It’s a new year. Relying on 2023 alone when creating your fantasy football rankings for 2024 is dangerous, as much has changed across the landscape. Here is my early look at the top tight ends and how I see them stacking up for the upcoming season.
Ranking the Top Fantasy TEs
FIND MORE POSITIONAL RANKINGS: QB | RB | WR | K | DEF
1) Sam LaPorta | Detroit Lions
2) Mark Andrews | Baltimore Ravens
3) Travis Kelce | Kansas City Chiefs
4) Trey McBride | Arizona Cardinals
5) Evan Engram | Jacksonville Jaguars
6) Dalton Kincaid | Buffalo Bills
7) George Kittle | San Francisco 49ers
8) Jake Ferguson | Dallas Cowboys
9) David Njoku | Cleveland Browns
10) Kyle Pitts | Atlanta Falcons
11) Brock Bowers | Las Vegas Raiders
12) Dallas Goedert | Philadelphia Eagles
13) Dalton Schultz | Houston Texans
14) T.J. Hockenson | Minnesota Vikings
15) Luke Musgrave | Green Bay Packers
16) Taysom Hill | New Orleans Saints
17) Pat Freiermuth | Pittsburgh Steelers
18) Cade Otton | Tampa Bay Buccaneers
19) Cole Kmet | Chicago Bears
20) Hunter Henry | New England Patriots
21) Tucker Kraft | Green Bay Packers
22) Mike Gesicki | Cincinnati Bengals
23) Juwan Johnson | New Orleans Saints
24) Isaiah Likely | Baltimore Ravens
25) Noah Fant | Seattle Seahawks
26) Chigoziem Okonkwo | Tennessee Titans
27) Tyler Conklin | New York Jets
28) Michael Mayer | Las Vegas Raiders
29) Dawson Knox | Buffalo Bills
30) Ja’Tavion Sanders | Carolina Panthers
Who Are the Best Tight Ends To Draft in Fantasy?
George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers
The Brandon Aiyuk situation certainly needs to be monitored as you consider the value of everyone in San Francisco’s offense, but it could be especially impactful for George Kittle.
Percentage of targets that came 15+ yards downfield in 2023
- Aiyuk: 40%
- Kittle: 30%
- Deebo Samuel Sr.: 19.1%
Kittle’s rate spiked from 14% in 2022 as it has become obvious that the Kyle Shanahan/Brock Purdy tandem is increasingly interested in the mismatches he creates down the field. This situation is different than a receiver picking up specific targets because I’m not sure there’s much a defense can do.
That is, secondaries can tailor their game plan to take away (or at least limit) a receiver on the perimeter running wind sprints. But with Kittle doing his damage in-line, what can realistically be done?
BROCK PURDY TO GEORGE KITTLE FOR THE OPENING TD
Kittle first TD scorer (+1200) ✅pic.twitter.com/C3KBvTgzZ8
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ)
An Aiyuk trade could give Kittle the one thing he hasn’t given fantasy managers: consistency. Last year, he only had six games with more than five targets, usage patterns that make it nearly impossible to compete with the elite at the position. The spotty target count resulted in six games with no more than 30 receiving yards, and that’s simply not going to get it done.
We know the upside that comes with Kittle. Last season, despite the aforementioned valleys, he led all tight ends with three games of 115+ receiving yards. The high-end production is going to happen in this efficient offense, but if Kittle can offer a reasonable floor, a return to the top five at the position is certainly possible.
Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are going to look different this year than last with Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis moving on, leaving the role of primary target earner very much up for grabs. In fact, I’d argue that it’s Dalton Kincaid’s role to lose.
The slot can be an advantageous spot to be on the field due to the high efficiency of those targets, and that’s even more true when an offense is undergoing significant changes across the board in terms of pass-catching options.
As a rookie, Kincaid operated out of the slot on over 52% of his snaps six times — four of them came after Joe Brady took over this offense. He led the position in slot rate in the Brady era (Weeks 11-18) and, for the season, scored the majority of his points from there.
The trend of the NFL has been shorter passes and if that’s going to be the case with an unproven cast of receivers, Kincaid could rack up top-five volume at the position.
