Welcome to the fourth and final entry of my fantasy football rankings for the 2023 NFL season. These are my own personal rankings, as we approach the first game!
Do you agree with my rankings, or is there someone you think I’ve got it all wrong about? Let me know!
PS – Stick around to the end to see how you can win a free NFL jersey of your choosing!
All rankings are based on 0.5PPR scoring, 6pt rushing/receiving touchdowns, 1 point per 10 rushing/receiving yards, 4pt passing touchdowns, and 1 point per 25 passing yards.
Let’s talk Tight Ends!
1. Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
We don’t need to waste any time here. Travis Kelce is the greatest fantasy football tight end of all time and he is worthy of a first-round pick in your fantasy drafts. Elite QB play, impossibly low amounts of competition with other receiving threats, and a genius offensive mind at HC. It can be scary to draft a tight end that early (you won’t get Kelce beyond the top 10 picks in almost any league) but if you take him, you are all-but guaranteed the TE1, assuming health, in all of fantasy.
Literally, on the day I uploaded this, Travis Kelce hyper-extended his knee… It’s hard to know how serious the issue is, but even if he missed a couple of weeks, Kelce would still finish as the TE1. If you drafted him, just stream a TE off the waiver wire until he’s back and you’ll be fine.
2. Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens
If you don’t want to spend a first-rounder on a onesie position (a position where you only start one of them ie QB/TE), you have a pretty clear second best thing, too. The Ravens star tight end, Mark Andrews, is Kelce lite. He is the number one receiving threat on his team and that won’t change despite a couple of new weapons. Plus, their new offensive coordinator, Todd Monken should bring a more pass-heavy approach than we’ve come to expect. Lamar is still going to run – and run a lot – but there will be more passing volume. If that allows Mark Andrews to get back to the astronomical 150-target range that we saw in 2021, he will dominate – and you can get him in the middle of the third in most drafts.
3. T.J. Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings
To get one of the top two at this position you have to be bought into that player and that strategy pretty heavily. But, now is where the main portion of the list begins. These are the tight ends that people will be fighting over in those early middle rounds. T.J. Hockenson is the best of the rest at TE, with a good situation (their defense is bad but offense is good and you can’t double team him because he’s flanked by Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison). He’s a talented player who should take advantage of his opportunities, and return top 5 TE value, but at a discount compared to the first two on this list.
4. Darren Waller, New York Giants
One of the most athletic and talented players to ever play the position, Darren Waller is the perfect fantasy football TE. You won’t see much run-blocking from the Giants star, he’s here to run routes and terrify defenses. While he was with the Raiders, Waller was absolutely dominant, and now he has an opportunity to run it back. Daniel Jones isn’t the best QB in the league but he’s good enough to support fantasy production and Waller is so difficult to defend that he will become Danny Dimes’ best friend this season. Having an uber-talented running back like Saquon Barkley also helps, especially for a TE who thrives on play-action as much as Waller does.
5. George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers
Once a TE1b to Travis Kelce’s 1a, George Kittle has unfortunately fallen out of favour with the fantasy community. It’s weird because last season he didn’t perform badly at all. I don’t know if perhaps Kittle has fallen down in ADP (average draft position) because people want something new or if they think that his touchdown regression after a career-high 11 TD season will hit him hard. All I know for sure is that in terms of actual football, Kittle is an absolute superstar, who dominates in both the running game and as a receiver. He will continue to be a focal point of the offense and people who soured on him so much this offseason may live to regret it. He apparently has a minor groin injury entering the season, but hopefully it won’t force him to miss any time.
6. Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons
When Kyle Pitts was drafted, the fantasy football community was frothing at the mouth. One of the best TE prospects of all time, his combination of size and athleticism is second to none. 6’6 and 246 lbs but runs like a wide receiver. In his first season, he put up 1,000 yards but unfortunately only found the end zone once. Naturally, that’s just one year, though. Unfortunately, year 2 it went downhill. He was having a fairly uninspired season through week 11, when he got injured. After missing the rest of the year, fantasy managers are struggling to forgive the Falcons TE.
I’m not going to try and convince you that you shouldn’t have been disappointed. However, I won’t assume that this generational prospect is done after one bad season. If Pitts stays healthy and starts to find the end zone every now and again, I still believe he has the raw talent to be a top 5 TE.
7. Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles
Once you get beyond the first handful of tight ends, you’re going to struggle to find consistency. Dallas Goedert isn’t a guaranteed top scorer every week, but when he’s healthy, he is generally good for a handful of catches and a respectable yardage. While he doesn’t score touchdowns that often, he’s got a role carved out for him in a very good offense, and his floor is higher than most tight ends, as he sees quite a few targets. A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith is one of the best one-two punches in the league, and when they’re the first two targets, you won’t have many defenders available to keep an eye on #3. Goedert can take advantage of distracted defenses and help Jalen Hurts move the chains when the superstars aren’t open.
8. Evan Engram, Jacksonville Jaguars
After his time in New York drew to a close, it was hard to know what to expect from Evan Engram. Paired up with a talented young QB in Trevor Lawrence, he showed some flashes of big potential last year. Don’t get me wrong, he had less than 20 yards in 6 of his 17 games – the floor is next to zero. However, he also had two 100+ yard games and 7 with at least 5 catches.
He might feel risky compared to the sure things in the first few rounds of the draft, but in terms of upside, you won’t find a TE as late as Engram who has the ability to explode the way he did in Week 14 last year. In that unbelievable game, he recorded 11 receptions for 162 yards and 2 TD’s. That’s what I call a week-winning fantasy performance.
9. Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers
While he’s not exactly a household name, Pat Freiermuth has been on the fantasy football radar after a respectable 7-score rookie season. While it won’t sound like a lot if you’re reading this directly after my WR rankings, he had 98 targets last season. That’s very solid for a TE. Kenny Pickett figures to improve this year as he continues to develop, and I’d like to think that Freiermuth will take a step forward, too, as he enters year three. If you draft the Steelers TE it’s pretty unlikely you’ll be disappointed as you invested so little, but he could pleasantly surprise you if he catches 70+ passes and finds the endzone a few times.
10. Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams
Tyler Higbee is an under-the-radar fantasy TE. People don’t necessarily want him on their team, as he isn’t the most exciting player. But, he produces. He starts near enough every week and he gets the ball thrown at him pretty often. Last year, he saw a career-high 108 targets, which is a lot for a tight end. Plus, Cooper Kupp is injured and nobody really knows how long he’s going to be out for. For all we know, Higbee could be set for 120 targets this season, and he’s available in the 10th round of drafts!? Without a doubt, he’s my favourite late TE. Solid floor with underrated season-long upside.
11. David Njoku, Cleveland Browns
By the time you get down beyond the top 10, all you can do is hope to land on someone who outperforms expectations. Tight Ends at this range have very little in the way of a floor. David Njoku has shown potential over the last six years. He averages 11.6 yards per reception throughout his career, which means if he gets volume you can expect some production. Last season we saw him earn 80 targets, of which he caught 58. Now we will just have to hope that more time with Deshaun Watson leads to more chemistry and therefore more volume.
12. Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans
Over the last three years in Dallas, Dalton Schultz was a really reliable fantasy TE. In all three campaigns, he saw 89 or more targets, including 104 in 2021 – his best year. He caught 78 balls for 808 yards and 8 TD’s that season, a very solid line for a fantasy tight end. Now he’s got a change of scenery, providing an outlet for 2nd-overall pick, C.J. Stroud. The young quarterback will undoubtedly benefit from having a QB-friendly veteran tight end who can generate first downs and get him out of tough situations. Schultz isn’t an exciting fantasy pick this year, but if you’re not taking one of the more valuable TE’s earlier, it might be nice to have someone with a proven record.
Think you’ve got what it takes?
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