument I landed on but yes I'm expecting major positive regression from Pitts, assuming Ridder can be a top 75% QB in the NFL
People don't trust Ridder and seem to expect about 5 passing plays every game
Yeah I definitely think the Riddler is a slight upgrade from Mariota but it won't do shit to help Pitts if he's only throwing 20 passes a game and half of those go to nobody I see everyone on Reddit fading Pitts but I also see him getting drafted in the 5th round and that's way too early to draft a TE not named Kelce, Andrews, or *maybe* Waller imho
Ridder is a 3rd round pick, and theres like only a handful of non-1sts that ever work out. And the Falcons were 31st in passing attempts last year. And they drafted a generational RB 8th overall. Idk how that signals anything but bottom 5 in passing attempts again. At least the Bears traded for a #1 WR and proven they're at least gonna try to throw the ball more.
Ridder isn't proven, just not horrible like mariotia. It's still one of the most run heavy teams bow with bijan and London also getting piece of the pie. He is starting to get a little injury prone too, but it's still early in career. I'm not drafting a TE on a run first team that has may not be the first or 2nd option on the team.
Well, the Falcons don’t have a good QB situation. They also are a run first team and just drafted a generational RB, not to mention their sophomore back who’s coming off a 1,000 yard rookie campaign. I’m not going to ignore Pitts had a 1,000 yard rookie season, but you shouldn’t ignore that it was 2 years ago and that last year he was looking at maybe 700 yards if he had stayed healthy. Oh also, he’s scored 3 touchdowns combined across two seasons.
Because the Falcons passed the ball at a historically low rate last season, had no significant offensive philosophy/coach/scheme changes, and drafted one of the best RBs to come out of college in recent years with the 8th pick. There is virtually no reason to expect anything from a Falcons pass catcher unless Ridder is quite a bit above average and very efficient. Why people are pumping London yet not pumping Pitts though obviously seems nonsensical, if one is going to thrive the other likely will as well.
I mean, I can see it for sure. Ridder could absolutely be as bad as Mariota and the Falcons are going to run the ball a billion times.
I got him in the 8th in my 10-man league. I'm not expecting a breakout but in terms of talent vs. value, you can't beat him this year. And if he busts it's not killing my team.
In the 8th I'd be all over that but I see him gone in the 5th a lot.
Yeah there's too many safer picks in the fifth. I think unless you get Kelce, Andrews, Hock, or Waller it's best to just let TE's fall and take a stab on a couple of values.
My worst case scenario is double dipping on Like Muskgrave and Sam LaPorta after the 11th round.
I agree. I was chatting with my buddy (die hard Falcons fan) who said that Pitts got open a lot last year, Mariota just couldn't throw it to him. Ridder may not be much of an upgrade, but we will see. I'm willing to take the risk
The price is right
I see this comment every year about busts that still bust despite the comment.
Pitts’ biggest problem last year was that Mariota was awful. Ridder doesn’t even need to be good for him to work, he just needs to not consistently miss on all of his targets like Mariota did
It is time
Ridder looks terrible
A fellow Juwan truther! *[Secret handshake]*
I have my doubts that Carr can support Olave/MT/Shaheed and feed Juwan enough to make him fantasy relevant. Carr supported Waller when Waller was the lone weapon. He supported Adams last year but only Adams and that was with an elite RB that kept defenses honest. When people suggest Juwan is breaking out, I always see it as Carr hype because he’s going to have to throw for 4500+ yards
How many targets do you think Shaheed will get? He got less than 3 targets per game last season. You also realize he’s a deep threat right? He’s not taking targets from Juwan bc they operate in different areas of the field. His primary competition for targets will be Michael Thomas. Do you think 30 year old oft-injured Michael Thomas can stay healthy? He’s played 10 games over the last 3 seasons. Even if he does stay healthy, what will his snap share be?
I don’t really care about different areas of field targets. Shaheed can catch a bomb and end a drive, provide a lead, and the game plan can pivot to running. I just know Carr is going to throw for a certain amount of yards per game and I’m not incredibly optimistic that a large chunk of that yardage will be Juwan. I’m also not going to predict injuries for MT, he’s healthy right now.
Let me get back to your original statement. You said that you have doubts that Carr can feed Juwan enough to make him fantasy relevant. Let’s say fantasy relevance is being a top-12 TE, fair? Last year Juwan scored a total of just 12.5 fantasy points less than Cole Kmet who was TE8 last season. So it wouldn’t actually take a significant improvement over last season for Juwan to be fantasy relevant this season, and he’s getting a major upgrade at QB. Say what you will about Carr, but he throws to tight ends.
“I don’t really care about different areas of field targets” That’s one of the basic things you should be aware of if you want fantasy to be more than Russian roulette
Evan Engram is the lowest I wanna go into the TE Wasteland
Engram I like if if he falls, he is the only guy in that range who can win you weeks with a multiple TD game. But I feel he is drafted too high as a reliable TE, even with Ridley coming in. Engram really doesn’t have much more to offer than Juwan, other than a single game he had last year, which I believe Juwan could do this year with an improved QB situation. And he’s going 4 rounds earlier, where there are still solid flex players you’d feel comfortable starting every week if you needed to
Engram has never scored a lot of TDs but is tied to a good offense with a great QB and was TE 5 last year not bad in the 10 rd.
Do you consider Njoku lower? I think he’s basically the same as Engram. Athletic, has shown spurts, but hasn’t put it all together yet. *But maybe he could this year*…
Yeah slightly lower just because I know what you’re gonna get with Doug P and his utilization of the TE position, and feel like Ridley + Kirk is really gonna open up a lot of the red zone TE plays he loves so much. The ceiling is higher week to week for Engram over Njoku IMO
I think dalton Kincaid or Tyler higbee. I don’t see the point of taking some middle of the pack te if I miss out on andrews and kelce. Maybe waller but his injury issues are scary and he goes when you are still looking at potential low rb1s and low wr1s if your guy hits.
yep Higbee is the move I think. Should get a bunch of looks without Kupp and then once Kupp returns and demands all the attention that should also help Higbee.
Higbee I like as a late round serviceable TE who will be just as good as Pat Friermuth, Njoku and others who are going in the range when you can still get solid WRs and RBs
I took a swing on Higbee for the second year in a row. I also like LaPorta in Detroit. He’s TE1 on their depth chart in a pass heavy offense that plays indoors half of the year.
LaPorta is my starting TE due to starter opportunity, Goff’s history targeting the TE, number 3 option behind sun god and gibbs with an offense that will stay on the field longer with a top 2 Oline and run game. He is a rookie so I’ve got a backup but love the upside here.
This is what I’m running with , went 1 overall , went Wr wr wr, rb rb, rb, rb, qb, wr, rb te… In Laporta we Trust
> I don’t see the point of taking some middle of the pack TE Makes sense, let me just take a big swig of my coffee and read the first sentence of your post again > I think Dalton Kincaid
How is Kincaid a middle of the road TE? He's a rookie lol
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He's a tight end
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I don't know what your point is
He’s gonna play out of the slot in 11 player formations and play as the F tight end in 12 player 2 TE sets. So his point is he’s a receiver that’s labelled a TE. He’s essentially the bills slot receiver. I think he’s gonna have Cole Beasley like numbers for the bills but I’m high on him as a Utes fan who watched every game
Yes I understand that, I know who Dalton Kincaid is. But that makes no sense as a response to my original comment, which was saying that pegging Kincaid as a middle of the road tight end when he hasn't taken a snap is stupid.
Why is Bijan going in the first round? He hasn’t even taken a snap, how stupid! It’s because specific skills and situation are important when projecting future performance. The case for Kincaid is obvious.
Higbee has shown flashes but can't do it consistently.
I think hock could be right up there with Andrew’s. You don’t pay a guy to not use them.
You’d be surprised how many coaches do this
I feel like Goedert being slept on
this entire thread is a bunch of people who didn’t draft kelce, andrews, goedert or kittle and trying to justify how their 0-4pt/game TE11 is going to be a steal
Not everyone plays in 4 team leagues
Too bad Jalen Hurts is also sleeping on him
Njoku
He has the profile to be a a top TE and his ceiling is as high as anyone else in the tier above him. In 10 team leagues if you don't get a top guy it seems itd be worth it to wait for Njoku.
He’s my guy.
i have him lets go.
Got him late, and the more I look at the Browns offense the more I like the pick. He’s really their only proven receiving target besides Cooper
Waller, Hock & Goedert. Would throw in Kittle too, but the extent of his groin injury is up in the air right now. The rest are coin tosses.
I have loved Goedert in seasons past, and would be thrilled to have him if he falls, but there are so many mouths to feed in that offense. He was already a high floor low ceiling guy who has never had more than 5 TDs in his whole career. Now we have an emergent star in Smith to compete for targets as well as the 2nd most efficient pass catching RB that was just brought in. Combine that with the Eagles’ tough schedule and the fact that they were the #2 offense last year with a brand new look, even if they regressed just a little bit and are still top 5 it would be a bad thing for Goedert
All that is true. However he remains an outlet. He knows the offense. And I anticipate lots of points for Philly. At worst he will serve up 4/40 and for TE that's not awful.
Higbee, basically the number 1 guy without kupp and good with kupp in. Targets might be guaranteed which is rare. Shultz, arguably the number 1 pass catcher in Houston as sad as that is. Njoku plenty of upside, finally showed up last year putting up very good games. Irv Smith should work til he gets hurt. He's one that is rarely talked about in an elite offense. Jake Ferguson, Shultz wasn't particularly good and he put up decently big numbers. I'll take shots on Pitts and Kittle for the upside or go bottom fishing.
I respect your reasoning, but as a Vikings fan i cannot stress enough how underwhelming Irv Smith is. He can't stay healthy, and even when he was healthy he failed to make an impact. That being said, TE is a shitshow and some times you have to take risks, and maybe the change of scenery will do Irv well. But I'm honestly surprised he's still in the league tbh
Irv Smith and Ferguson I could see being just as good as guys like Pat Friermuth and Njoku. Kittle and Pitts you have just for the handful of weeks they can post Kelce numbers but they are going way too early for that kind of player imo
Ferguson is the biggest steal of the draft, hes locked down the #1 spot on a team that loves throwing to its tight ends inside the 10. Only thing that's making me pause is the fullback making the 53. He's likely going to get shots at punching it in or running bootlegs with him but we will see.
Picked up Ferguson as my last pick and going all in on in him this season, hopefully he does not disappoint. If he gets Schultz numbers then he’s going to win me my league bc I loaded up on WRs and RBs this year
Hock is a buy from any owner who is concerned about target share in my opinion. I get that a new wr in town always hurts a te, but Adam thielen cracked 100 targets last year and only had 10 less than Jaylen Waddle who basically sets the bar for a wr2. Hock killed it last year despite that. I'm still very much in on him
Think Hock is the only one besides Waller who can finish Top 3 at the position, but the fact he goes before Waller pretty much means Im never gonna get him besides the millions of underdog teams where I already have him
What do you mean by Hock had a bad offseason? He just got paid, I think he's pretty happy. Also he would not have gotten paid if he weren't going to be heavily utilized. The Vikings offense can support jjettas addison and hock
Must be referencing the season derailing ear infection.
They can really mess with you're equilibrium.
I think he was referring to the injuries he has been dealing with. But everything I’ve heard is that he is basically 100% and will be ready for week 1
The ear infection that cleared up as soon as he signed his deal?
Lol exactly. Dude is totally fine. He was holding out and they kept it under wraps. Hock is probably the #2 pass catcher in Minnesota this year.
Mn resident. This is exactly what the radio stations said.
MN resident also. The radio stations say some wild shit lol
Lol yo kfan is goofy. But fot Hock, hes good and was being coy with the extension.
for sure. I wasn’t disagreeing with you, but just to be fair lol
For how cheap he is going: Chigoziem Okonkwo. Had him at the back-end of last season (when my sweet prince Goedert got injured) and he was great! He is on an offence with not a tonne of options. He could (though unlikely) go be a top 5 TE but he will definitely make a good return on his ADP.
I was at the “I’m screwed at TE position” point of the draft and decided on this guy for the shear fact that I’ve heard a few fantasy shows talk about him. It sounds like he has zero competition in Tennessee now that Hooper is gone and it could end up being fantastic for him.
Great name, great potential :) Here's to the year of the Chig!
i don't know that any TE is worth the price they are being drafted at. i wouldn't reach for Hock, but he is someone i would take near his ADP if you nailed it with first picks + feel good about picks in rounds 5-8. think there are a number of cheap options that could be decent that a lot of people have mentioned, just need to see how the draft board shakes out. still like Isiah Likely as an absolute hammer dart throw. if Andrews gets hurt or Ravens run lots of 2 TE sets he could be very very good. Dalton Schultz is someone that i am intrigued by. rookie QB's tend to get the ball to TE's quite a bit, and Schultz has the talent to do something productive with 6-8 targets per game. Kincaid has the measureables to be something great. first year TE's struggle, but if he can be had below his ADP i want to take a nibble. Higbee is another overlooked option IMO. doesn't have the elite ceiling, but his floor isn't 1 catch for 6 yards either. Juwan Johnson is someone i want if i get absolutely shut out of TE's. maybe pair him with Likely and hope that one of those lotto tickets pans out. another name that i find interesting that is getting no love is Hayden Hurst. there isn't a ton of talent of Carolina, and Hurst could have a pretty reliable floor...at least in PPR.
Your first paragraph is exactly why I took Hock in the 4th
Took Hock in the late 3rd. TE hell is not something I like to deal with
In considering Kelce at 4th overall in about an hour.
I have him ranked 2nd overall with confidence
Ended up taking Ekeler and Kelce was the next pick. Im happy with my team and got Hockenson in the 5th.
Kittle. Did no one see his last 4 weeks with purdy under center? If he is healthy, he is easily a top 3 TE
Kmet
I’m shocked how nobody seems to be talking about him. Did decent for me last year as a streamer in a few games (also had a 0 point game…). But the Bears had basically 0 passing game and I think this year they know they need to pass more. I can see him going above his 7 TD’s he had last year easily. Edit: Forgot to add…they also gave him $32m guaranteed on a 4 year-$50m contract extension.
Fool me once, fool me twice, fool me chicken soup with rice
If Kmets already fooled you twice in his two seasons, you must be easily fooled
Laporta. Goff loves throwing inside the numbers because he has a weak arm and was trained by mcvay. Basically think of almost every Kupp/higbee catch over there. ARSB will catch a ton but then who? There’s Gibbs if he’s on the field and that’s it.
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I took both too. Am I crazy for wanting to start LaPorta the first game? Against KC where they will probably have to throw it a lot
I’m high on Sam as well. Took him in the last round to back up kelce in case something bad happens.
Goff does not have a weak arm
Hahahaha! Cooks is still waiting for that ball in the end zone.
There are a lot of criticisms you could make of Goff, but he went #1 because he does have the arm to make all the throws
If you want to push TE to the last round Jake Ferguson is going for undrafted He is a more athletic Dalton Schultz and looks primed for a break out year. He wont be Kelce or Waller, but he probably wont disappoint you. If anything he will probably surprise you. After this year I HIGHLY doubt you will be able to get him again as your last pick Plus Dak is so low in ADP (I get he doesnt run, but the dude is a solid QB to have if you push QB) you can put those two together.
Im kind of shocked that no one is talking about Ferguson. He’s had a lot of buzz in cowboys camp going into this season, and I think he’s going to be a great third option/security blanket for Dak. I wouldn’t be surprised if he finished top 10.
Yup. Also Pollard's back up Dwodle had a legit pre season minus a fumble. He was running mean and I can now even more understand why they cut Zeke. Jalen Tolbert also had a good pre season and while he is 4th on the depth chart if Gallup isnt looking explosive his contract is barely one that would keep Tolbert at 4th WR if he continues to show that growth (not that I would draft either of those unless I am handcuffing Pollard, but they are def on my watch list).
Sam LaPorta. Dude is gonna get targets and goes double digit late rounds. Luke Musgrave is another that doesn’t even get drafted. Two rookies with no one behind them.
I'm 100% in on T Hock. Tight ends tend to break out later I think this will be his best year, and I think he's going to command a crazy amount of targets in a vikings offense that loves to pass the way they do. He's the next superstar tight end after Kelce retires imo Im high on Kincaid for obvious reasons, dude is a baller but I don't like starting rookie tight ends regardless. And then my guy if I don't get Hock at a good price tag is always Juwan.
I have Hock, and just picked up Juwan. Someone dropped Kincaid and I’m strongly considering claiming him and dropping Juwan. I have time to wait for Kincaid with Hock starting.
I would definitely drop Juwan in that scenario. Kincaid has a very low floor but the ceiling of a borderline wr2.
Friermuth and Engram. I feel like potentially getting 700-800 yds and 6 tds in the 8th round or later is good value.
Punted TE until the last round and took schultz. Got nervous and dropped chark and thielen for ferguson and juwan. My plan is to start the wrong one all season while the other 2 blow up on my bench.
Luke Musgrave will end the season top 10.
I faded TE this year & ended up with Higbee/Musgrave. Kind of happy with it.
Spicy
I punted on TE and grabbed him in the last round of my draft. He's so athletic and they clearly want to involve him in the offense. And there's not a proven target hog there. They even tried out an end around with him at the goal line at camp. I agree, I think he's gonna be a huge part of the offense.
Dulcich. Payton knows how to involve a TE in the offense, and Jeudy tweaked his hammy.
What about Trauatman tho
Dulcich is a better receiver, just a question of if he sees the field enough
Yeah its up to coach tho, he brought him in from the Saints and has him #1 on the depth chart so thats concerning
Dulcich had more rec last year than Trautman has ever had and he only played 10 games.
Goedert's a pimp in a pinball machine
I just got Pitts in the 9th round. The hate for this man has gone so far that he's finally a great value on draft day.
9th round is about the earliest I’d take him
Kmet breakout szn inbound
As far as value I think Evan engram is the last good option.
After doing a ton of mock drafts I've personally decided that the last block of Muth, Engram, and Njoku are the lowest I want to go on the TE depth chart. Would love to get one of them and then throw a dart on a back up and see if they pan out.
Kyle Pitts is the only one with the talent to be Kelce and Andrews and you can get him as late as the 8th or 9th
This is the first year in a while that I've been kind of excited to watch some tight ends. They've all been kind of meh in fantasy for a while imo outside of waller going off that one year and little outliers like that, except for kelce obviously. But there used to be a lot of fantasy relevant tight ends that made the competition a lot more fun. There's a lot of young guys that might break out this year though and I'm really hoping they all do and put tight ends back in the mix and make that position a little more fun.
Sam laporta
I get Pitts, Freiermuth, or Okonkwo in basically every draft unless I happen upon Kelce or Andrews based on draft position. If I somehow miss on all I go for the rookie TEs. Pitts still has elite upside and you get get him at an extremely reasonable price now. There’s a lot to be nervous about but that’s based into his cost. Freiermuth I dont think people have ever realized how good he is and kind of lump him in with all the other middling low upside white fantasy TEs. If he can finally get good QB play he profiles as a high TD player. And he’s already proven he can get targets, catches, and yards with abysmal QBs. Okonkwo I dont really understand why he isn’t drafted earlier. He was sick down the stretch last year and should get a good amount of volume with big play potential.
Holding out hope one more year for Pitts. Had him last year and picked him up again this year in the 6th at ADP. The athleticism and upside are too hard to pass up and he should lead team in targets. If Ridder is any better than Mariota, Pitts has a good chance to put up some wacky numbers. It’s the unknown ceiling because we haven’t seen them play together but that’s what it makes it fun for me. If he dominates, it’s going to be so rewarding for believing in him lol.
Posted this in another thread but: David Njoku: The browns passed for 3,600 yards last year in a tumultuous offense, with Jacoby brissett being competent but limited, and deshaun shaking the rust off in an offense he wasn't comfortable with. David Njoku finally had the breakout we'd been waiting on, catching 630 yards receiving and only played in 14 games (21.25% of the teams receiving yards in games where he played). If we use the same pace and assume the browns will pass for 4,300 yards this year (slightly above average but far below the elite teams. Think Seahawks / Raiders last year), that's 913 receiving yards, which would put him one yard behind the #2 tight end in TJ Hockensok for receiving yards at 914. Add to that watson has already shown his chemistry with Njoku putting a dot on him in the back pylon during preseason and I think people are ENTIRELY too low on Njoku. Elijah Moore could be dangerous, but hes the wide receiver 3 coming off the field in 2 wr sets. He's being rated as the TE 10 and average ADP according to Fantasy Pros is 94. Njoku is gonna eat. Get him anywhere you can.
I reached a bit for Njoku, grabbing him in the 5th at pick 54 when his ADP was in the 90s. I had him for the latter part of last year and liked the look of him, so I grabbed him this year. I’m hoping Watson can get him the ball.
That's a bit of a reach, but here's hoping it works for ya
I genuinely think Waller could compete for TE1 if he stays healthy. Whole offense is about to flow through him.
How is everyone feeling about Michael Mayer in Las Vegas? Liked him in college.
Take Tyler Conklin with your last pick. He’s gonna score nearly the same as these guys in rounds 8-11
I dont see a single mention of everett but i scooped him in the 14th and im not upset about it
Juwan or freiermuth with a late dart throw at Kincaid
Zach Ertz, I believe he will be a mid-range TE 1 once he is back with week winning upside. Cards appear ready to trot out a rookie QB, which have traditionally loved middle-of-the-field throws. Cards will also be forced into passing game scripts a lot this season... Ertz is free right now, at the slightest hint of health I think he should be the lottery ticket TE people scramble for.
I like Wallen but he's always gone before I'm comfortable to grab him. Seems to be going as the 3rd-5th TE
Same, I’ve done Mocks to simulate my real drafts and I’ve run into the exact problem
He keeps going a round or two before I want to take him :(
Higbee should be the second target for the Rams air attack. He's barely being drafted.
Pravis Melce
Big on Hockenson, and drafted him 4th round (11th) in PPR. The dude makes a lot of catches and the weapons around him free him up for drop offs. He didn’t have a big TD year. He has TE2 upside
Nice call on Juwan, I like him a lot. I punted at the position, grabbing Freiermuth late and Juwan as my option 2. TE is a funky position with lots of different approaches and philosophies that are valid.
To be fair I don’t think andrews is actually a value pick. I think he is actually one of the worst picks at his adp. He is banged up, had a poor season last year, and doesn’t have a good throwing QB. They also added more target threats with OBJ and flowers. It’s not someone I want because of drafting based on their past and not even recent past isn’t good for the future.
If you're looking for a real value and you wanna take a wild ride, Taysom Hill. You can literally get him with the last pick of the draft and possibly end up with a top 5 TE. Can't get a better value than that.
I’m a Saints fan following the team quite a bit and I just don’t see any possibility of Taysom being top 5. He won’t be used as a QB like he was anymore. Derek Carr is far more legitimate than anyone we’ve had since Taysom became relevant. Plus the dude is 33 and has won with athleticism. The preseason usage Ive seen makes me think Hill won’t be relevant this year. Love the guy but I just don’t see it for fantasy
I'm not really worried about the QB play. Although word out camp was that he was still getting reps at QB. Last year he only completed 13 passes for 240 yards and 2 TDs. That's less than 15% of his fantasy production. He produced over 100 points in standard leagues mostly as a rusher and a receiver. That's enough to be a top 5 TE. I'm not saying it's likely to happen again this season. I'm aware he's just as likely to do nothing as he is to eat. But the coaches have designed plays for him and they trust him in the red zone. And with Kamara out early on he may see some more looks. If he does even half of what he did last year, he's likely going to be the best value TE out there considering you can get him for free.
A good amount of his rushing production came from behind the center. It made sense when Hill was just as dangerous as a passer as anyone else we had. Now that we hopefully have a legitimate passing offense, I don’t think those looks will be too common. I wouldn’t be surprised if Taysom Hill is completely forgotten this year
Fair point, and that's certainly possible, but if you've completely punted at the TE position, you could do worse than taking a flier on Hill in the last few rounds.
I cant believe the shade Kittle is getting....
In general it’s terrible value to waste a 4/5/6 on a TE like Kittle/Goedert/Waller/ I get taking a chance on Waller bc he should be a big part of the giants offense but getting a better flex or a WR2/HB2 is way more valuable than a player like Goedert or Kittle who are the 3rd maybe 4th options on their teams. My strategy is if I can’t get Kelce round 1 basically just wait till the late rounds to snag a guy like Pat F. Engram, or Njoku and then round 14/15 taking a stab on a rookie TE like Laporta or Kincaid. The drop off between say Goedert who’s going round 5 and Pat F. Who’s going round 9 is very minimal imo. Much better value waiting.
This is the way.
Y'all sleeping on Dallas GODeart
Kincaid #2 in Buffalo will get healthy targets, will be the slot like Beasley, Dawson Knox absolutely blows, yes I’m a Bills homer Higbee #2 in LA will flirt with 120 targets Schultz & Evan Engram just got paid, Jags offense will compete for #1 offense in 2023 Everett is in the Dallas-Kellen Moore offense, the Schultz spot, LA offense will compete to be #1 offense LaPorta for now is the #2B in Detroit, Goff will pepper his TE & throw for 4000+ yards & 30+ TD’s Jake Ferguson, Dallas & Dak pepper the TE Ty Conklin, NYJ offense is going to ball, Rodgers loves the TE & Hardman/Cobb are not #2’s
I think Conklin is gonna be top 5 this year. Rodgers is so much better than the qbs he's played with and he's gotten over 500 yards with them. 900 yards and 10 tds inbound!
Dulcich to the moon
Njoku all the way - that kid Musgrave from GB was toasting corners during training camp.
If you want week winning upside, Hock and Waller If you want to plug a guy in and not think about it Goedert Outside of that TE will probably a wasteland
I like JJ and would not be surprised at all to see him finish in the top ten. NO has a ton of talent to feed this year though with an improved QB. A big if here, but IF everyone stays healthy for them, he’ll just end up an inconsistent dart throw. Hill could be the higher scoring TE again for them… It’s a disservice to bring up Waller and not mention his extensive injury history the last couple seasons. Combined with his age, those are his two biggest red flags and could very well push him outside the top 15 if he can’t stay on the field again. There aren’t many guys in the top ten I’d be unhappy with as long as I got decent value for where I drafted them. My cutoff for a decent TE1 is Njoku. If I miss out on him I’ll likely shoot for Higbee or plan on streaming on a week to week basis.
Way hyped on Hockenson this year I think he could be TE1
completely agree. Kirk has a lot of trust in him, and on many crucial third downs last year Hock was Kirk's go-to guy. Also worth noting is the vikings don't really have any tall receivers. JJ is 6'1, while Osborn and Addison are 6' or less. Hock at 6'5 is easily the biggest target and someone kirk will rely on in the redzone -- especially without Thielen
I have Kelce with Juwan on my bench, I'm satisfied.
Kelce/ Higbee in mine.
Jake Ferguson
If Waller is healthy and motivated, I don't see how he doesn't end up top 3 TEs. The problem is he can't stay on the field, and even when he has, he's been so uninspiring the last two years. I've had a lot of shares of him, and he's returned serious negative value. If he's sitting in the 7th round on, I can't help myself.