Tag: fantasy football tight ends

5 tight ends to consider if you miss out on the top guys

Several value buys at the tight end position to target on draft day.

For those who play in tight end-mandatory leagues, there is a clear sense of demarcation among the top fantasy football tight ends. Once Travis Kelce goes, it starts the clock when the other top tight ends come off the board. George Kittle, Mark Andrews and T.J. Hockenson make up the second tier. Not far behind are Dallas Goedert, Darren Waller and Kyle Pitts as the third tier.

Clearly, not every fantasy team is going to make the investment to land one of these players. For those fantasy teams, owners can hold off filling this roster need for a long time and still get value. Here are five tight ends to keep in mind if you don’t get one of the top guys.

How should fantasy footballers approach Chicago’s tight ends?

Looking into Chicago’s potential dual-threat tight end room.

A season ago, the phrase “Chicago Bears passing game” practically reached oxymoronic status alongside the likes of “jumbo shrimp” and “civil war.” The team attempted just 377 passes, which not only ranked last in the NFL, but it also was the lowest number of pass attempts since the Pittsburgh Steelers had 358 back in 2004 — and Pittsburgh’s per-game mark was slightly higher.

Clearly, that isn’t a winning approach, and the Bears have gone about overhauling their offense with trades for Chase Claypool and DJ Moore at receiver, the selection of Darnell Wright at tackle, and the signings of Nate Davis (left guard), and Robert Tonyan at tight end. The last of which will join Cole Kmet to give third-year quarterback Justin Fields a potentially potent combination at the position. Let’s see how Tonyan’s arrival affects the tight end outlook in Chicago for fantasy owners.

Better than average: Tight Ends

Which tight ends were truly the best against specific defenses?

As always, there are so few difference-making tight ends that after the top five of the position, there’s only moderate to mediocre fantasy value in all the rest. But as with the other positions, here are how tight ends fared considering how they stacked up against all other tight ends that faced the same defense.

Better than average: QB | RB | WR

TM Tight End BTA score Top 1 Top 3 Top 8
BAL Mark Andrews 29 4 10 15
KC Travis Kelce 27 4 10 13
DAL Dalton Schultz 25 4 8 13
TB Rob Gronkowski 18 3 7 8
BUF Dawson Knox 16 3 5 8
ATL Kyle Pitts 15 2 4 9
SF George Kittle 15 3 5 7
DET T.J. Hockenson 13 1 4 8
LVR Darren Waller 13 1 4 8
MIA Mike Gesicki 12 0 2 10
NE Hunter Henry 12 0 3 9
PHI Dallas Goedert 12 1 4 7
LAR Tyler Higbee 11 0 3 8
ARI Zach Ertz 9 0 2 7
DEN Noah Fant 9 1 2 6
PIT Pat Freiermuth 9 1 1 7
SEA Gerald Everett 7 0 1 6
ARI Maxx Williams 6 2 2 2
CHI Cole Kmet 6 0 2 4
CIN C.J. Uzomah 6 1 2 3
CLE David Njoku 6 0 2 4
LAC Jared Cook 6 0 1 5

The biggest surprise from last year was Dalton Schultz, who fared nearly as well as any NFL tight end when he faced any opponent. Schultz also gets the benefit of Amari Cooper’s departure and having Michael Gallup returning from injury.

Maxx Williams owning the top performance against two defenses was a true surprise, but it was also the only thing that he did. That also reflected the injury problems that the Arizona Cardinals had last season. It was encouraging to see that Kyle Pitts landed a top-8 performance against an opposing defense on nine occasions. He’ll likely improve on that for 2021.

As usual, there are three top tight ends that stand apart from the rest, and the other tight ends decline rapidly in value.

TM Tight Ends Top 1
BAL Mark Andrews 4
KC Travis Kelce 4
DAL Dalton Schultz 4
TB Rob Gronkowski 3
BUF Dawson Knox 3
SF George Kittle 3
ATL Kyle Pitts 2
ARI Maxx Williams 2

Once again, Schultz was the surprise of 2021 tied with Mark Andrews and Travis Kelce by lodging the best fantasy performance against a defense with four different opponents.