Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings

 

2023 Fantasy Football Tight Ends Tiered Cheat Sheet

The TE position in fantasy is so bad outside the top few players. Once you get past the top players, you’re just looking to play the matchups and see which one might be able to catch a TD this week.

Please note that these rankings are tiered. What are tiered rankings? Why use tiered rankings? First, the tiered rankings: these are rankings that put a group of players that I believe will end up around the same fantasy stats at the end of the year.

Why use tiered rankings? It’s simple. My philosophy with the tiered rankings is that if I’m on the clock, and I’m looking to draft one of these players, I’m trying to get the most bang for my buck. Drafting a player at the end of a specific tier allows you to draft other positions at other parts of the draft. An example: Let’s say you’re on the clock now and also pick again in 4 turns. You’re interested in drafting a TE right now, but there are 5 TEs in the tier you’re interested in.

This is where tiered rankings come in clutch. You can draft another position right now, and then in 4 turns, even in the unlikely situation everyone drafts TE at all 4 of those spots, you still get the last guy of the tier you would have been happy with anyway. So without further ado, here are my 2023 tight end
rankings, with tiers!

Feel free to drop me a follow on Twitter @_ColtWilliams for more of my future work!

Tier 1 – Travis Kelce

1. Travis Kelce – Kansas City Chiefs

There isn’t much you have to say about Travis Kelce. Here are his fantasy finishes from the past
SEVEN seasons: 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1. There is no reason he shouldn’t repeat as the TE1 again. If you want to
lock up your TE position and not have to look at it again all season, look no further.

Tier 2 – Chasing Kelce

2. Mark Andrews – Baltimore Ravens

We saw Kelce have one finish at TE2. The man who pushed him out of the way was Mark
Andrews. Andrews has been a serviceable TE in the past but has missed a couple of games here and
there. His PPG finishes over the past 4 seasons: 3, 1, 4, 4. The Ravens brought on OC Todd Monken this
season to add a much-needed elevated passing attack to complement the elite run game. The other
pass catchers should benefit as well, but Andrews is by far the most talented receiver out there at this
point in their careers.

Tier 3 – Rounding Out Top Tier

3. T.J. Hockenson – Minnesota Vikings
4. George Kittle – San Francisco 49ers

Hockenson got traded mid-season from the Detroit Lions to the Vikings, even after posting a
ridiculous stat line of 8 receptions for 179 yards and 2 TDs in a shootout with the Seattle Seahawks.
Coming over to the Vikings, Hock didn’t slow down and still posted another boom game of 13 receptions for 109 yards and 2 TDs. Jefferson is the first and second look, but Hock might very well be the third look next to first-round rookie Jordan Addison.

George Kittle stayed healthy for 15 games for the first time since 2018. He also posted a career-high in TDs with 11, nearly double his previous high. I’m not afraid of the 49ers’ QB situation because I think Kittle will eat regardless, but Kittle was propped up a little bit by the absence of his teammates for some parts of the season, which could very well happen again. When healthy, he’s a baller, but on a run-first team with a ton of elite pass-catchers around him, I’d pick Hock ahead of Kittle in 2023.

Tier 4 – Adequate

5. Kyle Pitts – Atlanta Falcons
6. Dallas Goedert – Philadelphia Eagles
7. Pat Freiermuth – Pittsburgh Steelers
8. Darren Waller – New York Giants

Pitts, the highest-drafted TE in NFL history, got shut down due to an injury midway through the
season, so we didn’t get to see him play with Ridder at the tail end, but we did get to see him play with
Mariota and it was not a pretty sight. Coming off his hot 1000-yard rookie season campaign, the sky was the limit for 2022, but it seems we never even left the tarmac. During his 10 games in 2022, he posted no games with double-digit targets, 2 games over 43 yards, 2 total TDs, and 2 games over 10+ fantasy points. Ridder may not be an upgrade over Mariota. Pitts was also dealing with injuries and bad QB play, so we could see somewhere around a 750-yard or so season, but 1000 yards with Ridder at QB seems unlikely. The upside will always remain with the 4th overall pick in 2021.

Goedert saw the back burner behind A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith but still managed an okay season for missing a good deal of it. The Eagles are a great offense, which is something we want with TEs so we can get that TD upside, but Goedert seemed allergic to the end zone in 2022 with only 3 TDs. An elite rushing QB and being the third passing option means you’re hoping for a TD and 50 yards.

Tier 4 Cont.

Freiermuth is eighth all-time in most receptions in his first two seasons by a TE behind some notable names such as Gronk, Kittle, Jimmy Graham, and Aaron Hernandez. Steelers QB Kenny Pickett can’t possibly take a step back from his lackluster rookie campaign, and the TE still has the same competition around him that put him at TE8 with only 2 TDs all season.

Darren Waller got traded from the Raiders to the Giants during the offseason. Only 3 years removed from posting back-to-back 1000-yard seasons, Waller is now on an offense that is getting better with 2nd year HC Brian Daboll and a lack of elite talent in the receiving room; He could easily be the target leader at the end of the year. Just remember, they will be Daniel Jones’ targets.

Tier 5 – Upside Fliers

9. Evan Engram – Jacksonville Jaguars
10. David Njoku – Cleveland Browns
11. Dalton Schultz – Houston Texans

Engram just got paid by the Jags, solidifying his role in the offense. After waiting for him to finally show us something from his rookie season, he posted a TE5 finish his first season in Jacksonville. We’ll likely see the targets go down with the addition of Calvin Ridley, but he could make up for it in the TD category.

Njoku was third in the pecking order once Deshaun Watson took over. If Watson comes back to form, Njoku will be playing with the best QB of his career while in the prime of his own.

Schultz is playing with a rookie QB, which is a red flag since we know it’s hard for rookies to sustain relevant fantasy options. However, given the depth chart, Schultz could come away as one of the top targets on a bad offense with a rookie QB. There is upside if rookie Texans QB C.J. Stroud is actually fantastic, but it’s not something we should be banking on.

Tier 6 – Punt TE

If you didn’t grab any of the TEs already named, congratulations, you officially punted the TE position! I enjoy using this strategy so that I can get value at other positions.

12. Chigoziem Okonkwo – Tennessee Titans
13. Tyler Higbee – Los Angeles Rams
14. Dalton Kincaid – Buffalo Bills
15. Gerald Everett – Los Angeles Chargers
16. Greg Dulcich – Denver Broncos
17. Cole Kmet – Chicago Bears
18. Juwan Johnson – New Orleans Saints
19. Tyler Conklin – New York Jets
20. Cade Otton – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
21. Sam LaPorta – Detroit Lions
22. Mike Gesicki – New England Patriots
23. Noah Fant – Seattle Seahawks
24. Hayden Hurst – Carolina Panthers
25. Zach Ertz – Arizona Cardinals
26. Trey McBride – Arizona Cardinals
27. Luke Schoonmaker – Dallas Cowboys
28. Irv Smith Jr. – Cincinnati Bengals

Again, if you enjoyed what you read or have questions, you can find me on Twitter @_ColtWilliams