2020 fantasy football tight end guide: Sleepers, busts and strategy

How to approach the position this season.

By now, fantasy football draft prep should be starting up, so it’s time to dig deep and figure out who you should focus on at each position … and who you should avoid whether it’s based on average draft position or other reasons.

That’s what this series of posts is meant to be. We started with running backs, covered wide receivers and quarterbacks, and now, finally, we’re on to tight ends, one of the more debated positions when it comes to fantasy draft strategy.

Here’s how to approach the position at draft time, along with some sleepers and busts to remember:

Strategy

It used to be that you’d pick Rob Gronkowski high up because he was far and away the best at his position and good fantasy TEs were tougher to find.

Now? It’s a much more talent-filled position, with Travis Kelce and George Kittle in the top tier. But then you’ve got some upside names in the middle — if Evan Engram is healthy, does he break out? Is Darren Waller going to find the end zone more while gathering up yardage like he did in 2019? And there are young sleepers aplenty here.

So you could go in a few directions: either take Kelce or Kittle high up and not worry about the position the rest of the way, grab one of those middle guys after you’ve filled out other positions or wait a while and pick a couple of sleepers.

Sleepers

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Mike Gesicki, Miami Dolphins

He found paydirt five times last year and was targeted 89 times. This year, both could increase especially given that two Dolphins receivers opted out.

Hayden Hurst, Atlanta Falcons

It’s simple math: Austin Hooper signed with the Cleveland Browns. He caught 75 passes last year. Yes, some of those may go to Calvin Ridley, but you have to think Hurst is in for a BIG role.

Noah Fant, Denver Broncos

Rookie tight ends don’t usually produce that much, with exceptions. Fant ended up with a pretty solid first season by those standards (40 catches, 562 yards, three touchdowns), which means Year 2 could be a big one.

Jack Doyle, Indianapolis Colts

A deep sleeper right here, but let’s review: Eric Ebron is gone, he was targeted 72 times last season and Trey Burton may not pose much of a threat. Plus, Philip Rivers likes throwing to tight ends. Hmmm.

Busts

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Rob Gronkowski, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Don’t pay too much based on the name and the situation, a reunion with Tom Brady. He’s coming back after a year off, and we know that in his past three seasons, he didn’t play a full 16-game slate. Add in some receiver talent that Brady didn’t always have in New England … and I’m avoiding him if the price is too high.

Hunter Henry, Los Angeles Chargers

I just don’t know. I think he’s ranked too high coming into this season, but are the Chargers going to run a ton? And who will be throwing him the ball? And are we buying in too much on what he did in 2016?

Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams

He probably won you a league last year. But Gerald Everett is still there, and I worry it’s a time-share situation like the Colts had in 2019.

Jared Cook, New Orleans Saints

Fantasy owners should know that touchdowns fluctuate year to year. In Cook’s case, all he basically did was catch touchdowns — nine, to be exact, of his 43 catches were in the end zone. That’s not happening again.

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