Tight ends have become one of the bigger headaches for fantasy owners – in part because after the very few elite, the bar drops significantly, and there are only so many notable players left at the position after that. Where does the Los Angeles Chargers starting tight end, Gerald Everett, fall in the mix? He has an elite quarterback throwing to him but is also part of an offense with many mouths to feed.
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2023 Gerald Everett Fantasy Football Outlook
Past Performance
Gerald Everett was a second-round pick in 2017, and spent most of his early years on the Los Angeles Rams sharing targets with Tyler Higbee – and therefore out of fantasy relevance. However, his statistics have steadily improved every year. He caught an opportunity as a full starter in 2021 when he joined the Seattle Seahawks, putting up 478 yards and four touchdowns in an offense that did not really emphasize tight end targets.
Everett signed with the Chargers in 2022, and had a career year, pulling in 58 receptions for 555 yards and four touchdowns. This was good enough for him to finish at TE13 and 14 in PPR and standard leagues, respectively. However, given that Justin Herbert likes targeting tight ends and is a top-tier quarterback, this was still a little underwhelming for Everett.
Current Outlook
Going into the 2023 season, the Chargers have upgraded at offensive coordinator after being held back by Joe Lombardi in 2022, and Kellen Moore has liked utilizing tight ends before with the Dallas Cowboys. However, the flip side of this is that the Chargers offense has more mouths to feed now. They added Quentin Johnston and Derius Davis in the Draft, will eventually get Jalen Guyton back from injury, and didn’t lose any of their starters from last year.
The good news for Everett is that there isn’t much competition for tight end touches right now. Donald Parham is the only other notable player there, and he might vulture a few red zone touches, but that’s about it. Factoring this in as well as a more productive offense – but with more wideouts in the mix – we should be looking at similar stats to last year – 50-to-60-reception, 500-to-600-yard season, but not much higher, if at all. This should be good for another fantasy finish in the range of TE10 to 15 in both standard and PPR formats.
ADP Projection and Outlook
According to FantasyPros, Everett currently has an ADP of 188 in standard and 148 in PPR – which makes him at TE20 and TE17, respectively. Given where he finished last year and is likely to finish again, that would make him a slight steal. In your average 12-team league, though, he’s only a borderline starter. He’s worth drafting at least as a backup, though. In deeper leagues, he may be worth starting unless you draft tight end higher.
The elite play from Herbert should ensure that Everett finishes around his projected ADP at tight end – at worst. More likely, he’ll finish a little higher, but the crowded offense will likely cap his ceiling and make his week-to-week output fluctuate a bit. Still, Everett could prove to be a valuable bye-week or injury fill-in at worst, even if not a starter.
The bottom line on Everett is that while the value for him is good, one can most likely do better with their starting tight end position, especially in a standard 12-team league. But when it comes to backups, he would make an above-average backup plan to put in the lineup if needed.
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