The Travis Kelce domination of the tight end position in fantasy football is over. Young tight ends like Sam LaPorta have closed the gap and overtaken Kelce for the top TE in fantasy. There are three main tiers of tight ends: the early-round elite ones, the middle-round upside guys, and the late-round sleepers. Knowing when to draft a tight end in the right group can help build a strong draft at the other positions. Let’s look at some tight ends to target in each range and which is the best. All ADPs for this article are based on FantasyPros PPR ADPs.
The Best Tight End Targets In Fantasy Football
Fantasy Football Draft Guide 2024
Early Round Elite Tight Ends
Two tight ends are going in the first three rounds of fantasy drafts this season. Travis Kelce is going #21 overall while Sam LaPorta is going #26. LaPorta was the TE1 last year while Kelce finished as the TE3, but Kelce is going first in drafts.
Kelce is aging and is slowing down. The Chiefs will manage his snaps carefully to save him for the postseason. Kelce is not worth drafting this early. He no longer offers the advantage he once did and should not be the first tight end drafted.
On the other hand, LaPorta is entering his second season, with the best of his career still ahead. The Lions are a great offense playing most of their games indoors. LaPorta gets to avoid the winter weather that Kelce faces.
If going with a zero-RB strategy, taking LaPorta in the 2nd/3rd round around drafting two elite wide receivers sets up a solid pass-catching group for PPR leagues.
Sam LaPorta is going to be automatic in year 2 🔥 pic.twitter.com/nCnXfoYnJR
— PFF Fantasy & Betting (@PFF_Fantasy) August 19, 2024
Middle-Round Upside Picks
According to ADPs, there is a run of tight ends between picks 47 and 54 in drafts. Trey McBride, Mark Andrews, Dalton Kincaid, and George Kittle are all in this range as the TEs three through six. In 10-team leagues, this is at the end of the 5th round and early of the 6th round. In 12-team leagues, this is at the end of the 4th round and early of the 5th round. This is a great range to target a tight end. There are young guys, McBride and Kincaid, and proven veterans, such as Andrews and Kittle, who are also in great positions to succeed this season.
Between picks 61 and 82, another group of four tight ends are being drafted. They include Kyle Pitts, Evan Engram, David Njoku, and Jake Ferguson. Once again, this is another great range to draft tight ends with young players of Pitts and Ferguson with two top-six tight ends from last year in Engram and Njoku.
All eight of these guys are being drafted in rounds four to seven which is the ideal range to draft a tight end this season. Drafters can stack up on elite wide receivers and running backs in the early rounds while still getting a tight end with a top-five upside.
Late Round Sleepers
Last year, there were a lot of young tight ends going outside of the top-10 such as Kincaid, LaPorta, Luke Musgrave, Ferguson, and Michael Mayer. This year, there are not that many sleepers available. Brock Bowers is the 11th tight end of the board. After that, there are a lot of veteran tight ends in tough situations such as Dallas Goedert, Dalton Schultz, Pat Freiermuth, Cole Kmet, and Hunter Henry to name a few. They either have lots of competition for targets or are in a bad offense.
The only tight ends outside the top eleven with lots of upside are Taysom Hill and Ben Sinnott. Hill has tight end eligibility in some leagues and will play all over the field again. Sinnott will start the season behind Zach Ertz on the depth chart. He could be a great player in the second half of the season. T.J. Hockenson is also being drafted outside the top ten, but since he will miss the first part of the season, he needs to be paired with another tight end.
The punt-TE strategy is not a good idea this season due to the lack of depth at the position.
Summary
In 2024, there are a lot of tight ends available in rounds four to seven that can easily finish as a top-five tight end in fantasy football. The goal is to draft one of these guys so that the player becomes the only tight end needed on the roster. Drafting a tight end in the first three rounds puts pressure on him to have a monster season and sacrifices either the WR or RB position. Waiting on a tight end leaves very few solid options to choose from and two tight ends might be needed to mix and match which prevents drafting a better upside WR or RB instead. The middle rounds are the optimal rounds to find the best tight end targets in fantasy football 2024.
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