The Tight End, or that position that has Rob Gronkowski and a bunch of other guys. This ranking will be more clear-cut than the Running Back rankings, because, well, certain teams just don’t use a Tight End that much. Without further ado, let’s rank some big, athletic dudes.
1. Rob Gronkowski, Patriots
-No need to fool around here. For as long as he’s healthy, Gronk dominates the position, is going into perhaps the prime of his career, and will be even more valuable for the first 4 games of the season if the Tom Brady suspension is upheld as a safety-valve for whatever new QB takes his place. Gronk’s never scored less than 10 TDs when playing more than 10 games, and is afforded work on a weekly basis that’s rarely found for a guy at his position. If you’re picking in the back end of the first round, don’t be afraid to take him with confidence and know most weeks you’ll be outscoring the other guy in at least one position. Although I’m only ranking the starters, also take note of Martellus Bennett, who I think will be very active in the Patriots passing game a la Aaron Hernandez from a few years ago.
2. Greg Olsen, Panthers
-There’s a case to be made for Jordan Reed here, but I’m going Olsen. Olsen is obscenely durable (he hasn’t missed a game since 2007), and has seen his yardage total either hold steady or rise in each of his 5 seasons since joining the Panthers, peaking last year at over 1,100 yards. A very safe pick that almost guarantees that you’ll get solid production week-in and week-out, Olsen is a staple of one of the best offenses in the league, and worthy of an early pick in a fantasy draft.
3. Jordan Reed, Redskins
-Based on upside alone, Reed is definitely the 2nd best TE here, but he comes with a little baggage. A supreme athlete and a trendy sleeper pick for his first couple seasons, Reed went flying under the radar last year amidst concerns about injuries and his ability to get in the endzone, and rewarded any fantasy owner faithful enough to take him handsomely. Reed totaled 87 receptions and 952 yards with 11 TDs on a resurgent Redskins team, and although he missed 2 games, he still finished as the #2 overall Tight End. He has quite an injury history, especially with concussions, so be prepared for if he misses a couple games, but for the games he plays, he’s dynamite. I do have worries that the Redskins won’t be able to replicate a brilliant 2015 offensive campaign, and that it will hurt Reed’s season-long production. Regardless, he’s a major piece in the Redskins offense and an elite athlete, meaning if he’s playing, he’s going to be an active participant in the offense.
4. Delanie Walker, Titans
-I’m not totally on board the Tyler Eifert train, so Walker gets the nod here, and in general I’ll take the guy who’s getting points off yardage over the guy that’s getting points over TDs. Walker, like Olsen, almost seems to get better with age, improving his catch and yardage total for the 5th straight season, peaking last year with 94 catches and 1,088 yards. What’s more promising is that he seemed to quickly mesh with rookie QB Marcus Mariota, which should carry over into this season. The downside to Walker is the TD total – he has never caught more than 6 in a season, and if Dorial Green-Beckham becomes the player they want him to be, he will almost certainly soak up a lot of red-zone targets. The Titans have a wealth of offensive skill players, but it remains to be seen how much, if at all, this will affect the targets Walker receives. As it stands, Walker is Marcus Mariota’s top target in what looks to be a pass-happy offense, and in a PPR league, Walker is a top-3 TE.
5. Tyler Eifert, Bengals
-I’m not going to be owning Tyler Eifert in any of my leagues this year, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a good TE. In my opinion, he’s a much better play in daily fantasy than he is in season-long leagues, as he is Touchdown dependent, and because of that somewhat boom-or-bust. In his breakout 2015 campaign, Eifert only caught 52 balls, but he made them count – 13 went for TDs, and he established himself as the top red-zone option for Andy Dalton. However, when he wasn’t catching TDs, he really wasn’t that productive; he finished 12th in receiving yards among TEs, and only eclipsed 100 receiving yards once. Forecasting how a TE will do week-to-week is difficult due to the volatility of the position – two of Eifert’s best weeks came against Seattle and Arizona, regarded as two of the league’s best defenses – but if you can play Eifert when he hits big, and stream another TE when he has a down week, Eifert could be a boon for your fantasy team. A high-risk, high-reward player from week-to-week.
6. Ladarius Green, Pittsburgh
-I’m going with the upside option here, but then again, people have been singing Green’s praises for years, and it wasn’t until last season that he really did anything of any consequence. Anyway, if Green works out for the Steelers, he’s going to be really good. We know how much of a juggernaut the Steelers offense can be, and if Heath Miller, who moved like he was in quicksand, can catch 60 passes in that offense, then the uber-athletic Green should, in theory, do very well. With that being said, Miller was actually a big part of the reason that passing attack thrived like it did, as he was a great blocker and safety valve for Ben Roethlisberger. The Steelers also have a myriad of targets that all need targets, so how Green fits into the offense remains to be seen. He’s risky, but I love the upside of Green in the middle rounds.
7. Travis Kelce, Chiefs
-On any other team, he’s a top-3 TE, but unfortunately he’s got a spot on one of the lowest-volume passing attack in the league. Kelce’s got great size (6’5’’, 260 pounds) and is a great athlete, but won’t see the targets of the top-flight TEs due to the low-volume Chiefs passing attack. In addition, Jeremy Maclin is the established #1 target, and if Jamaal Charles is healthy he takes up a good number of targets out of the backfield. I really like Travis Kelce the player, but his situation caps his upside and with 8 games last year with 5 or fewer fantasy points, I’m not investing a middle-round pick on Kelce.
8. Eric Ebron, Lions
-I’m very hopeful for Ebron this year. A very trendy sleeper pick for the 2014 season, Ebron wasn’t great as a rookie (few rookie TEs are) and went flying under the radar in the 2015 season, and actually produced a pretty nice season, finishing 13th in TE scoring. This year, he’ll need to shoulder even more of the burden with Calvin Johnson’s surprise retirement, and we know the Lions are going to sling the ball around with Matthew Stafford. Ebron was targeted 69 times last year, and if he tacks on about 20 – 25 more targets this year, Ebron could be a very high-upside fantasy play that you can target late in the draft.
9. Coby Fleener, Saints
-Fleener has a really good ceiling, but I’m not on board this year. Fleener very quickly developed a rapport with his college teammate Andrew Luck in Indianapolis and ending up winning the timeshare from the talented but frustrating Dwayne Allen. Although the Indianapolis offense was all out-of-sorts last year, Fleener still got ample opportunities but wasn’t impressive, with inconsistent hands and a paltry 9.1 YPC average. Although a lot of this can be blamed on a dreadful Indy O-line not allowing the receivers to get vertical, he shouldn’t be finishing behind Jacob Tamme in fantasy production. TE can also be a difficult position to adapt to a different situation for, and I’m not sure Fleener will automatically have the connection that he and Andrew Luck had. The fact that the Saints rocketed Ben Watson to 8th best at the TE position means Fleener has great upside, but don’t think that automatically qualifies Fleener as a top-flight TE option.
10. Zach Ertz, Eagles
-Ertz has been a trendy “breakout” candidate for. . . well, for about as long as he’s been in the league, and he never really materialized until the latter half of last season, ironically on a Philly offense that was a total mess. Philly can’t be much worse this year, and if the Zach Ertz that totaled 35 catches over the last 4 weeks shows up this season, he could be primed to finally reach the pro-bowl level people have been waiting for from him for so long. With this being said, the Philly WRs were massively underwhelming last year, so if they play better they may sap Ertz of some targets, and Ertz has struggled to find the endzone, so in standard leagues he may be a bit of an up-and-down type guy if the Philly receivers show any sort of improvement.
11. Gary Barnidge, Browns
-Barnidge was a revelation for the Browns in 2015, coming from out of nowhere to finish 3rd in fantasy scoring. However, after taking the league by storm he cooled off immensely in the second half of the season, topping 10 fantasy points just once over his last 6 games, showing that defenses began to pay a little more attention to him as the season went on. In addition, the Browns had a dearth of men to throw to last year, and after taking a whopping 5 WRs in this past year’s draft, they almost certainly will make an effort to get the new guys into the offense. Lastly, Barnidge did his damage with Josh McCown, Austin Davis, and Johnny Manziel last year, and there’s no telling what kind of chemistry he’ll have with Robert Griffin III. He’ll be an active part of this offense, but I doubt he’ll have the impact that he had last year.
12. Julius Thomas, Jaguars
-I’ve stated before that I’m all in on this Jaguars team, and I think Thomas will do nicely this year. Entering last year Thomas was a trendy bust pick, but exceeded expectations and still finished 15th among TEs despite missing the first four games of the season. With this being said, he was extremely up-and-down from week-to-week, with 6 weeks of 2 fantasy points or less. There aren’t too many TEs that give consistent week-in and week-out production, but Thomas is very volatile and despite his terrific athleticism, he’s a guy you’re going need to stream rather than just plug in every week. I also worry that the addition of Chris Ivory, and thus an increased presence of the running game, will lead to a cut in targets for the guys in the receiving game. He’s got a lot of week-to-week upside, though, so if you’re smart with when you play him, he could be a very nice late-round pick.
13. Jimmy Graham, Seahawks
-Absolutely no idea where to rank him; there’s so much to dissect about Graham’s situation. On talent alone, he’s obviously top 10. However, he’s coming off a nasty patellar tendon injury that many believed would cause him to miss a chunk of the regular season, but Pete Carroll is vehement that he will be ready to play week 1. Even so, what level he is able to play at is still a mystery, as is his role in this Seahawks offense – he only caught 2 TDs in 11 games last year and never topped 14 fantasy points in a single game. A boom-or-bust type player at this stage in his career that you may be able to get at a discount, Graham is worth a roll of the dice if you really don’t like how the TE outlook is this year.
14. Zach Miller, Bears
-Didn’t actually get to him until I wrote up my first 19 guys, then when I looked at him I slowly kept moving him up, and up, and up. Miller has been underrated for his whole career and was awesome when Martellus Bennett went out last year, and now gets the full-time job with the incumbent moving on to New England. In addition, if the Chicago WRs can stay healthy they should take a lot of attention away from Miller, who should also function as an excellent security blanket for Jay Cutler under a flaky O-line. If he can continue his level of play from the second half of the year next season, I actually am under-ranking him a bit as he’ll definitely be a top-10 option. Nice upside, a great floor, and an unheralded player could mean a very nice late-round pickup in your draft.
15. Dwayne Allen, Colts
-I really, really loved Dwayne Allen last year, and it COMPLETELY blew up in my face. Naturally, I learned nothing, and I again am on board with Allen this year. Hear me out though! After a TD-rich 2014 campaign, I thought the chance of a breakout was high in the powerful Colts offense. Instead, he caught one TD in the first game and not another one the rest of the year, ceding playing time to Coby Fleener. Fleener is gone now, meaning the position (and targets) are Allen’s to lose. In addition, the whole Colts passing attack suffered as a result of poor O-line play, and with the Colts making an effort to improve that area this year, all the receivers should have resurgent years. Lastly, Colts OC Rob Chudzinski promised Allen would have an increased role in the offense this year and while this typically doesn’t mean anything, it’s encouraging to hear. He could be another disasterpiece, but I also think he has good upside at a very cheap price.
16. Antonio Gates, Chargers
-Every year I wait for Gates to fall apart, and every year it doesn’t happen. I listened to the prophets as they foretold the fall of Gates at the hands of Ladarius Green, and they were wrong. Now, I’m hearing the prophets again harping about talented rookie Hunter Henry stealing playing time, and again I worry about the production of Gates holding up. He’s turning 36, and conventional wisdom would dictate that father time should be taking his toll, but he hasn’t stopped yet, and I still think he has a couple of big games left in him, particularly with the Chargers presumably needing to chuck the ball around and with his nose for the end zone. Rookie TEs typically need some time to acclimate to the NFL game so Gates should remain a solid play for at least the first half of the season, if not the whole year.
17. Vance McDonald, 49ers
-A major speculation pick on my part, I actually think McDonald could produce a very nice fantasy season this year. Reasons: first of all, who else are the 49ers going to throw to? Torrey Smith is more deep threat than possession receiver, Anquan Boldin is quickly approaching 400 years old (that was mean, Anquan is awesome), and besides him we’re looking at Quinton Patton, Bruce Ellington, etc. at WR. Also, I expect San Fran to be playing from behind a lot, so I’ll expect them to need to air it out. The coaches also seem to be quite high on him, and he quietly topped 10 fantasy points in 3 of his last 7 games, so be on the lookout for McDonald as a nice late-round pickup in your deep leagues.
18. Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Buccaneers
-If he could just stay healthy, he’s a potential top-10 option at TE. The whole Bucs offense is one to watch as Jameis Winston improves at the helm, and Seferian-Jenkins seems to have developed a nice rapport with the young QB, who targeted him nearly 6 times a game last year. A gifted athlete who makes frustrating mistakes, Seferian-Jenkins has all the tools to succeed, but his health and consistency is lacking. I really like him as a late-round flier this year, and if you’re into daily fantasy, I think he could be a big upside week-to-week option.
19. Jason Witten, Cowboys
-I want to like Witten more, but he’s 34, coming off a season where he topped 10 fantasy points just twice, and in a Cowboys offense that I think will have a strong devotion to the run. While he had to play most of last season in QB turmoil, I don’t think he’s the red zone target he used to be, and as a receiver he’s more security blanket than he is downfield target. A tremendous player throughout his career, if you still believe in Witten you should be able to get him at a discount, and he should get a slight bump in PPR leagues.
20. Jordan Cameron, Dolphins
There’s a lot of “ifs” in Jordan Cameron’s scenario right now, and if all of those “ifs” work in his favor he could actually have a very nice season. It’s a contract year for Cameron, and he’s going to be playing in the same Adam Gase offense that allowed Julius Thomas to flourish in Denver. He’s taken a pay-cut to play this year, which should no doubt light a fire under the talented TE. Let’s not forget how good he was for years in Cleveland, too, so there’s a lot of reason to be hopeful. With all this being said, he didn’t top 35 receiving yards after week 2 of last year, so let’s temper our expectations a bit. Still, in a deeper league, he’s worth a flier as a sleeper pick.
21. Jared Cook, Packers
-TE isn’t a deep position so at this point if a guy has any sort of upside, I put him here, no matter his track record. For no man does “Poor track record” ring more true than Cook, who people have been waiting for a break-out from since he came into the league. However, if there’s a place for Cook to re-ignite the undeserved hype, it’s in Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers at the helm. Cook remains an excellent athlete but uneven player, and it undoubtedly quicker than Richard Rogers, who still managed decent receiving numbers. If Cook can find a way to make the most of his opportunity here, he could be really good. But knowing Cook, he’ll have one game where he catches 100 yards and 2 TDs and do nothing the rest of the season. Like most guys in this range, worthy of a late-round flier as an upside option.
22. Kyle Rudolph, Vikings
-For as disappointed as we always seem to be with Kyle Rudolph, he did finish 14th in TE scoring last year. However, he failed to top 30 receiving yards 11 times last year and in general doesn’t have much week to week upside in a low-volume Vikings passing offense that just added Laquon Treadwell to eat away at his targets. If you’re playing him, chances are you’re hoping for a TD, else he won’t do much. He might finish higher than 22 in the final rankings, but there’s just not a lot to get excited about for me.
23. Charles Clay, Bills
-I really don’t have a lot to say about Clay – he’s a steady player in a low-volume passing offense that caps his upside. He’s good for a couple good games a year but I think he lacks the upside to be a good week-to-week option for your team. Could be a nice bye-week fill-in or a decent, cheap daily fantasy option.
24. Will Tye, Giants
-Legit no idea who will be starting for the Giants at TE, as Larry Donnell is back after injury and undrafted free-agent Matt LaCosse has been given first team reps. Tye is expected to be the main pass-catching TE, but how much opportunity will he be given? Larry Donnell was a pleasant surprise when he played a couple seasons ago, and the Giants added Sterling Shepard to an already talented group of receivers, so I’m just not sure the opportunities are there. With this being said, he was awesome filling in for Donnell last year, so he has upside if he can get the opportunities.
25. Clive Walford, Raiders
-Nobody that I know is paying attention to this guy (apologies, I have no connections in Raider nation) but he quietly put together a nice rookie year, considering how hard it is for most TEs to acclimate to the NFL game. However, in an offense rapidly adding playmakers, I struggle to see much room for Walford to grow given that he never topped 53 yards receiving in a game last year. In a really deep – and I mean REALLY deep league – he could be a nice enough fill-in given that he always seems to get a couple targets a game, but unless a guy like Amari Cooper goes down, I’m not sure he’ll get enough work to be viable.
26. Jacob Tamme, Falcons
-While he didn’t do anything in the red-zone, Tamme was quite a surprise with his involvement in the passing game last year, totaling 59 catches for 657 yards on 82 targets. While his contributions in the gridiron must mean a lot to the Falcons, they don’t really translate to the fantasy box score, where he still finished 20th among TE in scoring. I don’t see things getting any better for Tamme, with Julio Jones still soaking up a majority of the targets and underrated sleeper rookie Austin Hooper nipping at his heels for playing time.
27. Ben Watson, Ravens
-Watson was very good last year for the Saints but he enters a Ravens team that could feasibly have 4 different guys all seeing time at TE, on a passing offense that is less than stellar. With so many guys – Kamar Aiken, Steve Smith Sr, Breshad Perriman, Mike Wallace, Chris Moore, Michael Campanero, Watson, Maxx Williams, Crocket Gillmore, all jockeying for receptions, I don’t want to touch any of these guys fantasy-wise (save for Perriman, if he can ever get on the field).
28. Jace Amaro, Jets
-Amaro, a talented 2nd round pick out of Texas Tech, had a very nice rookie season but then tore his labrum, derailing all of last year for him. Jets TEs caught a total of 8 passes last year so don’t expect him to have much competition. With that being said, the level that he will be able to play at remains to be seen, and he’s at best the 5th option in this Jets passing attack that is a lot better than it was when Amaro was a rookie. Not much upside here.
29. C.J. Fiedorowicz, Texans
-If you want my s00per deep choice for a viable TE, I guess it’s Fiedorowicz, who coach Bill O’Brien has said has improved a lot in the passing game, and who may end up being a nice safety net for young Brock Osweiler, as all the attention will undoubtedly be on DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller. A former 3rd-round pick that has struggled to gain traction and consistent playing time, this may finally be the year that he is able to truly contribute on the field. With that being said, his upside is severely capped being at best the 3rd option on the team in what should be a low volume passing offense. Major long-shot play only suited for the deepest of leagues.
30. Lance Kendricks, Rams
-Kendricks won the very relative distinction of “best Rams TE” last year, beating out the perpetually disappointing Jared Cook. Kendricks doesn’t seem to be a bad player, but he has no upside playing in a Rams offense that will no doubt do everything it can to limit the number of times Case Keenum or Jared Goff has to throw the ball. I actually love rookie backup TE Tyler Higbee, who was brilliant at Western Kentucky, but again, there’s not a lot to get excited about when the offense is going to be throwing for 150 to 250 yards total per game.
31. Darren Fells, Cardinals
-The Cardinals have a lot of players to get excited about. The crop of TEs – Fells, Troy Niklas, Jermaine Gresham, etc. – are not among them. From a fantasy perspective this is a ghastly bunch that is only suitable if you desire goose eggs in your box score.
32. Virgil Green, Broncos
-You’re a braver soul than I am if you’re trusting your TE spot to Virgil Green.
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